Photos: Escaping a dog’s life on skid row

Three pit bull puppies from a litter of 10 wait in a pen for adoption at the North Central Animal Shelter in Los Angeles. For a week, the puppies remained on skid row sidewalks, dividing the rescue community and confounding officials unsure of the law, or reluctant to enforce it.  (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

Gerrick Miller, 52, who lives on the streets of Los Angeles’ skid row, holds one of 10 pit bull puppies from his dog Sugar. Animal rescuers say he is breeding the dogs for sale. He said the puppies are not for sale.

Diana Melton, 52, who is homeless, pets her friend Derrick Miller’s dog Sugar. She helps him take care of Sugar’s litter of pit bull puppies.

Derrick Miller’s pit bull puppies sleep at East 9th Street and Towne Avenue in Los Angeles. Animal rescuers demanded that the city’s Animal Services Department confiscate the dogs.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Salvador Ornelas, 22, who adopted one of Gerrick Miller’s puppies, is given the dog by Sylvia Flores, an animal care technician at the North Central Animal Shelter in Los Angeles.

Salvador Ornelas tries a leash while bonding with the pit bull puppy he adopted at the North Central Animal Shelter in Los Angeles. “I want to take him hiking, walking and running,” Ornelas says.   (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)