For the Southern California-based animal shelter Hope For Paws, it can be a hard enough task to rescue and retrieve some of the animals that are ready and willing to go with them.
When one of the animals is frightened and skittish around humans, their job—which involves rescuing abused and stray animals for rehabilitation and new home placement—becomes even harder.
That was the case when they received a call about Marshmello, a nervous stray dog hanging around the Los Angeles area.
The callers believed that Marshmello had been abandoned. And while she wasn’t an aggressive dog, she had been wandering through the suburban neighborhood for a few weeks refusing to let anyone get close to her.
It wasn’t their most difficult rescue, but with plenty of yards for the sweet-tempered but terrified dog to wander into, they had to keep their eyes peeled. Fortunately, yards provide just as much help by trapping the dog, allowing for a quick capture. With Hagar and Frankonyte’s expertise, they quickly followed Marshmello into a yard and blocked all exits ... except one.
Hagar followed Marshmello into the backyard. She was hiding behind the garage, he knew. They had a plan: he would chase her out, and Frankonyte would snag her in the net.
Meanwhile, Hagar video-recorded the whole exciting chase as a promotional video for the shelter. Watch for yourself how the amazing rescue went down; they were able to capture Marshmello so they could work on gaining her trust and finding her a new forever home:
Organizations like Hope For Paws aren’t faced with an easy or ordinary line of work, and the way they rescued Marshmello showed that off perfectly. It took both founder Eldad Hagar and volunteer Loreta Frankonyte, not to mention a safe net and a kid’s playpen gate, just to find a way to collect the dog that they were determined to help get off the streets.
Their work is vital, though. With the LA Times estimating that there are as many as 44,000 stray dogs wandering the streets in Los Angeles at any given time, the rescue of each and every one of the stray dogs that Hope For Paws and other no-kill shelters conducts saves another life for a four-legged friend.
And in many cases, their work has a pretty happy ending. Just recently, Marshmello was adopted—ensuring that she’s off the streets for good now and living with a happy, loving home! It wasn’t easy, but she went from wandering terrified to living with a smile.
