It’s a good thing we have people like Sabrina Wilkerson around. Otherwise, who knows what might happen to stray animals. Not everyone is an animal lover.
Back in October 2018, Wilkerson, who is a volunteer for the Chihuahua Rescue of San Diego County received a phone call from a liquor store owner who had a frightened Chihuahua run into his store and hide for at least two hours.
The man didn’t know what to do and didn’t appear to want to go near the dog.
“The guy seemed like he really didn’t know much about dogs,” Wilkerson told The Dodo. “I said, ‘Is he friendly? Will you go near him?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m not going near the dog.’”
He did snap a few photos of the scared little dog who had been soaked by the rain outside. But the best he could do to care for the pup was to try and drape a towel over it.
Wilkerson immediately drove to the store where she found the dog cowering in the same place as he was in the pictures.
The dog wasn’t pleased to see more people.
“He showed us his teeth — he was just stressed out,” Wilkerson said.
After making the tiny pup feel as safe as possible, she did finally get him into a crate and to the vet.
The little guy turned out not to have a microchip, so Wilkerson took him home with her.
In San Diego, you can’t just keep a dog you find, even if it doesn’t have a microchip. All pets must go on a “hold” at a local shelter to make sure no one is looking for them.
The dog had warmed up to her but clearly wasn’t interested in going to the shelter.
And since she made the mistake of not crating him for the car ride, the Chihuahua bolted the minute she opened the car door.
He was gone.
“I didn’t take him in a crate. I figured I’d just carry him in my arms. I don’t know what I was thinking — I’d never done this before with a stray,” she admitted to The Dodo.
She was devastated and began making lost dog flyers to put up around the neighborhood surrounding the vet’s office.
Luckily, the pup was found that very evening and the woman who picked him up told Wilkerson that she took him to the shelter.
Wilkerson was relieved when she swung by the next day and confirmed that it was really him.
“The woman’s name was Austin Walker, so I named him after her,” Wilkerson said.
After several days at the shelter on a “stray hold,” no one had claimed Austin. That’s when Wilkerson got the good news that she could take him home to foster him.
By November, Austin was able to find his forever home where he was living happily according to Wilkerson’s update about him on December 7th.
Her guess was that he had spent years living on the street before his liquor store rescue. But that was never going to happen again.
Now, he’s happy and healthy in the care of his new mom, Kate.
We’re so happy to hear that there was a happy ending to his story.
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