By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter
A Palisadian foster poodle named Baby that narrowly escaped death more than once is seeking a forever home.
Voice for the Animals Foundation and longtime Palisadian Janie Crane are working together to find a patient, loving home for this special pup—and asking the local community for help.
“This dog was rescued by animal control from a house with unsanitary conditions,” Crane, a resident of The Highlands for more than four decades and Baby’s foster parent, shared with the Palisadian-Post. “All of the dogs in the group were severely matted. They had dreadlocks and large, solid pieces hanging from their ears and their bellies and their backs.”
All of the matted dogs had a horrible odor, Crane described, and in some cases, plastic and metal wires trapped in the fur.
“This little guy, he weighed in at 17 pounds and after they shaved everything off him, he weighed 12 pounds,” Crane said.
Baby was so mistreated—his abuser has landed herself in jail, according to Crane. He was one of five poodle mixes that were rescued, along with other dogs.
The shelter put the dogs in an enclosure for the night. A fight broke out and one of the dogs died from their injuries.
VFTA then pulled Baby out because they didn’t want him to be euthanized and sent him into foster care with Janie and Dick Crane in The Highlands for the past five months.
“Baby was going to be euthanized because he was terrified,” Melya Kaplan, founder of VFTA, said to the Post. “So we said, ‘No, no, no, you can’t put this dog down because he was abused.’”
Baby’s next brush with death happened in foster care: He broke free of his leash in the parking lot by Temescal and ran into PCH traffic, Crane shared. Luckily, Baby only got brushed by the vehicle and didn’t have any lasting injuries.
“This dog wants to live,” Crane said. “I had him groomed and he blossomed into this gorgeous animal. I think he’s a mix between a poodle and a Bijon.”
Baby is working with a trainer. He likes little dogs and he likes cats. The Crane household, already home to two dogs, is unable to keep Baby longterm.
“We love him to death and we think he’d make a wonderful pet to someone who is patient,” Crane added. “I just feel like Baby has a place on this earth. I just feel like he’s trying to come back from his other life.”
Kaplan believes Baby is 2 years old, maybe 3 tops, she told the Post.
“There are so many gorgeous dogs in the shelter waiting for homes … and some of them are like Baby, where people either breed these dogs or buy these dogs and then don’t want them and put them in the shelter,” Kaplan explained. “Baby is a gorgeous, gorgeous boy and a loving sweet dog. I want to encourage people to spay and neuter and give these dogs a second chance at life.”
Voice for the Animals, founded by Kaplan in 1999, holds animal adoptions every Sunday in the Palisades. Adoptions take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the US Bank parking lot.
For more information or to donate to Voice for the Animals, go to vftafoundation.org.
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