Dalmatian Rescue of Puget Sound

Pinto and Pinto

Posted by admin - 26/08/10 at 10:08 pm

A few weeks ago, I looked at Pet Harbor and saw the sad face of Pinto, a 13 year old male surrendered to the South Central shelter in LA. It made me sad because of the number of seniors we had been unable to save. I posted his picture on our Facebook page, and was amazed at the number of people who stepped up to foster him. Later that evening, I received an e-mail from a lady who had been at the shelter when he was surrendered. She said his owner looked very sad. She tried to talk to her, but she didn’t seem to speak English. The lady was so bothered by his sad face, she wrote to all of the Dalmatian rescues, hoping someone could help. We were able to pull him from the shelter.

Pinto traveled to a rescue in Turlock, CA, where he has been waiting to be transported to Seattle. He is a big, beautiful boy, weighing 75 pounds. He is well mannered, house broken and friendly. He is also in incredibly good shape for his age, with no sign of infirmity. The shelter listed him as ill, and he would have been euthanized right away if we had not pulled him. Pinto was adopted immediately after arriving in Washington, because to meet him is to fall in love with him. Look how much happier he is now that he is in his new home.

After the first Pinto was safely in Turlock, I got the following e-mail:

Pinto is a sweetheart neutered boy and a mix of Dalmation and Pointer, he’s a senior at 13 years old, and he was dumped (I assure you that’s an understatement) right in front of me at the Baldwin Park (Los Angeles County) shelter, which has… a high kill rate. Pinto’s owner came into the shelter and asked the staff if they would euthanize his dog claiming it has arthritis (the dog is listed as no health issues so this could have just been an excuse to dump him). When the shelter explained that they do not perform public euthansias the owner said he would just leave the dog for the maggots then. I couldn’t believe my ears. While the owner was inside the shelter for 10 minutes the poor dog was chained inside of his truck bed in 100 degree weather. I watched horrified as the owner unchained him and dragged him (twice) by his scruff out of the truck (yes, his other hand was free, he didn’t even bother to support the dog’s back). As he threw him on the ground and basically dragged the poor boy inside by the leash, Pinto followed wagging his tail happy as ever, as if he was about to walk into a pet supply store for treats. I sat in my car and bawled my eyes out — it took everything inside of me not to scream obscenities at this horrific man.

Pinto is a sweet, sweet boy and I would take him in a heartbeat if I was able to. After 13 years of hardship this dog’s tail is still wagging. Please, can’t you give him a chance to retire with love? Please don’t let him die in a shelter. Even one amazing day for an amazing dog is better than the bleak life of none I’m sure he’s had so far. I, myself, rescued a 12 year old Pomeranian with heart and lung disease (she came from Baldwin Park too!) last October and she unfortunately passed away this past Monday in my arms, but she brought me the happiest 10 months of my life — she saved me just as much as I saved her. Pinto can do the same thing for someone, I just know it! I am begging you with everything in my being to please consider rescuing this sweet boy. His “due out” date is 8/27 so he has less than a week to live, please don’t let him die behind bars. I will gladly help pay for his adoption fee and buy him food if he can go to a good home or foster. Even if you can’t take him in, please network this dog! A courtesy listing could go a long way for this sweet boy.

The shelter photo was so bad, we couldn’t tell what he looked like. I contacted the lady who sent the e-mail and agreed to take him if she would get him out of the shelter and foster him until I could transport him. As you can see, he is a Dal/Heeler mix, not a Dal/Pointer mix. He is an adorable little guy, weighing about 20 pounds.

Little Pinto has an adoption pending.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 26th, 2010 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Adopted. The entry is tagged under California, Washington. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.