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From
the Beginning
The First Few Days of the Rescue and
Initial Care for the Rescued Dogs
Thanking our Generous Donors and
the People Behind the Scenes
The Dogs and Adoptions and Their New Families
page 1,
page 2,
page 3
A Peek into Foster Care Pups and
Next Steps - "One Dog at a Time"
On Monday, the last live dog was found on the sidewalk - very tiny and very frightened. After hearing about this final rescue on the news, one wonderful woman drove to the shelter and made a donation with this note:
A small check to help
the little dog just recovered.
Dr. Cheryl Good, Medical Director for Friends For the Dearborn Animal
Shelter and owner of Dearborn Family Pet Care, began her examination of each
dog.
All animals at the shelter get clean blankets or towels daily as beds, so
laundry is always a daunting task, but caring for the Chihuahuas exceeded
capacity, so volunteers such as Amy Delaney (shown at right) take laundry
home to wash and return it.
Dawn Kinney and Sherry Miller of Vet Select, Dearborn Heights, came to the shelter to help by running heartworm tests on all the dogs.
The baths continue ... on Thursday, it was so nice that the dogs got their first trip outside to bask in the sun in their crates.
The dogs had never been outside, so this was a whole new experience.
Most were thrilled, some remained frightened.
Seeing the dogs so happy, gave staff and volunteers a much needed boost of
joy.
Word came Thursday, that the dogs had been released to the care of the Friends and we celebrated by taking these four to an outside pen. They had never seen grass before and after a brief adjustment, frolicked for joy.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Animal shelter takes ownership of Dearborn Chihuahuas
Tanveer Ali / The Detroit News
Dearborn -- All 112 living Chihuahuas found in a bungalow last week where authorities recovered 151 frozen dead dogs now belong to the Dearborn Animal Shelter, paving the way for adoption that could begin as early as next week, city officials said.
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One of the rescued dogs cuddles up to a stuffed animal given by the shelter's dog trainer/behavior evaluator. (Brandy Baker / The Detroit News) |
City spokeswoman Mary Laundroche said the sister of Kenneth Lang Jr., who lived alone in the home with the dogs on Orchard, signed paperwork ceding ownership of the Chihuahuas to the city. Laundroche said the animal shelter will screen nearly 200 adoption applications received since authorities entered the home July 22.
"The gentleman no longer has any control over any of the dogs," Laundroche said.
Police are still conducting a criminal investigation that could result in animal cruelty-related charges for Lang. Lang's lawyer, James Schmier, has said he doesn't expect charges to be filed against his client because police are aware he suffers from mental illness.
Laundroche also said the sister, who has become Lang's legal representative, also gave the city the right to dispose of all furniture, trash and electrical equipment that clean-up crews took from the home as they searched for living dogs.
After the home was rendered unlivable, the city is seeking to demolish the home, but the legal process will take time, Laundroche said...
What the release means:
When
animals are rescued from a situation such as that of the Chihuahuas, they
are placed in the safekeeping of the Friends. We may provide care,
administer the standard protocol for incoming animals (exams, vaccines,
worming, etc.), as well as any life saving measures needed. When the
dogs first came in, two were identified with serious bite wounds. Our
thanks to Dr. Kari Nugent who took the dogs and performed surgery. In
addition, two female dogs have been identified with
Pyometra and required
emergency surgery. Our thanks to Dr. Jeffrey Dizik and Dr. Cheryl Good
for saving these dogs.
Now that the dogs have been released, they will be transported to participating vets for sterilization and further evaluations and treatment before going home with their new families.
Believe it or not, in the middle of that first weekend, it RAINED!! We already knew that the roof on the main shelter building needed to be replaced and had been working with the City to solicit bids for the repair. That first weekend, our old roof just gave it up, and we manned buckets inside the shelter. Tarps went up and Dearborn City Council had an emergency meeting to approve the selected bid. Our thanks to the City and to Newton Crane Roofing who was there at 6am on Friday, July 31, and worked all day to complete the roof.
