EARTHQUAKE: THE ROAD TO RECOVERY : For Valentine’s Day, Give the Gifts That Keep on Giving--Pets

Valentine was a Christian saint who died for love, but most of us wouldn’t want to. It’s bad enough just figuring out how to celebrate the anniversary of the martyr’s death.

There are at least two versions of the circumstances that brought about Valentine’s demise and eventual elevation to sainthood.

One is that he performed marriages for young people after Roman Emperor Claudius II forbade the rite, thinking unmarried men made better soldiers. Valentine persisted. Claudius was not amused.

Another version has the priest curing a child of blindness but being sentenced to death for refusing to worship Roman gods. But before his death, on Feb. 14, he sent a note to the young girl whose sight he had restored, offering her prayers. He is supposed to have signed it: “From Your Valentine.”

Whatever the origin of Valentine’s Day, the observance is now somewhat more upbeat. These days we just argue about who should give what to whom on this holiday. And now comes another potential gift--an orphaned dog or cat.

Although both the East and West Valley animal shelters report that most displaced feline and canine earthquake victims have been reunited with their families, there are others who need a good home.

According to Lt. Tim Goffa of the Chatsworth shelter, reunions are still an occasional occurrence, but most of the pets who are going to be claimed have probably already been taken away.

Pet Orphans in Van Nuys reports a curious upswing in the number of adoptions recently. “We are not sure of the reason, but people have been calling a lot,” Diane Scripps says.

Scripps is one of the founders of the animal adoption agency that rescues pets from “Death Row” at the local pounds.

“We just take animals we are certain we can place because we are not a long-term facility,” she says. “We don’t want the animals in pens for the rest of their lives. We want them to have good homes.”

She adds that usually the animals, who are spayed or neutered, spend only a few days or weeks before they become part of a family.

This is not the case with 1 1/2-year-old Chris, a golden retriever mix, and 3-year-old shepherd mix Rex.

Scripps and the staff fuss over the two dogs who have been at the facility for about a year. “They are both beautiful and would make excellent pets. We can’t figure out why they haven’t been claimed,” she says.

It is her hope that someone will adopt the dogs today as a Valentine’s present but she warns that both of the animals love people but are wary of other pets.

It takes a while to be processed as a Pet Orphan adoptive parent, but, according to Scripps, the wait is worth it.

“We are offering a gift capable of giving and receiving love for years to come,” she says. “There aren’t many things you can give with that kind of guarantee.”

In the Wake of the Quake, a Few More Thank-You Notes

It’s like a mantra: The quake has brought out the best in many of us. Neighbors are aiding neighbors and people are giving strangers a helping hand.

The “helping” stories have a good feeling. With all the bad stuff happening out there, it’s kind of relaxing to wallow in nice.

Here comes another round.

Dave Schwartz, manager of TGI Fridays in Woodland Hills, says he was amazed twice the morning of the earthquake. First by the destruction in the restaurant and then by the spirit of his staff.

“When I got to the restaurant, everything that could break was broken, including glasses, dishes, every single bottle of liquor, everything.”

While he stood there trying to figure out what to do first, his staff, some of whom were now homeless, showed up ready to work and, like the Energizer Bunny, just kept on working.

“It took us a couple of weeks, but we got everything picked up, cleaned up, fixed up and reordered,” Schwartz says, adding that he will never forget the team spirit of the people who work with him.

Next door, at Highland Federal Bank, Sheila Cook, assistant vice president, and Linda Kelly, operations officer, were trying to make order out of chaos on Jan. 17.

They were so moved by the people who came by to help and customers who offered hugs that they took out a thank-you advertisement in a local paper.

Special thanks went to Richard Villarreal, manager of Reuben’s Summerhouse, and to TGI Fridays’ Schwartz, who, in spite of his own problems, sent food over to the women who couldn’t leave the bank.

Diane Scripps of Pet Orphans says she wants to thank the local Sparkletts people for their thoughtfulness when the organization’s facility was without water. “They donated about 500 gallons, whatever we needed,” she says.

And in spite of all the price-gouging and anti-landlord stories circulating, Audrey Johnson, a local court reporter, has a different take on the situation.

“When we were forced to evacuate our Sherman Oaks condo, our landlord not only returned our deposit, but refunded half a month’s rent,” she says.

She apologizes, now that all her records are in storage, for not knowing how to spell his name correctly for the newspaper, but she wants to say he’s a class guy.

Watchdogs Have Hands Full as Misfortune Strikes Many

Not all landlords are paragons of virtue, which is why agencies like the Valley Fair Housing Council and the California Fair Employment and Housing departments have been working overtime.

Mona Tawatao, who handles housing problems for the San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services office, says business is up sharply, as much as 80%.

“Not only are we dealing with more complaints, but we are trying to get out to areas where there are large groups of displaced people. We are going out to talk to them and help them get their housing needs met,” she says.

One of her main concerns is to confront landlords who are taking advantage of people in this situation, Tawatao says.

“We are here to help those with housing problems. If we can’t, we’ll refer them to someone who can,” she adds.

Overheard

“I don’t want to grapple with issues of national health and civil wars in other countries. Give me Tonya Harding and Michael Jackson any day.”

Woman buying a tabloid newspaper at Ralph’s in Calabasas