Dear Friends,
Because of you, WUFAW has been able to accomplish more than we hoped in our inaugural year, from our first event benefitting the victims of domestic violence, to our trip to Puerto Rico where we delivered $5000 worth of medical supplies, and to everything in between.
Our founders would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you during this holiday season. We have been deeply touched by your love and support.
Peace and blessings,
Lindsay, Iris, Kiana, Valarie and Natalia
Paralyzed Mama Dog made the long journey across the Pacific, all the way from Guam to New England back in October. After amazing rescue, Paws of New England, stepped up to the challenge and offered to take her in and provide the necessary physical therapy she was desperately in need of. Just look at her now! She has made great strides in her ability to walk again.
Please follow https://www.facebook.com/PAWSNewEngland to see the latest news on her progress.
Mama Dog is a sad result of the stray dog problem in Guam, a US territory, where the apathy towards animals is palpable. One day she was seen walking and the next she was paralyzed, yet still trying to care for her two puppies.
A concerned military wife living on base quickly came to her rescue. Sadly, Mama Dog suffered from multiple spinal injuries, most likely from being beaten, and she had been shot several times with a pellet gun, a common occurrence on the island.
The local vets all recommended euthanasia but we have different plans for her. Mama Dog will be coming to the US to be seen by VCA orthopedic surgeon Dr. Natalia Soto (one of our co-founders).
Read the full story here.
We are currently looking for a committed foster or adopter willing to help with physical therapy and mending this poor girl’s body. If interested please email
Stella was found at just 2 ½ months old living in a pagoda in Southern Cambodia, by a local rescue group SAW. The pagoda is big and unfortunately a well-known dumping site for unwanted animals and consistently ambushed by the animal meat traders.
The women from SAW immediately took Stella to the local vet because they noticed that she was unable to walk and her legs were mangled. There are NO orthopedic vets in the whole of Cambodia, so Stella’s prognosis was not good. The suggested treatment was euthanasia.
Instead, SAW decided to build her a makeshift wheelchair to see if they could help Stella walk again. But without surgery and physical therapy, she preferred to drag herself around and acclimated quite well to her new normal.
However, a few months later as Stella started to grow and needed more space they reached out to Pet Services of Cambodia and then to WUFAW to ask for help. After 5 months of trying to get Stella to the US she finally arrived in Los Angeles on August 22nd. Flown in personally by her rescuer, Nuria Lopez Conesa, to start her second chance at the life she deserves.
Video
Photos of Stella
"Clear the Shelters" and similar events that promote either “no adoption fees” or “reduced adoption fees” may sound like great ideas and they provide the local shelters the “numbers” they desire to create a narrative of having a "No-Kill" city.
Unfortunately, the numbers that the shelters don’t track are the amount of dogs returned within just a few days or the ones that end up like Cargo/Valerie, adopted from the OC shelter during a give-a-way, and 2 weeks later dumped on the sidewalk. She died at the vet and it was suspected that she suffered trauma to her vulva and from blunt force trauma to her aorta (you can read more about her story here).
Additional problems can arise from giving dogs and cats away. For example, this allows adoptions from people looking to use these animals as bait dogs, to sell to testing labs, to sexually abuse them, or to use in ritual sacrifices. Those numbers aren’t tracked because we never find out about them. There is no follow up from the shelter, no application or contract, no need to show proof of having a place to live, no materials offered on how to properly care for a pet, etc. Rescue groups do such a thorough job of vetting potential adopters and we should require the same from the shelters.
We strongly believe that someone who can’t afford to pay a small adoption fee can’t afford to have a pet, with food costs and vet care.
This NY Times opinion article sums it up best: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/18/opinion/shelter-dogs-no-kill-policies.html?nytapp=true
Shelter dog returned twice and then euthanized
