Injured Mutt Is Special to Cerritos Man

He is nothing special. Just a mutt. A mixed breed German shepherd, who several weeks ago lay bloodied and dying in the mean streets of Los Angeles after a motorist had clobbered him and sped away.

But due to a bunch of newly found friends and an indomitable spirit, Duncan the mutt today is alive, running, eating and in search of a home.

A string of Good Samaritans has helped him along the way. Now he needs one more before his time runs out.

Normally pets are kept about three weeks by the animal shelter here. During that period, if owners cannot be found and the pets are not adopted, they are put to sleep. Duncan has been with the shelter for more than three weeks.

Louis Vansmaalen, who lives in Cerritos and works in Los Angeles, was the first to come to the mutt’s rescue.

Vansmaalen, a 58-year-old programmer for Ticor Corp., spotted the injured animal Sept. 10 on the side of the road near San Vicente and Wilshire boulevards in West Los Angeles.

An animal lover and a softy, Vansmaalen scooped the dog from the streets, put him in his car and went in search of help.

He found a West Hollywood veterinarian who said the dog had suffered nerve damage when it was hit by the vehicle. The dog was paralyzed from his midsection through his hind legs and could not walk. It was thought at first that his back was broken but only the soft tissue was damaged, the veterinarian said in an interview. He does not wish to be identified.

Given Intensive Care

“We began intensive care, treating the dog, feeding him intravenously,” the doctor said.

Vansmaalen told the doctor to send the bills to him. The final bill was $328 but could have been more than $1,000 if the vet had charged for all the treatment costs, Vansmaalen said.

“Here was this man, a Good Samaritan,” the doctor said of Vansmaalen. “He was incredible. If he was caring this much, I decided to stop charging him.”

The dog, who was making a miraculous recovery, was placed with the South Gate shelter of the Los Angeles Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The nonprofit organization also has shelters in Los Angeles and Hawthorne.

The society tries to find the original owners or new homes for pets, said Jay Geer, a spokesman for the society. There is a downside, though. The animals that the society cannot find homes for are put to sleep.

“We keep them as long as possible. We keep them as long as we have room. But the reality is we do have to put some of them to sleep. It is done in a humane manner with an injection of pentobarbital sodium that puts them to sleep,” Geer said.

Last year the society found homes for 41%, or 7,000 pets, while 59%, or 10,000, were put to sleep, Geer said.

At the society, the mutt has found another friend, Corrine Whetstone, a humane society officer. Whetstone gave the dog his name.

“Duncan is an old Scottish warrior name,” she said. “And he struck me as having an indomitable nature. He is nothing special. He just had a will to survive.”

Duncan, who is brown with black flecks, has fully recovered and spends his days eating, trying to gain the weight back that he lost after the accident. He is about 1 1/2 years old and weighs about 45 pounds, which the society staff says is down about 20 pounds from his original weight.

“We are looking for a good home for him. He’s a happy dog. He loves people and attention. He is not just a backyard dog. We’re looking for someone that can spend some time with him,” Whetstone said.

As a testament to his outgoing spirit, the West Hollywood vet said, “even when he was suffering he had a smile in his eyes.”

Anyone who shows up at the South Gate shelter at 9330 S. Garfield Ave. will be required to pay a $40 fee to adopt Duncan. The fee will pay for neutering and immunization.

Vansmaalen said he would take Duncan without hesitation but he already has three dogs and one more would be over the three-pet limit allowed under the Cerritos animal control ordinance.