Shasta Wins Mountain of Praise for Saving Owner

When the phone rings at Luella Ball’s Arcadia home these days, the caller usually wants to reach a resident named Shasta.

Shasta, however, can’t come to the phone. She is usually napping on the car seat of a ’72 red Opel or hiding under a camellia bush.

A petite, 20-pound white spitz, Shasta is a hero dog in big demand. In January, a fire engulfed Ball’s den at 2 a.m., and before the flames spread to the rest of the house, the dog awakened her sleeping owner. Recently, Shasta won an annual heroism award from the Los Angeles Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“Every time the phone rings, it is something about Shasta,” said Ball, 75, a longtime Arcadia resident.

There have been offers of free dog food from a kennel club, requests for interviews and an invitation to appear at a spitz show.

The fluffy, 4-year-old canine has been in the limelight ever since the pre-dawn Jan. 13 fire. An ember from a fireplace ignited a recliner chair--where Shasta sleeps--then spread to other furniture, the carpet and the drapes. A television and a stereo melted into Dali-like forms. The smoke was thick and the heat intense.

‘Overcome With Smoke’

“She was so overcome with smoke that she could not bark,” Ball said. “Two times she pounded my bedroom door with her body.”

That noise was enough to wake Ball, who, with another dog, managed to make her way to the kitchen to dial 911. Shasta was unable to walk any further, so Ball had to push her out the back kitchen door.

Ball and the dogs were unharmed in the blaze. By the time the fire was extinguished, they had recuperated from smoke inhalation. For the next five months, they lived in Ball’s recreational vehicle until repairs on the house were completed.

Word of Shasta’s bravery reached the Los Angeles SPCA, which decided to give her the seventh annual Hero Dog Bruce Farrell Award. The award was established by Pauline De Farrell when her dog, Bruce Farrell, saved her from an attacking Great Dane. A plaque and a $100 check were presented to Ball and Shasta at a recent ceremony.

“I feel she suffered an awful lot,” Ball said, holding Shasta in her lap. “During the fire, all I could think of was to get out with her.” The rescue is somewhat of a role reversal for Ball. For 20 years, she has been a foster parent to abused and neglected dogs. She would often take in several dogs at a time until permanent homes could be found. An avid gardener, Ball would sell her staghorn ferns, citrus trees and iris bulbs to pay for veterinary bills.

She says that before the fire, she was planning to retire from this time-consuming role and put Shasta up for adoption because of her constant barking and obedience problems. Several interested people called her and offered to adopt Shasta.

But just as Ball had rescued Shasta from a neglectful owner a year and a half ago, Shasta had saved her life from the fire.

“She has attached herself to me,” Ball said. “In my heart that changed my mind.”