Stray dogs along the Blue Line

This is the latest dispatch from The Times' Lauren Williams, a regular Blue Line patron:

The first time I commuted on the Metro, I was practicing how to get to The Times using public transportation. It was 10 p.m.  and I was standing on the platform at the Imperial/Wilmington stop, where the Blue Line intersects the Green Line, and I remember a small, scruffy dog near the stop, walking uncomfortably close to the rail line. I figured it was a one-time occurrence and someone would surely pick up the lost dog.

As I later learned, loose dogs are a pretty common sight on the Blue Line, especially between the Florence stop (just past the intersection with the Green Line) and the Del Amo station. Regular riders probably see half a dozen dogs walking the streets each week.

Some have collars, although they often don’t, and usually the dogs look happy to be free, trotting down the street. In such cases I assume another Good Samaritan will stop and call the owner or a shelter and the dog will be back to regular meals and clean water in no time.

Such was not the case last week, when, riding the Blue Line, I saw a dog curled into a ball lying dangerously close to the tracks beyond the metal gate that, to humans, distinguishes between the safe side of the sidewalk and the all-too-close side, near the Metro’s tracks.

The dog was cute, medium sized, with longish black and brown hair lying in the shade under a tree — the kind of dog that looks like the ideal family pet. It looked as if though had been on the streets for a while and was ready to kick the bucket.

So, as I rode the Blue Line, near El Segundo Boulevard, just past the Compton stop, I decided I was probably the only person who noticed (or cared about) the dog and called information trying to reach animal control.

Other passengers looked at me like I was a lunatic. “She’s got to be kidding,” their expressions said. But the dog looked nice. After several minutes on hold and several transfer calls, the Blue Line I was riding had taken me several stops away from where the dog was and my description was shoddy.

I didn't see the dog on my way home. I assumed maybe it had been picked up — or he just wandered somewhere else. Either way I thought maybe I was on to something.

A few days later, though, a dead pit bull near where the black and brown dog had been proved to me that I wasn’t. Or, maybe, a few more calls to animal control were in order.

To report a lost dog, here are the numbers for different agencies in Los Angeles County:

City of Los Angeles: call 3-1-1, http://www.laanimalservices.com/

Los Angeles County: The Downey shelter handles most of the area near the Blue Line; 562-940-6898, http://animalcare.lacounty.gov/.

City of Long Beach: 562-570-7387, http://www.longbeach.gov/health/bureau/ac/

The other county shelters contract services to many of the other cities in L.A. County. Their numbers are:

Agoura Shelter, (818) 991-0071

Baldwin Park Shelter, (626) 962-3577

Carson Shelter, (310) 523-9566

Castaic Shelter, (661) 257-3191 or (818) 367-8065

Lancaster Shelter, (661) 940-4191

--Lauren Williams

Photo: Rick Meyer / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Don]

Thank you for posting this story. Hopefully it will encourage all of us to look around us and think of something other than ourselves for a moment. Whether a dog, a cat, or someone down and out, there are creatures in the world who need a hand up.

Dogs were domesticated by humans and are completely dependent upon us for food, shelter, and water; we therefore have a responsibility to ensure their humane treatment.

Pet a dog, hug your child, and - if you have the money - contribute a couple of dollars to your favorite charity today. It'll make someone else's day - and yours too.

Speaking of which, I'm going to the national ASPCA website now to donate $5.

[Paul]

This just in: Stray dogs are more abundant where poor people live!

[Spokker]

It may appear that no one else who rides the Blue Line cares about dogs, but you can't help every stray pet you see, especially when you need to get to work. If you stopped for every animal in distress, you wouldn't get anywhere.

You may also appear callous helping a homeless dog, when there are plenty of homeless people along the Blue Line.

Like someone else said, encourage spay and neuter, and encourage responsible pet ownership. If you really want to help, volunteer at an animal shelter.

But this whole, "wahhh, nobody cares about dogs" attitude is tiresome.

[Grace]

Thank you for caring about the dogs when, it appears, no one else who rides or walks in that area does. I hope you're going to follow up on this...

[E.A.S.]

Please follow up on this story. Inhumane treatment is not acceptable. Encourage Spay and Neuter. Thank you for your story...