Sneaky Little Chug
Yesterday Christa and I were tag-teaming the little fawn male who has been stuck at the Bakersfield shelter in IP limbo since the 12th.
For those who don't know what an IP is, all shelters and shelter systems have different rules for adopting out their animals to rescues and private parties. Some give preference to private parties always, some are first come, first served, some make them available to private parties only for 1-3 days before allowing rescues to take them and some do not work with rescues at all, preferring to place all of their dogs privately. In the Kern County animal control shelter system, which includes the Bakersfield shelter, once an animal has completed his 'stray hold' (a 5-10 day period when no one is allowed to adopt the animal, giving the owner time to find and claim him), he becomes available for adoption and/or euthanasia. During the stray hold period, or at any time the dog is available, those people interested in adopting or rescuing the animal may place an 'IP' (interested party) hold on the dog. If there is more than one IP on a dog, they are processed in the order they were received, with private parties getting precedence over rescues. Each IP has between 24-72 hours to come in and pick up the dog. If they don't show up, they move on to the next IP on the list. It is a common practice for some rescue groups to put multiple IP's on a dog they do not intend to pull, hoping it buys them more time to be seen and rescued. IP's do buy dogs more time and exposure, but prevent earnest rescues or adopters from pulling them in a timely manner and often after extended stays in a shelter the dog becomes ill or severely distressed.
This little man had a whopping 7 IP's before our's. We would have been able to pull him on the 14th, we had a transport there picking up another dog, but they wouldn't release him until all the IP's ahead of us had no-showed.
BUT, I finally got the approval for us to pick him up Thursday afternoon!!!
So Christa and I worked out her picking him up Friday morning and meeting me on the grapevine, then me bringing him the rest of the way down.
Keep in mind our rescue does not accept mixes....that's how I ended up with Mamas if you all remember. But in his picture this guy looked all pug and he was listed as a pug, so we weren't worried.
At 10am, I'm on the road, driving up through LA and get a call from Christa at the shelter. She has him, he's sweet, healthy and very cute. Only problem is he has a muzzle and a loosely loopy tail, he looks like a mix! She even drove back to the shelter to make sure it was the right dog, because he didn't look like his picture. But no, that was him, he managed to turn his head in such a way for the picture as to disguise his muzzle and slip through! Sneaky, smart little guy!!
I said, bring him on down, I'll find a place for him, pug or mix. Luckily the fires were nowhere near where we had to be and the weather was mild, so the drive was easy.
Upon arrival I was confronted with the most frickin' adorable little face ever. SO cute, but definitely a Chug (Pug x Chihuahua). He happily hopped into the Roadster and laid down on the seat, ready for the adventure.
With a quick exchange of hugs, dog and paperwork, we were off. Luckily I know the lady who runs an all breed rescue in LA, who especially likes pug mixes, so I called her first. She said to bring him down, she'd be happy to take him. Whew!
Mr. Chug and I enjoyed a pleasant ride down the hill together and after depositing him at his rescue home in LA, where he was a major hit with the staff, I went on to Orange County to do the home check on a prospective adopter there and then on to Huntington beach for my husband's family's beach party....which I could not enjoy, worrying whether the kids had gotten the dogs fed and medicated correctly at home.
Today I'm picking up a 12 year old nearly blind female coming down from San Luis Obispo, a 13 year old blind male from the Baldwin Park (LA) shelter along with a geriatric maltese and chihuahua from the same shelter, the latter three are all going to hospice care. Then the 12 year old, Miss Daisy, and I are going on to the vet in San Diego and from there I'm delivering her to her foster in Oceanside who doesn't drive and can't come get her or take her to the vet.
According to my maps, I will go 347 miles today. Not a trip for the Roadster though. I'm using my daughter's Hyundai Accent, because I've got too many dogs for the Roadster, even if they are all old folks.
Stay tuned for the continuing adventure of Driving Miss Daisy!
And Christa.....thank you SO MUCH for all you do helping to bring down the Kern County dogs.
Take care,
Lisa
Last edited by 6 Beautiful Pugs; 08-28-2010 at 10:49 AM.
In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
- Mohandas Gandhi
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....having braved flash floods and fires.....covered in mud, pug hair on the dash, paw prints on the leather seats and kitty hair on the roof. I don't know anyone else that works as hard as Lisa does to help dogs in need!
Sally...Mom to Huron, Badger, Raven, Willow, Mr. Boots, Angel, Bugsy, Erie and Nana to Gauge the Pug in Beagle fur.
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