Last Bad Day

May 2013 is a very hectic month for me. For one thing, my daughter Hannah is nine months pregnant, so I spend a good deal of my time willing her to have the baby.The other thing is my frenzied preparation for the second annual Snyder Sutton Pup Parade. My mission is to rescue ten dogs from LA shelters and give them away free to good people during the Topanga Days Parade.

Trying to get Moxie to look at me for his freedom photo.

Each time I pull a dog from a shelter I experience a delicious cocktail of joy and anxiety. I feel as if I have single handily orchestrated some elaborate prison break. As I drive away from the shelter with a stinky, filthy, unkempt escapee sitting next to me on the seat of my car, I fully understand what it means to be free. I can assure you, freedom is exactly the same for dogs as it is for people.

Their initial reaction is disbelief, they sit stock still, their legs so stiff and immovable that sometimes I have trouble getting them into the car. They refuse to look me in the eye. I try to snap a freedom photo, but they look away, so if I don't hold their head up or turn it towards me my freedom photo is usually the side or top of their head.

They are naturally terrified. After weeks of imprisonment this change must surely mean the end of the road, but suddenly everything starts to feel normal. They remember what life was like before bars and I see their bodies relax a little as they dare to hope. I try to keep one hand on the wheel and one hand petting. I make soothing sounds. I open the window a crack so they can smell the world, hear noises different from unending barking and crying. They lift their head and sniff the air.

Riley - right out of the shelter BEFORE the groomer

By the time I head up the hill to Topanga they are starting to realize that they have been rescued. They might try crawl onto my lap or give me little thank you kisses on my arm. This part is tough for me because I know just as I am gaining their trust there will be that moment where I must leave them with their foster family. When I walk away they will look after me or try to come with me and it always hurts my heart a little.

This year I am lucky to find not ten, but twelve eager foster families, so I end up during the six weeks prior to the parade pulling twelve dogs from Los Angeles area shelters. The first one is Kaya, an adorable Rottweiler-mix puppy. (Her shelter name - Mahogany) They tell me she is very sick with a respiratory infection and a hip injury both of which disappear miraculously within twenty minutes of her freedom.

Next, I pull Charco, he is allegedly an Otter Hound. Be aware, the shelters play fast and lose with breed identification. I research Otter Hounds on Google and find out that there are about a 1000 left worldwide. What are the odds that West Valley Animal Shelter is lucky enough to have one of these rare dogs?

Baby Logan

Next is baby Logan, a black Lab Pit Bull mix puppy with a bad case of the sniffles, he is also from West Valley Shelter. When I arrive at the shelter early one morning potential owners are engaged in a silent auction for his two siblings, but no one wanted this little guy. He is the last of a litter and only 8 weeks old. I plead with the shelter not to neuter him because he is so young and has a very runny nose, but they insist upon it.

A few days later I choose Butters, a quiet, stoic Terrier from North Central. She is quickly followed by Bernie, an adorable pup with giant ears and an ego to match from East Valley. Bernie is probably of the Chihuahua Terrier Princess variety. She is rail thin from the stress of her predicament and knows full well she should not be in a shelter rubbing shoulders with the riff raff. We all fall in love with her attitude and enjoy pampering and catering to her for a few days before we hand her off to a foster.

Riley - one hour later AFTER being groomed.

Next is Riley, (now named Indy) 11 months old and apparently a Norfolk Terrier. Hannah is with me at North Central and she is the one that actually picks him out. We drive him straight to Merri's Grooming Palace in Woodland Hills and drop him off for an hour. (Scroll back up this page to see his "before" picture, taken just one hour prior) He probably received more love and attention at the groomers than he has ever known in his short life. Hannah and I have to drag him out of there, he does not want to leave. I have a feeling that he is hoping against hope that Merri's Palace is his new home. Nothing like an afternoon of pampering to make you feel like royalty.

Cassidy - so sad in the shelter 

Then there is Cassidy, she is a gentle, golden lab mix with soulful eyes. Even though she is still young it is clear to me that she has been abused, but she is just too gorgeous and sweet to pass up. On the same day I rescue Cassidy, I also pick up Moxie. Moxie (his shelter name - Kanye.) is a very sick little Puggle from East Valley.

Normally I wouldn't take such a sick dog but the staff vet at the shelter pleads with me to save him. She tells me he narrowly escaped being destroyed when he was brought in as a stray, close to death and too weak to eat. With fluids and a little time, I learn, he has slowly improved to the point that he is eating on his own. He is still painfully thin, but the vet is determined to get him out of the shelter, so I cave under pressure and agree to take him.

After I fill out the adoption papers and pay for him, I wait at the front desk while they retrieve the little patient from the hospital section of the shelter. They bring him out to me swaddled like a new baby in a lime green blanket. I carry him out to the car which just his face peeking out of the blanket and he stares up at with his enormous, sad eyes looking especially tragic.

The final lucky ones are Squid, a long-haired jet black Dachshund mix. She is a wiggly, playful, bundle of love and joy. And Lucy, a tiny eight week old Spaniel mix puppy. Lucy is way too young to know her situation or even understand her rescue but she is as cute as can be and I know she will be snapped up quickly during the parade. Hannah calls these silly little puppies, "slam dunkers." She is right, who in the world can resist a puppy. Is there anything more wonderful?

The last two are certainly not the least. Maggie is a striking six month old bouncy pit-mix puppy. I pull her from East Valley and then, a few days later, thanks to North Central's very persuasive Facebook page, I rescue Marley (her shelter name - Winnie), a precious Boxer-mix puppy just one day before the parade. (Thank you Diana Lannes who did all the driving on this rescue)

So this is it. At last, I have my line up. Six weeks of trolling shelters and I have twelve incredible dogs, all safe in foster homes being transformed with love and food into healthy, happy, family pets. They will all be ready to walk or be carried in the parade, and I know I can safely say that no matter what happens at Topanga's Memorial Day Parade, my shelter pups have all had their last bad day.