Dogged determination
When Californian Christine Falzone surfed the Internet looking at dogs available for adoption, she never expected she would soon be making a trip to New Mexico to pick up her new four-legged friend.
Falzone fell in love with an Afghan-terrier that was listed on petfinder.com by Quixote Humane volunteer Janelle Chavez.
"Something got to me when I saw her smiley face," Falzone said. "I called the shelter immediately and learned the dog was in line to be euthanized. I asked them to give me a day to find a way to get her out of the shelter."
After seeing Falzone's request for help in an animal-lover chat room, Los Lunas resident Annette Ortiz volunteered to foster the dog until Falzone could make the 800-mile trip from California. With this act of kindness from Ortiz, the dog's life was saved.
A week later when the human and the dog met in a motel room in Albuquerque, it was love at first sight. The new adoptee was given the name California Gal, or Callie.
"This is a very sweet dog," Ortiz said of the black dog that was holding a stuffed animal in its mouth and offering to share it with Falzone.
Callie wasn't sure what was going on, but she could tell that this new human in her life was nice and wanted to give her a home.
As the two bonded, Falzone talked about her life in Orange County, Calif., and the home waiting for Callie.
"I have a 15-year-old Italian greyhound that has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Bringing a new dog into our home may be a little premature, but what can you do when you have a connection with an animal?" she said.
Falzone knows how difficult it is to find homes for adult dogs that have been caught by animal control officers or been turned over to animal shelters by the owners ? she works in an animal care center in Irvine, Calif.
"We're fortunate ? we have enough space to keep dogs for six to eight months until a home is found for them," she said. "We have the resources to work with dogs when they have behavioral and need training to be more desirable dogs."
Falzone also knows that a 1- to-2-year-old dog has a harder time being placed than puppies. This was Callie's second time to be adopted out of the Valencia County Animal Shelter. She had been returned from an adoption earlier in the year.
"People want puppies, but they don't realize the commitment a puppy requires. With an adult dog, they're past their annoying puppy habits," Falzone said.
There are five animal rescue organizations in Valencia County ? Rio Grande Animal Humane Association, Pick of the Pound, Quixote Humane, Cocker Spaniel Rescue of New Mexico and New Mexico Pug Rescue ? using Internet Web sites to advertise available dogs.
"We are very grateful to the rescue organizations that are listing the dogs on Web sites," said Anne Aragon, director of the Valencia County's animal control department. "We have had a noticeable increase in calls for animals. The Internet is one more place to advertise the availability of the dogs.
"In this day and age, people are sitting at their computers, surfing the net and discovering what we have available. Even people living in Valencia County are using the Internet rather than coming to the shelter."
To place dogs on the Web sites, the volunteers have to either rescue the animal themselves or go to the shelter, tell the staff which animals they are placing on the Internet and get the vital information about the dog, as well as a photo.
"Having a photo helps. People can see what the dog looks like," said Chavez who has been doing the Web site work for Quixote Humane. "My kids love going to the pound, so we stop several times a week and take photos."
People from across the state, Arizona and other states have called inquiring about the dogs they have seen on the Internet.
Aragon said she wishes there was more space at the shelter to hold dogs longer, but, right now, the length of time available for someone to get to the shelter to see the dog in person depends upon how long the animal has been at the shelter.
"If we are assured that they will be here on a specific day, we will hold the dog," Aragon said. "We'd much rather have the dog adopted than to have to put it down."
Unfortunately, Aragon said, there have been some inquiries from out of state that asked if "we could hold the dog for two or three weeks. We're just not able to do that."
To see which dogs are available for adoption, visit one of the Web sites where the dogs are advertised - petfinder.com, 1-800-save-a-pet.com and pets911.com.
Reference: www.news-bulletin.com
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