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Being a silhouette artist and specializing in private events can take me to many locations outside the LA/OC and San Diego areas. I was in Lodi for a wedding on Sat. September 12, 2015. Before heading home on Sunday morning, I stopped in Stockton for breakfast. After breakfast, I thought it would be nice to take a walk along the river that runs through downtown Stockton. I was disappointed, since finding a path near the river was impossible. I must have driven up and down the same street about four times looking for a decent place to stop, park and walk over towards the river. Instead, I encountered a very run down industrial area and just about given up and start on the long drive ahead towards LA.
My daughter Jasmine, who was with me, saw a little dog running down the street going in the opposite direction. She suddenly yelled out "Oh my God, there's a dog running down the street and it's hurt!". "He looks like he's starving, his bones are sticking out!". I made a quick u-turn, pulled over and tried to take a look at the dog. We were concerned the dog would run out into the street and get hit by a car since the traffic going down the street was at a very fast rate of speed.
Jasmine, jumped out of the car with a bottle of water and gave it to the little dog. The dog quickly gulped down two bottles of water. We were shocked at how fast she drank both of them. We had a can of chicken in the car, we opened it and offered it to the lost little dog. After wolfing that down, the dog surrendered herself and laid her body down on Jasmine's lap and placed her little head on her shoulder. We just looked at each other and didn't know just yet what we were going to do next.
Stunned at the dog's reaction after our efforts to nourish it. My first thought was, this dog is going to drink some water and run away from fear. As we began to inspect her little body, it was obvious this little dog had been neglected and on the streets awhile. Not only was she starving and limping, she had several open wounds on her head and body. The worst one was on her neck which appeared to have been from an embedded collar. Not pretty.
Covered in dirt and fleas, we picked her up and put her in the backseat of the car. We had a hand towel with us and carefully wrapped it and gently tied it around her neck, her wound was oozing and we wanted to prevent it from further injury.
I proceeded to call Stockton's animal control to drop her off there. All I got was a voicemail with business hours and they are closed on Sundays, a dead end. I persisted and found a pet rescue outside of Stockton. I drove to the rescue center and the front gates were locked. They too are closed on Sundays. I got out of the car and from the gate, I tried to find a caretaker
I saw someone working there and flagged him down, he approached me and the worker said they were full and asked me to please don't leave the dog outside the gate. I was trying to help the dog and leaving her at outside the gate was not an option. I told him, I was from out of town and I would be taking her with me to SoCal as I was not going to be in the area on Monday. The guy waved goodbye to me, another dead end and a couple of hours later I leave Stockton and start my long drive home with an injured stray doggy.
I guess this little dog's life was destined to be spared. She crossed my path and became a part of my family. A miracle, so to speak. She's full of life, love, energy and gratefulness. I too am grateful to have her around.
-S-
Being a silhouette artist and specializing in private events can take me to many locations outside the LA/OC and San Diego areas. I was in Lodi for a wedding on Sat. September 12, 2015. Before heading home on Sunday morning, I stopped in Stockton for breakfast. After breakfast, I thought it would be nice to take a walk along the river that runs through downtown Stockton. I was disappointed, since finding a path near the river was impossible. I must have driven up and down the same street about four times looking for a decent place to stop, park and walk over towards the river. Instead, I encountered a very run down industrial area and just about given up and start on the long drive ahead towards LA.
My daughter Jasmine, who was with me, saw a little dog running down the street going in the opposite direction. She suddenly yelled out "Oh my God, there's a dog running down the street and it's hurt!". "He looks like he's starving, his bones are sticking out!". I made a quick u-turn, pulled over and tried to take a look at the dog. We were concerned the dog would run out into the street and get hit by a car since the traffic going down the street was at a very fast rate of speed.
Jasmine, jumped out of the car with a bottle of water and gave it to the little dog. The dog quickly gulped down two bottles of water. We were shocked at how fast she drank both of them. We had a can of chicken in the car, we opened it and offered it to the lost little dog. After wolfing that down, the dog surrendered herself and laid her body down on Jasmine's lap and placed her little head on her shoulder. We just looked at each other and didn't know just yet what we were going to do next.
Stunned at the dog's reaction after our efforts to nourish it. My first thought was, this dog is going to drink some water and run away from fear. As we began to inspect her little body, it was obvious this little dog had been neglected and on the streets awhile. Not only was she starving and limping, she had several open wounds on her head and body. The worst one was on her neck which appeared to have been from an embedded collar. Not pretty.
Covered in dirt and fleas, we picked her up and put her in the backseat of the car. We had a hand towel with us and carefully wrapped it and gently tied it around her neck, her wound was oozing and we wanted to prevent it from further injury.
I proceeded to call Stockton's animal control to drop her off there. All I got was a voicemail with business hours and they are closed on Sundays, a dead end. I persisted and found a pet rescue outside of Stockton. I drove to the rescue center and the front gates were locked. They too are closed on Sundays. I got out of the car and from the gate, I tried to find a caretaker
I saw someone working there and flagged him down, he approached me and the worker said they were full and asked me to please don't leave the dog outside the gate. I was trying to help the dog and leaving her at outside the gate was not an option. I told him, I was from out of town and I would be taking her with me to SoCal as I was not going to be in the area on Monday. The guy waved goodbye to me, another dead end and a couple of hours later I leave Stockton and start my long drive home with an injured stray doggy.
I guess this little dog's life was destined to be spared. She crossed my path and became a part of my family. A miracle, so to speak. She's full of life, love, energy and gratefulness. I too am grateful to have her around.
-S-
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