My Posts Concerning Our Attempt To Rescue Lily

Lily

My name is Joseph E "Gene" Candelaria. What follows is a collection of email letters I posted relating to a dog my wife and I found in our yard and rescued. You will see how after many attempts to find the dog’s owner and after caring for the dog, West Valley High School Agricultural Intstructor John Ventuluth figuratively spat on us. I was treated like a common criminal by the Hemet Police Department. I was told lies and "misrepresentations of the truth" by Mr Ventuluth. I believe this man is lacking in good judgement and is morally corrupt. Myself and many others do not think he should have a dog breeding program at the school. This is Agriculture?! He does not care for the dog, as we can tell by how he treats her. She wasn’t even wearing a collar! Next time she may not be so lucky to find someone to care for her. I hope you can help me get the dog back as she needs a loving, caring home rather than a cruel and uncaring owner. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

JEC

Sat, 01 Mar 1997 23:52:26

Hi everyone. Wow. When you least expect it--bam!

Last night I heard a dog howling in my neighborhood and didn't think anything of it. Tonight, I heard the same howling and it was closer. My Red Dobie, Suni and my Sheltie, Burgie were howling along in unison. In my from yard was a beautiful, small statured, Red Dobie bitch. It really shocked me since I have my Red and I am always happy to see another. What's even more amazing is that my Red has a ridge along the back of his neck, and so does this Red bitch!! I kept telling my wife that they're related!

This girl doesn't have a collar and seemed hungry so I gave her some dobie cookies. She devoured them. She met my boys and had a nice dinner. She loved it. She appears about two to five years old and may have had pups. She seems outwardly healthy, although a little malnourished. She even met my cats and seemed friendly. I was finally able to settle her and my fellas down enough and they're all asleep.

I'm going to put up some found dog signs and contact the police. If her owners don't come looking I have a friend who's a Doberlover also who will be more than glad to adopt her. This is the first time I've done anything like this and I hope I do the right things. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Sun, 02 Mar 1997 12:13:01

I think I'm going to need help in placing the Dobergirl I rescued last night. Please, if *anybody* can help me, I need to hear from you soon. I live in Hemet, California (near Riverside). If anyone from this area can help me find her a good home, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Mon, 3 Mar 1997 21:21:35

Thank you to everyone who's helped me with my first dobie rescue. Just want to let you know that I will get positive ID from anyone who contacts me claiming her. She has other unique distinguishing features besides the ridge-back. I would expect the same if any of mine were lost.

The police told me to contact the local animal shelter, so I did and gave them some info in case her folks come looking. Nobody in the neighborhood recognizes her so far. I will be contacting the rescue people in my area soon.

She is still doing good. My wife and I are giving her lots of love and our critters are tolerating her fairly well. There are a few squabbles now and then, but we understand. I've taken her with the fellas on their morning and afternoon walks and she seems to enjoy herself.

Again, thanks to all who've helped. I'm confident that I will find her a good home and will keep the list updated on her situation. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Tue, 04 Mar 1997 13:19:29

Well, my wife came up with a pretty cool interim name for our red rescue girl. Lily as in Chocolate Lily which is a rare wild lily that grows in sparse numbers and only in certain locations in our area. I think it's only appropriate as she is as beautiful as a Chocolate Lily. She's still doing good, nobody's come looking for her yet. We're all getting ready to take a hike this afternoon. She loves those hills. So far she stays close and comes running when I call her.

Thanks to everyone again for your help and advice. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Fri, 7 Mar 1997 15:18:58

Hi everybody. Here's an update on Lily the red rescue. I took her to my vet, Dr. Stallings today to have her checked per the request of a local Dober Rescue Organization. My wife, Ronna, and I have had the notion that Lily's eyesight was not the best. When we call her she looks toward us but not at us, she creeps around at night like she's trying to get her shorelegs, and her pupils seem to respond irregularly to light. Dr. did some routine tests, looked with the opthamoliscope and as near as she can tell, there are no lesions (cataracts, torn retina, etc) in her eyes. Lily may have always had bad sight, she may have had trauma that affected her sight (hit by a car or beat by a previous custodian), or she may have a lesion on her brain that is affecting her sight. The vet could not say for sure, being that she is not an specialist, but she did suggest a good opthamologist in Diamond Bar.

Dr. also suggested Lily may have been a puppy machine due to her pronounced nipples and how that might go along with the idea that a previous owner may have used and abused her. The vet says Lily is not all dog in that there may have been some early life skills that she did not pick up judging by the way she behaves. Dr. suggested perhaps she was an orphan and didn't get proper mothering. Lily paced constantly around the exam room and the vet said this was another indication of a neurological disorder or the effects of being confined to a small space. Lily cowers and Dr. said this is an indication of someone being mean to her.

A strange thing, I posted some signs around the neighborhood about her. They were up for a day. The next day, they were all down and I expected someone to call, but nobody did. I don't think Lily's previous owners want her back!

There's enough wrong with Lily that the vet said she didn't think anyone looking for a show/breed dog would want her, but on the other hand, Lily would be a great pet for anyone willing to work with her situation. So, going by this and what the rescue person told me, I get the impression the Rescue Org. Can’t help Lily. This is disappointing, however...

Ronna and I have concluded that if we can't find a nice home for Lily, we will make her a permanent family member. This is going to take some talking to the landlord, as she 2 dogs was more than enough critters for our little house (the Sheltie is a rescue). We'll take it as it comes.

For now, Lily is doing good. Still being tolerated by Suni and Burgie and the cats. Still trying to fit in. Of course, we've all had to adjust a routine here and tweak some time here, but it's all for good. She's a very sweet Dobergirl.

Thanks, yet again, everyone for your help and concern. This is an experience I will always remember. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Sun, 09 Mar 1997 13:39:05

Well, we found out who owns Lily and that their name for her is Teeka. She belongs to the Agricultural Department of a local high school. They keep their farm at the elementary school across the street. My wife Ronna, I and the dogs were coming back from our morning walk when she spotted a "Lost Doberman" sign. The sign says a red female Doberman was lost "after criminal break in." This problem is routine at the Ag farm.

The number to contact is for the high school. No one answers since it's for the office, which is closed until Monday. I would have thought someone would have put their home phone down as a contact. The alternate number is for the police, and I'm not about to contact them. In fact, I called them about Teeka after I found her and they told me to contact the animal shelter.

This situation has Ronna and I up in arms. It seems to us that Teeka must be their "security" dog. She doesn't have a family or a home. She is left to roam the Ag farm grounds. She obviously is malnourished and doesn't get exercise from what we and our vet could tell upon examination. Perhaps the students rescued her from a previous abusive owner, but things seem to point to some sort of abuse/negligence against Teeka. Ronna said she didn't like the idea of giving her back to them. Now, I know Teeka is not our dog to make decisions with, but with the situation as it is, what would be the moral thing to do. I have yet to speak with anyone from the Ag Dept., but when I do this will give me a better idea. Depending on how it goes, I will ask them to take better care of her, at least. It tears us up to think this beautiful dog is left to fend for herself in a crime prone location. The criminals know she isn't much to contend with, since they released her from the Ag farm.

With all their resources, it doesn't seem like the school took as much action as we would've had our Suni or Burgie been lost. We would have left our home phone number. We would have scoured the neighborhood. We would have checked with the animal shelter. These signs advising of "lost Doberman", were in some of the same locations that I had "found Doberman" signs up. All the "lost" signs were concentrated in the vicinity of the Ag Farm, rather than through out the neighborhood. It just doesn't seem like they are trying very hard to find her.

Can anyone help us with this? Should we resign ourselves and give Teeka back to her rightful owner(s). Or should we do something else? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

_____________________________________________________________________________________ Mon, 10 Mar 1997 13:13:19

Where do I begin?

The Agriculture Instructor at the High School says Teeka was purchased by him to teach students about dog breeding! He lamented about how the students didn't have a dog to practice breeding now. He said I should call the police and they'd send the dog catcher, or he'd sell her to me for $200, then raised his price to $400 since he said she was registered and breedable! I told him I was thinking only about the dog and didn't want to breed her. I told him what my vet thought about her health. He denied knowing anything was wrong with her. He accused me of stealing her and threatened to call the police. He then said I could have her if I found another dog that he could use for breeding. I told him I'd call back and I then contacted the local DoberRescue. The lady gave me some ideas on what I could do. We wondered if the Ag Dept had a puppy mill going.

I called him back and following the Rescue Organization’s advice, told him if he wanted his dog back he could come get her and pay me $97.50 for boarding and the vet. He wanted my address, but I couldn't get him to agree to the $97.50. Since he threatened to sick the police on me, I balked. He started citing California laws and told me I was in possession of stolen property. I explained how I had been looking for her rightful owner and taking care of her. I asked him why she hadn't been wearing a collar and he said she might hurt herself being alone at the farm with a collar!

This was the last straw. I called him every name in the book. He called me names also. He suddenly changed his tone and said she had a bad litter when she was younger and never came into heat again due to a problem (which I will get details on). He asked $400 because he said he thought I only wanted to breed her and the high price would discourage me from wanting to keep her. What a lame idiot! If anyone stole her for breeding they wouldn't have called him saying they had her. This is not dognapping!

This set me off again and I called him a liar and a fraud. He denied the lies but finally agreed that he had "misrepresented the situation". I told him if he had told me the truth on the first hand, none of our argument would have occurred and he would have had her back immediately. He told me that they had purchased her with the intention of starting a dog breeding program at the Ag Dept, but she had the problem with her first litter, and never came into heat again. He said he and his daughter had become attached to her when the High School was located on the same property as the Ag Farm. The school moved to a new location last year and the Ag Farm stayed behind. Since then, Teeka gets a human visit maybe twice a day. He said as far as his daughter is concerned the dog is gone. She only saw it a few times since the School moved. We decided to meet today at 4pm and he said we may still be able to work something out, since I sounded like I might care about her.

Well, I hope everyone sends me their good luck and I will let you all know what happens. My wife Ronna is worried that the police will be there and I will be accused of the break in.

Does anyone have any comment on the possibility of the school intending to have a puppy farm? This makes me sick! _____________________________________________________________________________________ Mon, 10 Mar 1997 17:00:55

I had a feeling that @#$** AG Instructor was setting me up!

My wife and I were at the designated meeting spot w/Teeka (formerly Lily). The meeting time came and went. Then, here come the cops. They treated me like a criminal and searched and detained me. They had me put my hands on my head and frisked me and asked if I had weapons. Then they had me sit cross legged on the in the parking lot!

The officer asked me what happened and I told him the whole story. The Ag Instructor accused me of trying to extort him and with having stolen property! Never mind that he offered to sell her to me for $400. In the end, Teeka went back to the evil Ag Instructor. She didn't even want to go to him. Then he just picked her up and tossed her in with the horses at the Ag Farm and left!! He didn't even thank me for what I'd done.

I am so *MAD* right now. My wife is so torn up and crying at the thought of Teeka penned up like a slave animal instead of on the warm bed we provided her. I called the local DoberRescue and told them. There is nothing they can do but sympathize.

Can anyone give me some advice? This is terrible. I thought I was doing good and only got the shaft!

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