It Takes a Dog to Raise a Village

When I was first approached by Linda Sullivan about the homeless dog Shaggy, I have to admit I was in disbelief. I have worked in the Galleria area for close to twenty years and can easily say I have never seen a homeless dog in this area.  Our work with Barrio Dogs of Houston is primarily education and raising awareness in low-income communities on animal welfare. . .a community far different from this area.

I had to see it for myself and during a drive out there during my lunch hour with a fellow rescuer, there was no homeless dog to be found. I took a chance and asked some construction workers if they had ever seen a homeless dog in the field.  They immediately replied “yes” and during that conversation, they spotted her and said “There she goes right now”. 

Wow. To see this dog in this open field surrounded by traffic and the hustle and bustle was unbelievable. And what was more unbelievable is to find out that she had been living there close to nine months, maybe more.

We immediately set up a dog trap but found out within a few weeks that she was one tough cookie and to try to capture her would require the experts. I was fortunate enough to meet Kelle Mann Davis & Douglas Worthy with Lone Star Recovery who were a huge part of finally capturing Shaggy.  However, please know it was many others who made this happen, including Karen LaBarba who would write Barrio Dogs continuously to let us know Shaggy still needed to be saved. Also, the emails and stories that we received on this one dog were amazing; we heard about her from the bus stop riders, business owners and residents who were feeding her and trying to save her.

For Barrio Dogs, it is a big mission for us to educate, empower and transform communities to make a change for animal welfare in low-income communities. It is a very hard struggle for us to make this change. In Shaggy’s case she had the opposite: an entire community supporting her. She is one very lucky dog and Barrio Dogs is very fortunate to have been part of her story. We have made some wonderful friends along the way and are thrilled to have been a part of this wonderful group of caring individuals who wanted a better life for Shaggy.
 
Gloria Zenteno
Founder & President of Barrio Dogs