DOGS AND THEIR PAL BOUND FOR HEAVEN.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
STUDIO CITY - This should tell you all you need to know about why Laurel Kinder does what she does. As a child, she went to Catholic school, and as anyone raised on Hail Marys Hail Mary: see Ave Maria. Hail Mary Latin Ave Maria Principal Roman Catholic prayer addressed to the Virgin Mary. It begins with the greetings spoken to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel and by her cousin Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke: and Our Fathers knows, one of the first things First Things is a monthly ecumenical journal concerned with the creation of a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society" (First Things website). you're taught is that you can't go to heaven unless you're baptized bap·tize v. bap·tized, bap·tiz·ing, bap·tiz·es v.tr. 1. To admit into Christianity by means of baptism. 2. a. To cleanse or purify. b. To initiate. 3. . So, Laurel would bring home all the stray dogs in her neighborhood, line them up in her back yard, and sprinkle their heads with some holy water that she sneaked out of church so they could make it into heaven when their time came. Thirty years later, not much has changed. The 38-year-old Studio City woman is still saving dogs, just not their souls anymore. At least once or twice a month, she leaves work early to rescue a stray somewhere in this city, many of them needing immediate medical attention. Her latest is recuperating right now over at Parker Pet Hospital in Studio City. Laurel's dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. him Peter Pan Lost Boy, a stray from Bellflower bellflower, in botany bellflower or bluebell, name commonly used as a comprehensive term for members of the Campanulaceae, a family of chiefly herbaceous annuals or perennials of wide distribution, characteristically found on dry who was dealt a cruel fate in life. He was given the heart of a lion and the body of a hot dog. ``He has the head of a German shepherd German shepherd, breed of large, muscular working dog perfected in Germany at the turn of the 20th cent. It stands about 25 in. (64 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 60 to 85 lb (27.2–38.5 kg). and the body of a dachshund dachshund (dăks`h  nd, –ənd, dăsh`–), breed of small, short-legged hound developed in Germany over hundreds of years. It stands from 5 to 9 in. ,'' says Leah Basinais, office manager of the pet hospital. ``He's about a foot and a half high - the nicest, funniest looking dog.'' When Laurel got the call from a friend about Pan a few weeks ago, he was barely holding on after a street fight. Some bigger, stronger dogs had attacked him and ripped his throat open and damaged his leg. Could she get some help for him, Laurel's friend wanted to know. A few minutes later, Laurel was saying goodbye to her own three-legged dog, and driving to Bellflower to rescue a stray she knew absolutely nothing about, except that it had just lost a fight and badly needed medical attention. ``When I got there, he was just standing there with this gaping wound in his neck from all the bites,'' Laurel said. ``It was horrible and so sad. I called my vet and told them I was bringing in a seriously injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. dog.'' Basinais and Dr. Steve Aboulafia, who owns the pet hospital, were waiting when Laurel arrived. It was not the first time they had been called like this - nor will it be the last. ``Laurel just has this incredible love and compassion for strays,'' Basinais said. ``You never know when she'll be walking through that door with another one needing our help. But you just know she will.'' Aboulafia performed surgery on Pan's neck and the severed sev·er v. sev·ered, sev·er·ing, sev·ers v.tr. 1. To set or keep apart; divide or separate. 2. To cut off (a part) from a whole. 3. ligaments in his leg. The 4-year-old dog has been recuperating for two weeks now. Plenty of time for word to start spreading around town about this stray with the heart of a lion and the body of a hot dog who got hurt pretty bad in a street fight. From local pet stores and grooming parlors, people with dogs of their own have been dropping a couple of singles or a $5 bill in the kitty for Pan. ``We've even had one animal rescue group send in a check for $1,000,'' Laurel said Wednesday. ``So far, we've raised about $1,500 toward the $4,800 medical bill.'' If anyone is interested in helping Laurel pay the bill for this stray she rescued, call Leah at Parker Pet Hospital at (818) 762-3111. But it's a home for Pan she really needs. Oh, he's not going back on the streets again, that's for sure, she said. She wouldn't let that happen. Not after all this. No, she'll take Pan home with her if she has to, but it's getting kind of crowded over at her place, what with Tillie, her three-legged dog, and Gus, a diabetic, already living there. They were strays, too. Until the night Laurel Kinder got a call about a dog who needed some help. Yeah, not much has changed since Catholic school. The little girl who used to baptize bap·tize v. bap·tized, bap·tiz·ing, bap·tiz·es v.tr. 1. To admit into Christianity by means of baptism. 2. a. To cleanse or purify. b. To initiate. 3. dogs is still trying to save their lives - just not their souls anymore, that's all. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Laurel Kinder hugs ``Peter Pan,'' a corgi and shepherd mix she rescued and is now trying to find a loving home for. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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