On Sunday, August 24th, Brigadiers were back at Baldwin Park for another day of Soap, Suds and Fun.

UPDATE: More photos!

By Laura Thompson, Best Friends Volunteer

Before our third Sunday morning at Baldwin Park even began, we spotted a white Chihuahua running through the parking lot. Such is often the case at this shelter, unfortunately, where many dogs are dumped outside the gates, and stray cats roam freely about the area. Fortunately for this scared little Chi, on a day when Baldwin Park's normally closed, there were six Best Friends volunteers ready to rescue him. With some peanut butter crackers as a lure, we quickly captured him, and a little rescue remedy on his ears lulled him to sleep like a baby.

Then we continued with a brief orientation led by Best Friends LA Volunteer Manager Robin Harmon, but it was already pretty clear that this was an experienced group! Special thanks go to our professional groomer, Juliette May, for her patience and hard work on some very matted dogs. Appreciation goes out to all my fellow volunteers who will be unnamed here but are pictured below with the animals they helped.

Rather than tell the exhaustive story of our day, I'll let these photos of happy doggies speak for themselves:


For quite awhile, Juliette worked on this Husky (above) who, though beautiful, was very matted on his underside. He absolutely loved the brushing and attention, as do most of the dogs there.


A dirty and tangled Cocker Spaniel (before, left) doesn't show too well in a shelter, but see what a bath and a haircut (after, center and right) can do for a dog's attitude?

Jessica and Karen hosed down outside those dogs who needed only to cool off on this hot summer day (left).


Proof that there are purebred dogs in shelters and many at Baldwin Park, this friendly and very handsome young Basset Hound (above) was one of Robin's favorites.

Christine bathed this white Poodle mix, then Hiroko took him out to the play area to dry (left). Of course, another purpose of our being at Baldwin Park is to network these dogs, especially after working so hard to bathe and groom them - and all the time we've spent with them.

This sweet, older gentleman (right) was one of my favorites.

Baldwin Park has many beautiful cats as well, so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention them here. They also have birds, pigs and, despite their limited shelter space, even a couple of horses.



As always, we look forward to returning to Baldwin Park - taking photos and networking more animals - again soon.

Photos courtesy of Jessica Cliver, Best Friends Staff, and Robin Skov, Best Friends Volunteer

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