Already today, I’ve written (albeit somewhat tongue-in-cheek) about how shelter dogs can help out human beings — by acting as our first line of defense against the flying saucers. The video below shows the flip side of that, although in a somewhat more serious way. It shows a team from the Los Angeles-based rescue operation Hope for Paws collecting a stray dog, Ava, off the streets, and bringing her in to be washed, vaccinated, and prepared for adoption.
This sort of thing happens all the time, but for the most part, we don’t get to see it. We see the dogs when they’re ready for adoption, or when they find their homes, but we miss the hard work that people put into getting them off the streets and to their new homes.
In this case, Ava was reported only as a stray dog living close to an intersection in the area around Los Angeles International Airport. Eldad Hagar went out to the area, accompanied by model Victoria Van Violence, who had come from Germany to see the group’s work.
What the video shows is a lovely and touching transformation: It takes the two more than 20 minutes to get Ava to trust them enough to approach her. When they’re close enough, Hagar snares her with a leash and she bursts into terrified panic for a couple of minutes, until they calm and soothe her, talking gently and stroking her under the chin. “It took just 10 seconds from the moment I initiated physical contact with her, until she was just loving being touched,” Hagar told The Huffington Post. “To me, this is like magic — the speed that she accepted my love … is just amazing.”
From there, Eldad and Victoria take Ava to the Hollywood Veterinary Care Center. She’s now with a foster family and awaiting adoption. If you’re in the area and interested in providing a forever home for Ava (or another dog), contact Hope for Paws or Death Row Dog Rescue. There’s also an extended version of the video on YouTube that’s a full 30 minutes long, and it shows much more interaction between Eldad and Victoria, where he explains his methods of gaining trust with animals.
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