For most dogs, a trip to the dog park is heaven. They can run off-leash, play with other dogs, and come home with happy memories. But for two huskies, Jada and Layla, their visit to the dog park ended very differently. In early October, Mona Ahmed, manager of Woodward Dog Park in Fresno, California, received a phone call. A woman at the dog park had found two abandoned huskies there.
At first Mona didn’t panic, surely the dogs belonged to someone and the owner would be back soon. But then the woman said she found a box full of dog food, bowls and toys. There was also a sad note inside the box.
Two huskies abandoned at the dog park with toys and a note
The note said:
“Our names are Jada (black) and Layla (brown). We are good 1 year old dogs. Please don’t separate us. Layla is freaking out without her sister.”
Mona rushed to the dog park as fast as she could, only to find Layla and Jada wandering around, their saddest and most confused expressions.
“I started asking people, ‘Does anyone know how long these huskies have been here?’ People said to me, ‘These huskies have been there for 5 years.’ But now it was 8 a.m. So those huskies have been there for three hours, running around the dog park.”
A visitor offered crucial information.
Mona said:
“Someone said, ‘Yeah, I saw [a woman] give up the husky dogs. She told us she’d go to the car and come right back. So no one really lent pay attention to the fact that she was really gone.”
She felt bad for Jada and Layla, but she was glad someone alerted her. If the dogs had been left in the park overnight, they could have been injured.
Mona said:
“They could have jumped over the fence and been run over by a car. There’s a busy road right in front of the dog park. The speed limit is 50, but people are going over 65.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first time people have abandoned dogs at Woodward Dog Park. Mona, who has run the dog park for 10 years, says 13 other dogs have been abandoned in the park and she has a responsibility to rescue and rehom them.
She said :
“It makes me angry. It’s no way to give to the dogs. They just had to ask for help.”
Jada and Layla are in temporary residence
Rachael Lewis, head of media and communications at the ASPCA, told The Dodo:
“While keeping owners and pets together is always the best option, there are resources for people who can’t keep pets.”
Rachel said:
“The most important thing for pet owners is to know that there are many services they can take advantage of; all they have to do is contact their local animal shelter. Your local shelter can meet you to learn more about your situation and then guide you through the various resources available to you.”
Mona, who also founded Fresno Furry Friends, an organization that provides sterilization services, took Jada and Layla into her care, placing them in a safe foster home. The huskies, who Mona believes to be sisters, had not been neutered or microchipped, so she will make sure that happens before they are adopted.
Mona added:
“We want to find the right home for the dogs.”
However, he added that the dogs’ adoptive mother was falling in love with them, so they may have already found their homes.
“She is very interested in keeping them. In a few days I will go and check the house and everything else”.
Meanwhile, the adoptive mother takes Jada and Layla to the dog park every day and always brings them home with great memories.
Images: Mona Ahmed
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