Happy News - Hope For Paws

With so much sad news about COVID-19, I wanted to share some good news and hopeful news.

Hello Hope For Paws supporters, it's Eldad  😊

I wanted to share a few updates on our work here during these days of lockdown.  I had to send the whole team home in order to keep them safe from the CoronaVirus, but it doesn't mean we stopped working - things are just done a little differently.

A few days ago I accomplished a rescue of a baby raccoon in the Los Angeles River.  You can see her story here: https://www.hopeforpaws.org/raccoon_rescue

I am happy to report that a couple of days ago she was ready to leave the Animal Hospital of South Bay, and she is now with our friends at Pacific Wildlife Project in Laguna Niguel.  She is receiving continuous medical care, and I hope that in a few days she will be able to join a group of other raccoons in preparation for her release.  Her rescue video will be so cool - I am so excited about it!

After the raccoon, I got a call about a baby pigeon who sat on the ground near a market in East Los Angeles.  I headed out, and when I found her, I could see that her sibling was eaten by a predator, so I took her with me.
 

A minute after I got her into the car, Dr. Antonio Pedraza and his wife Julia called the Hope For Paws emergency line.  They told me they caught in injured European Starling in their back yard.  I asked the doctor to meet me and the founder of Avian Underdogs Rescue Association, Terry Whatley, so she can assist us with her expertise.

Sadly, the European Starling has a broken wing and he may lose it, but even if he does, he will get to live his life in captivity where he will be safe and well-fed.  The pigeon will be OK - nothing is broken, and soon she will be ready to start her life again - stronger and better prepared. 

Later on that day, someone called us for help with another pigeon (this one had a broken wing), but I was already on my way to the next rescue mission, so Loreta asked them to go directly to Terry and we promised to pay for her medical care.

Even though the injury is pretty bad, the doctors believe they can save her wing!

On my next rescue mission that day, I had to do something so dangerous.  Dr. Pedraza and I arrived at the rescue location, I had to run across the freeway, wrap the animal and run before the next animal comes!  I don't want to give away the story here because the video is almost ready and I will post it here tomorrow morning: https://www.youtube.com/HopeForPaws
 

That night I rescued Bubbles from the roof of an abandoned and partially burned building.  She is the coolest cat I ever met and she is now fostered by our friends at L.A Animal Rescue - video is coming up soon  😉

The following day Loreta and I rescued Hayley (I don't want to give the whole story - her video is coming up soon too).

After we shaved her, bathed her, and after she was spayed, vaccinated and microchipped, she continued to our friends at Foxy and the Hounds. If you would like to adopt her, please contact them directly.  She was a little nervous at first, but I already received video updates and she is so sweet and loving!
 

The next day we got a call about an opossum who fell into a pool and couldn't get out for five days!  The pool was mostly empty, and the mama opossum couldn't get out... her pouch was too heavy.
 

We took her to the Pacific Wildlife Project, and they introduced us to her only surviving baby:

I will upload a video of her drinking her milk formula to our Instagram - she is so cute and special.  If you are not following us on Instagram yet, here is the link for you: https://www.instagram.com/hopeforpawsrescue/
 

The mom was so relieved to be safe with us... she enjoyed the soft bed we offered her.
A few months ago, Loreta and I rescued a whole family of opossums.  Here is the video of their rescue. 
 

The next couple of days were busy with helping some of our rescue partners with food and supplies.  We sent over 10,000 pounds of dog food and cat food to help out - we know that everybody is struggling these days, and because you are watching our rescue videos on YouTube channel, we are able to help even more.  Next week we are hoping to buy some more food and supplies and help more partners.  Please watch our channel, share the videos you love, and help us keep this going.

I'm almost done 😊

Next up: a call about an injured California Gull.  It was so interesting... it was 5:00 P.M, normally it's a crazy rush hour time here in Los Angeles, but during this #CoronaVirus time, there are no cars on the road, and Loreta and I arrived at the rescue location in just 12 minutes!

The injured gull couldn't fly, but he walked away to an enclosed property that was out of our reach.  I walked all around the fence - hoping I would find a hole in the fence, but nothing!  The factory was closed, but all of a sudden, two people drove towards the gate.  I asked to walk in to save the bird. The two nice guys were happy to see that we were there to help, and granted us permission to get on the property.  I ran with Loreta, and she managed to throw a net and secure him.  We headed back to the Pacific Wildlife Project for medical care (another cool video coming up).

Over at the wildlife center, I got to meet one super cute baby squirrel they just rescued!  I promised to come back and bottle feed on the weekend  😊

When this Corona madness will be over, I hope many more people will offer to volunteer with the local rescues.  Dogs, cats, bunnies, squirrels, birds - so many special creatures out there who would love a helping hand!  I hope this whole experience will teach us to be kinder to our earth and appreciate the little things that we can't enjoy at the moment.

This blog post turned out to be a little longer than I expected, but I wanted to show you how your donations are helping us save lives every day!

These are tough, sad times to so many people all over the world, and I hope this post cheers you up just a little bit.

Please join our mailing list, and we will be happy to send you good news about our work and also notifications when special videos are posted: https://www.HopeForPaws.org/Join

One amazing way to support our work is by sharing our rescue videos, so today, other than making a donation, please help us spread some hope by sharing your favorite rescue video on your favorite social media network.  You can see our most popular rescue videos here: https://www.youtube.com/hopeforpaws

Thank you so much for enabling to do this work day after day!

Please stay home, stay safe and stay healthy so I will get to see you all tomorrow with a new rescue video of an unusual animal that came straight from China and I have no idea how it ended where it ended!
 

Eldad