Lori Weise, Founder, Downtown Dog Rescue:
I became known as The Dog Lady back in the late ’90s. And that was because I think most of the people I was helping back then either couldn’t remember my name, didn’t know my name. They just knew, hey, it’s the lady that helps us with the dogs, The Dog Lady.
Heidi was my first dog that I got when I was 4 years old. I was not a child that was really outgoing or anything like that, so she was a great sense of comfort for me. One of the challenges we have working with homeless people with pets is gaining their trust.
I founded Downtown Dog Rescue, and it was really created out of necessity. I saw so much suffering with people and animals living on the street without basic necessities. We serve homeless and low-income families with pets, mostly in South Los Angeles. We provide spay and neuter, vaccinations, microchipping, pet food, all types of supplies, but our primary focus and all of our energy is really spent on keeping families together, keeping people with their pets.
If a person is doing the best they can with what they have, we come in and we will help them out and get them up to a level that passes with animal control and such.
