Dog’s Loss Last Straw : Landslide, Thefts Hit Family; Now Girl Prays for Pet’s Return

After going through a bitter divorce and being laid off from her job last December, Clarissa Alvarez and her three young children settled into a quiet San Juan Capistrano neighborhood where she hoped to start life anew.

But it was not to be. First, the family had to evacuate its rented house when a landslide leveled the slope behind it.

Then, after the family had moved back into the front section of the house, thieves broke in and stole about $4,000 worth of jewelry, the children’s Nintendo games and food from a kitchen cupboard.

And finally, there was what Alvarez called the “back breaker” earlier this month: Baby Ruth, the family’s 9-month-old, black-and-white Boston terrier who had run away, was sold by the county’s Animal Control Division.

“It’s like being kicked when you’re down,” Alvarez, 38, said about the sale of the family’s beloved pet. “Landslides can be repaired, and divorce, I guess, is a

way of life now, but losing our dog hits our hearts. We had a special relationship with this animal.”

It was a Saturday, May 11, and Sunshine, Alvarez’s 13-year-old daughter, was preparing to give Baby Ruth a bath when she disappeared. The family called the San Clemente Animal Shelter the following Monday but was told the dog, which did not wear a tag, was not there.

Meanwhile, unbeknown to Clarissa Alvarez, a homeowner found the dog a few blocks away in neighboring Dana Point, called animal control authorities in Orange and Baby Ruth was taken to the county’s primary animal shelter there on Mother’s Day.

On May 16, the day after her house was burglarized, Alvarez said she called Animal Assistance League and was told that Baby Ruth was at the county animal shelter in Orange. But by the time she arrived at the facility that afternoon, the dog had been sold.

Animal control officers insisted this week that they were not negligent in selling the canine, saying they had held the dog for the required 72 hours before it was sold.

“I’m saddened that this family is missing their beloved pet,” said Jack Edwards, director of the county’s animal control division. “We’re not coldhearted folks but once we held that dog for the legal time, it’s a legal sale and trying to get it back now is a lost cause.”

Edwards said he could not reveal who Baby Ruth was sold to, citing department policy on adopted pets. Further, he said, animal control officials tried to reunite Baby Ruth with Alvarez, but the new owners refused to relinquish the animal.

Edwards said Alvarez could have prevented the mishap by having proper identification on the dog.

Each year, the animal shelter takes in 30,000 lost pets such as Baby Ruth, and Edwards said there are few cases--less than 10 a year--where pets are sold to new families and then their first owners show up looking for them.

“We were hoping that they would have said, ‘It’s a nice dog but we would like to see it returned to its owner.’ But instead they said that they’ve been looking for a dog like that for some time. Boston terriers are not that plentiful, and we cannot command them to give it back.”

Alvarez said she bought Baby Ruth for $350 to cheer up Sunshine, whose Chihuahua was killed in a dog fight about a year ago.

The dog was named Baby Ruth “because she’s sweet and fat,” Alvarez said.

For Sunshine, a seventh-grader at Marco Foster Junior High in San Juan Capistrano, the loss has been particularly painful.

Before the dog was reported missing, Baby Ruth would hop up on Sunshine’s bed and snuggle in for the night. They took showers together. Sunshine even taught the dog how to do a twirl and how to “kick up her feet” when the canine accompanied her at soccer practice.

“Ruthie was it,” said Sunshine, as tears streamed down her face. “I loved her because I gave her love and she returned it.”

After Baby Ruth disappeared, Sunshine and her two brothers went door to door asking neighbors if they had seen the missing pet and posted signs in the neighborhood. They read: “I love you and I miss you very much. . . . Kisses from Sunshine.”

Before she knew about Baby Ruth’s new whereabouts, Sunshine said, she would walk outside in the middle of the night, calling “for Ruthie.” Now that she knows her pet is with a family, Sunshine said she spends hours on her knees praying that her dog will come home.

The family has two other dogs, a Chihuahua and an English springer spaniel, but Sunshine says it’s not the same. She said that if she cannot have Baby Ruth back, she wants the new owners to grant her one final wish.

“If I can’t have her back, can I give her a hug one last time?” she asked.