Golden Hill group finds homes for abandoned canines

By Manny Cruz

Maria Blake will be the first to tell you that she loves dogs — all sizes and varieties. In fact, the North Park home she shares with her husband, Jack, is filled with them. They own five dogs and are foster parents to a sixth. Blake can rattle off their names without a moment’s hesitation: There’s Baxter, Daisy, Ricky, Frieda, Rambo and, of course, Payton (the foster dog).
With daughter Cassandra off attending New York University, Blake can devote a lot of attention to her canine children. She seems the embodiment of the nurturing mother. “It’s a passion and there’s a huge emotional award that goes with it,” she says.

But Blake’s passion also is directed at the nonprofit organization she and two others — Sandra Simpson and Jason Cordoba — established in 2008. It’s called Second Chance Dog Rescue and its primary mission is simply to rescue homeless dogs and find permanent homes for them.
“We rescue, rehabilitate and re-home dogs from local shelters as well as dogs surrendered by their owners for various reasons, and dogs from Baja California,” an organization flyer states.

According to Blake, Second Chance Dog Rescue has saved 2,500 dogs from euthanasia since the organization was founded. A group of more than 200 volunteers serve as foster families to dogs rescued by Second Chance, which attempts to place the animals in permanent, adopted homes. “We’ve placed over 300 dogs into homes in the San Diego area this year,” says Blake.

Dog overpopulation is a major problem in the United States, giving rise to organizations such as Second Chance Dog Rescue and a number of other assistance groups, and putting a strain on animal shelters. According to the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 6 million to 8 million dogs and cats enter shelters each year, and an estimated 3 million to 4 million are euthanized each year. A National Counsel on Pet Population Study reported that over 56 percent of dogs and puppies entering shelters are killed.

Blake says there are a number of reasons why the country, California especially, is experiencing dog overpopulation. “People are not spaying or neutering their pets,” she says. “There are places, like a store in Mission Valley, that sell puppies, getting them from puppy mills. The public isn’t aware that a store like that is getting puppies from horrible environments. The dogs there are treated so awfully.”

So-called “backyard breeders” are another reason, explains Blake. “Essentially, someone buys a puppy, a full-bred poodle, for example, gets another person with a full-bred poodle and they breed them and sell them for $500 a pop. It’s very sad.”

Blake and others say the best ways to prevent pet overpopulation is to spay and neuter existing pets and for people to adopt adult pets from shelters rather than from pet shops and backyard breeders.

Blake, Simpson and Cordoba formed Second Chance Dog Rescue at a pivotal time. “It was the height of when things were really awful and many people were losing their homes,” says Blake. “Dogs were being abandoned. Shelters were overwhelmed. People assume that when they take their dog to a shelter, that it will find another home, but a dog only has a certain amount of time (before euthanasia). We decided to start our own rescue service.”

Second Chance Dog Rescue obtains financing from contributions and from fees charged to people who adopt the dogs that the organization rescues. The fees range from between $150 and $300. The organization has established its headquarters at a home at 2435 C St. in Golden Hill, which is staffed every day by Simpson.

After Second Chance obtains a dog needing a home, it provides medical care, including spaying and neutering, and any necessary rehabilitation. Persons wanting to adopt a dog must fill out an application form, which is carefully scrutinized by the founders to determine if the applicant meets its requirements. Upon approval of the application, the dog and the adopter enter into a two-week “trial” or foster period,  to make sure it’s the right fit for the family and the dog. After completion of a successful foster period, Second Chance does a home visit to finalize the process.

Blake says the organization has an “open door” policy, meaning that it welcomes the county’s Department of Animal Control to perform routine inspections of its dogs, the group’s daily operations, visits to foster family homes, adoption events, medical records, veterinarian invoices and the like. She says it is part of the organization’s efforts to maintain high standards of excellence in the dog rescue community.

Sometimes, Second Chance comes across dogs that have been severely injured, and must go to great expense to rehabilitate them. “Lenny,” a male
chihuahua, is one such animal that is currently being housed at the organization’s headquarter. The dog was run over by a car and one of his legs “was completely destroyed,” according to Blake. Reconstructive surgery cost the organization $4,300, but followup surgery is necessary at an additional cost.
Today, Lenny appears frisky and playful at Second Chance, mingling with some of the other dogs in the headquarters. He was named, says Blake, after the veterinarian — Lenahan — who operated on his leg.

Second Chance Dog Rescue holds monthly adoption events where the public can get to see and meet dogs needing adoptive parents. It also takes part in a number of community events. For example, it will operate a dog rescue booth at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar on June 16 and will take part in Petco Adoptions July 31 at Petco Park in Downtown San Diego. More information on the organization and its programs is available at its online site at secondchancedogrescue.org.

Blake, an account executive for cosmetics company Chanel, describes her work for Second Chance Dog Rescue as a “calling.” “It’s a call to service,” she says. “There’s nothing like knowing that you helped a dog that might have been euthanized, that did not have a chance for a home. What we’re doing is really curing loneliness. There’s nothing like it when you see a dog cared for in a home that you helped save. It’s an extremely rewarding experience for all of us.”

Group gives dogs second chance for home

GOLDEN HILL — Jason Cordoba hears a lot of reasons why people can no longer care for their dogs.

Some are more legitimate than others.

There are the military families going on deployment who can’t take the animals with them. There are the families and individuals whose homes are being foreclosed and have to move into animal-unfriendly apartments. There are those who realize they can’t handle the responsibility.

Then there is the person whose dog didn’t match the décor.

“Our initial reaction is disappointment,” Cordoba said. “But quickly afterward, we have sympathy for the dog.”

Cordoba, 31, is one of three co-founders of a Golden Hill-based nonprofit that in less than three years has grown into one of the region’s most successful organizations when it comes to taking in and finding new homes for unwanted dogs. Since its debut in October 2008, Second Chance Dog Rescue has placed approximately 2,600 canines into permanent new homes.

The organization operates throughout San Diego County and Baja California and averages more than 100 placements a month. One-fifth of Second Chance’s dogs are owner surrenders, 60 percent come straight from animal shelters, 15 percent come from Mexico and the rest, about 5 percent, are taken out of hoarders’ homes, Cordoba said.

“Those dogs would have all, most likely, been put to sleep,” Cordoba said.

Cordoba, a New Mexico native who moved to San Diego in 2004, met 64-year-old Sandra Simpson and 38-year-old Maria Blake while the three volunteered for a rescue organization in Mexico. That organization, however, only served Mexico, so the three pooled their talents to create an effort that serves both sides of the border.

Simpson, an English immigrant who works in real estate, brought the skills of a frugal professional who has been self-employed for four decades. Blake, an executive, provides the know-how of a manager accustomed to leading staff. Cordoba, who works with software in his day job, is the tech guy.

Together, they lead a staff of 300 volunteers. Nobody in the organization, the founders included, gets paid, Cordoba said.

Second Chance has no facility where dogs are maintained. The nonprofit is headquartered out of Simpson’s home, but all rescued dogs are sent to one of 250 foster families from Rosarito to Encinitas. The families then report the dogs’ personality traits so Second Chance can match them with suitable owners.

All new owners have a two-week trial period in which they can return their newly adopted pet.

Adoption fees are $75 per animal, and that revenue is necessary to pay for medical expenses. Second Chance spends between $2,000 to $4,000 a month on veterinarian bills.

A large percentage of that is paid for spaying and neutering, but Second Chance also frequently pays for procedures that cost more than $2,000.

For those wishing to adopt, Second Chance holds several events throughout the county every month. A complete list can be found at www.secondchancedogrescue.org.

“We make so many people happy with good placements,” Cordoba said. “There are so many young boys without a father, and their mothers come to us and say ‘my son needs a best friend.’ We build these relationships.

“Dogs can cure depression and loneliness, because they have nothing but unconditional love to give. They don’t judge you.”

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