CENTER GIVES HOPE TO HOMELESS HOUNDS; FILLMORE FACILITY SEEKS FAMILIES WHO WANT A PET.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

On a picturesque hilltop overlooking this rural community is a sanctuary for the elderly and the disabled, the abused and the homeless - all of them man's best friend.

It is a place where dogs hope for a new beginning and one more chance to love and be loved.

Athena and Apollo are typical.

Ten months ago, the two tan shepherd mixes arrived at the Humane Animal Rescue Team's sanctuary, severely underweight and fearful of people. Their former owner, who was described as a demented woman who lived in her car on the streets of Los Angeles, rarely let the dogs outside. Their bellies were scared from trying to squeeze out the car window.

``When they came to us, they were absolutely skin and bones,'' said Jamie Pinn, executive director of HART, a nonprofit group that takes in dogs of the indigent elderly, terminally ill and others who can no longer care for their pets. Police had said the woman was so delusional, Pinn recalled, that when they approached her ``she was off in some fanciful world where she was like a princess and these were her knights. They said it was almost like a Stephen King novel.''

Today, Athena and Apollo are happy and healthy but still hoping to find a new master.

In a youth-oriented culture where puppies are often thought of as the ideal pet, the joys of an older, sedate canine companion are often overlooked.

``They are very eager to bond with you,'' Pinn said. ``They are so much more focused (than a young dog). They want to fit into the family and they're often house-trained.''

A few weeks ago when Kathy and Andrew Rutkin of Newbury Park were looking for a new addition to the family, they headed to the PetsMart store in Westlake Village, where HART has an adoption outreach every Saturday.

When Kathy Rutkin spotted Roger, a coonhound with an irresistible mug, she knew he was the one.

``For me, it was just his face,'' Kathy Rutkin said. ``He looked at us like, Get me out of here

He just looked like he really wanted a home and a family to give him a lot of attention.''

In the two weeks since Roger's adoption, he's gotten over his initial shyness and is learning to play with the Rutkins' children, although he keeps his distance from the family cat.

``When he first came in, his tail was always down,'' said Kathy Rutkin. ``Now he walks around with it pointed in the sky.''

Since it was founded by Suzanne and Phillip Kane 15 years ago, HART has placed more than 4,000 dogs and has never wavered from its staunch no-kill policy. Suzanne Kane, a former social worker, started the organization when she learned of a woman who refused cancer treatment because she had no one to care for her dog.

Kane volunteered to take in the pooch and soon discovered many more cases where the terminally ill, the homeless and others were torn with the need to take care of themselves while trying to look out for their dogs.

HART, which can house up to 50 animals at a time, typically only takes dogs on referral from agencies, such as social services, police, hospices and medical research laboratories.

``Sometimes we'll get a call from the laboratory saying that the dog has been through the experiment. We don't want to kill it. We'd like you to rescue it,'' she said recounting the conversations. ``But they make wonderful adjustments into your home.''

Once in a while the adoptions don't work out. Pinn recalled how one family adopted a dog that quickly bonded, particularly to the 4-year-old daughter with Down's Syndrome.

But the child developed a severe allergy to the dog, named Gentle Ben, and the pet had to be kept outside.

``He was so sad that he couldn't be with his little girl that he would howl in the back yard and look up at her window,'' Pinn said. ``This was so devastating for the little girl that they didn't know what to do.''

Eventually the family realized that Gentle Ben would have to go back. So HART's sanctuary managers drove out to pick up Gentle Ben.

``When he was put into their car,'' Pinn said, ``he looked back at the house and let out one more howl for the little girl.''

For information on adoptions and volunteer opportunities, call HART at [phone].

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color in Simi Edition only) Marty, left, and Roger Ming and Jamie Pinn, right, operate the Humane Animal Rescue Team, which houses dogs whose owners can no longer care for them.

(2--Ran in Simi Edition only) Sarah, a dog available for adoption at the Humane Animal Rescue Team, gets comfy.

Evan Yee/Daily News