When the Hope For Paws animal rescue organization in California received a call about a trio of homeless dogs, they went in search of two male dogs and one very pregnant female Labrador.
When Hope for Paws founder Eldad Hagar saw the dogs, he noticed that the Labrador female was no longer pregnant—and realized that his rescue operation would be about more than just rescuing adult dogs and placing them in loving homes.
Hagar and volunteers JoAnn Wiltz and Katie McKittrick were able to gain the trust of the three dogs and safely get Hagar himself over the fence separating the dogs from the sidewalk thanks to some delicious snacks. But, while he didn’t expect the dogs to attack him, he quickly realized that he hadn’t gained the new Labrador mom’s trust well enough to convince her to lead him to her newborn pups—which meant he’d have to use some pretty clever tricks to convince her to let him rescue her adorable new bundles of love as well.
He began by playing a video of crying puppies on his phone in the hopes that the sound would entice the mom to lead him to her own litter.
She quickly led him deeper into the enclosed lot, past some dense vegetation, and Hagar and the other two volunteers hoped that this meant the puppies would be easy to find. Unfortunately, the mom was all too willing to use a common deception trick to her advantage; she guarded a fictitious location to fool Hagar into thinking her puppies were there, when in fact they were somewhere else entirely!
Hagar was well aware that the abandoned area where the three adult dogs had been discovered was just above the busy, rushing 105 speedway, making it an extremely dangerous location for the mom and her new pups. So they acted quickly; after requesting additional supplies from long-time Hope For Paws volunteer Loreta Frankonyte, they eventually wandered and sought out the mom by approaching from the busy highway side of the brush.
It was simply a matter of regaining her trust in food from there. They fed Mom and convinced her to let go of her pups just long enough to pull them all out from under the dense brush and back to the Hope For Paws rescue vehicle for transport to a veterinary clinic.
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The mom has been renamed Amazon, and she has been given a second chance at happiness—hopefully with her pups. Amazon and her litter, named Hudson, Nile, Trinity, Lena, Seine, Tigris, and Yukon, were offered foster care by the Socal Labrador Retriever Rescue. They were able to grow and develop as a happy, well-adjusted unit of adorable young puppies because they were brought to a loving foster and given the opportunity to stay together—and it didn’t take long for the entire group of them to be adopted.
Hope For Paws is always looking for new volunteers, whether it’s with financial contributions or suggestions for dogs in need. For the time being, they can be proud that this sweet mom and her babies were able to escape a dangerous situation and find loving forever homes.
