{"id":44043,"date":"2013-10-07T14:47:14","date_gmt":"2013-10-07T21:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theavtimes.com\/?p=44043"},"modified":"2013-10-07T15:15:21","modified_gmt":"2013-10-07T22:15:21","slug":"a-running-start-to-solving-avs-pet-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/10\/07\/a-running-start-to-solving-avs-pet-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"A running start to solving AV\u2019s pet crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jeanette<\/a>
Jeanette Portocarrero leads the “Run with Pets” 5K with Frankie. When found, the pit bull had a gaping gash across his forehead, which required his ears to be pulled back in a mass of staples, earning him the name Frankenstein, or Frankie for short. Frankie is one of many success stories made possible through Lost & Found Dogs in the Antelope Valley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 Skye was wandering the desert on a rainy day when she was spotted by concerned residents, who teamed up to safely corral the soaking wet, frightened poodle.<\/p>\n

\"Skye<\/a>
Skye and Dalida Ohanian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, Skye is healthy and happy and has found a loving home with Palmdale resident Dalida Ohanian.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt home she\u2019s relaxed, she doesn\u2019t bark and she\u2019s really sweet,\u201d Ohanian said.<\/p>\n

Skye and many others like her have been saved thanks to the Lost & Found Dogs in the Antelope Valley (LAFDAV), an online information center supported by Antelope Valley residents who are advocates for animals.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur motto is reuniting pets with their families and helping the ones left behind,\u201d said Jeanette Portocarrero, who started LAFDAV in 2011 to have a central online station for locally lost pets.<\/p>\n

\"Tinker<\/a>
Tinker was abandoned as a puppy and roamed the streets of east Palmdale until she was saved by the LAFDAV crew. Tinker is shown with owner Khalilah Shahiv.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI started a Facebook page in hopes of trying to reunite these pets with their families, and in doing so, I discovered a much deeper need,\u201d Portocarrero said. \u201cThere are so many stray dogs, abused dogs, abandoned and neglected dogs in this Valley, so now I\u2019m deep in the trenches.\u201d<\/p>\n

LAFDAV\u2019s mission continues to expand, and the network now provides support, education and funding for the local pet community, as well as a resolution towards pet negligence and abandonment, Portocarrero said.<\/p>\n

On Sunday (Oct. 6), the group hosted its inaugural \u201cRun with Pets\u201d event, a 5K \u201crun\/walk\/crawl\u201d aimed at raising awareness of the pet crisis in the Antelope Valley.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s 5K brought together about two dozen participants and pooches of all breeds.<\/p>\n

The 5K started and ended at Sol Plaza, at 1140 Commerce Drive in Lancaster. Participants paid $15 to take part and received a LAFDAV \u201cNo Kill\u201d T-shirt.<\/p>\n

\"Diana<\/a>
Diana and her 4-year-old son Gabriel joined Coco for the 5K “Run with Pets.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Funds raised from the event will be used to help continue LAFDAV\u2019s mission, which includes getting more residents involved and eventually opening a weekend adoption center in Sol Plaza, Portocarrero said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of people that see the need and don\u2019t really know how to help or where to begin, so the network gives them a start,\u201d Portocarrero said. \u201cWe need to bring awareness to this community that every individual who owns a pet needs to take proper care of it, because at the end of the day, it\u2019s people like us left to pick up litters of unwanted pets.”<\/p>\n

For more information about LAFDAV or to make a tax deductible donation to support the cause, visit http:\/\/lafdav.com<\/a>. If you are in the midst of trying to locate a lost pet or have found a pet and are looking to locate its owner, you can post pictures at LAFDAV\u2019s facebook page at https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/lostdogsintheantelopevalley<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also join the LAFDAV network\u2019s Facebook group, by visiting https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/lafdav\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 Skye was wandering the desert on a rainy day when she was spotted by concerned residents, who teamed up to safely corral the soaking wet, frightened poodle. Today, Skye is healthy and happy and has found a loving home with Palmdale resident Dalida Ohanian. \u201cAt home she\u2019s relaxed, she doesn\u2019t bark and she\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44046,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44043"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}