{"id":67317,"date":"2025-07-16T13:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T13:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/67317\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T13:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T13:27:10","slug":"dog-left-at-undisclosed-shelter-after-ice-raid-on-home-depot-is-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/67317\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog left at undisclosed shelter after ICE raid on Home Depot is found"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some animal advocates feared that a dog featured in a Times story about the pets of people being deported<\/a> would be euthanized, after he was taken to an undisclosed L.A. County shelter. <\/p>\n

But 3-year-old pit bull Chuco<\/a> has been located at the county\u2019s Baldwin Park animal shelter, preserving the chance that he could still be adopted. <\/p>\n

Chuco was with his owner when immigration agents raided a Home Depot in Barstow a little over two weeks ago, animal advocates said. His owner was arrested, but a friend at the scene managed to grab the dog and take him home. Not long after, his landlord seized the pet and took him to a shelter. She didn\u2019t take note of the shelter\u2019s name, but snapped a photo of the place. Chuco\u2019s owner was deported. <\/p>\n

\"Chuco, <\/p>\n

Chuco is \u201cready to go home,\u201d according to L.A. County\u2019s animal control department. <\/p>\n

(The SPAY(CE) Project)<\/p>\n

Esther Ruurda, who co-founded the SPAY(CE) Project<\/a>, which provides spay and neuter services \u2014 and sought to help Chuco<\/a> find a home \u2014 texted the photo to a shelter volunteer, Rita Earl Blackwell, asking if she could identify the location. <\/p>\n

Blackwell investigated with the help of a shelter employee and they found Chuco.<\/p>\n

He can be viewed on the county\u2019s public database of available animals<\/a>. <\/p>\n

But \u201cit\u2019s tough for a pit bull in L.A. in our current shelter crisis,\u201d said Blackwell, a veteran volunteer. County shelters are more crowded than she has seen them in 15 years, she said. Advocates point to people having abandoned animals they got during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rising cost of veterinary care \u2014 including spay and neuter procedures \u2014 and now the increased immigration arrests as reasons for the high numbers.<\/p>\n

Dogs \u2014 large ones in particular \u2014 can be hard to find homes for, according to some advocates. <\/p>\n

More than twice as many dogs were relinquished by their owners at L.A. County\u2019s Palmdale shelter in June than in the same month last year, according to data obtained by The Times. At the county\u2019s Downey shelter, the count jumped by nearly 50%. <\/p>\n

But Chuco has an engaging back story and Blackwell is hopeful that, even though he is \u201cin a sea of unwanted dogs,\u201d that will give him an edge that leads to his adoption.<\/p>\n