Bringing its skills and sensitivity, Best Friends LA Brigade helps to build a desert oasis for dogs.

By Andrea Lewis, Best Friends Volunteer

Dharma. A spiritually recognized belief in one’s virtuous path – following what is in your heart.

Isabell Csaki is living this notion, and with inspiration and information from Best Friends, she has founded her own animal sanctuary, Paw Parent (click here). The mission of the sanctuary is to provide lifetime care for pets whose guardians are no longer capable due to old age, illness or death. Paw Parent also rescues abused and abandoned animals and finds them permanent, loving homes.

Isabell has been working toward this dream, rescuing stray animals for years, and after attending Best Friends’ “How To Start An Animal Sanctuary” workshop in 2007, was ready (and anxious) to make her dream a reality. With her amazing energy, sheer will and determination, Isabell took the necessary steps toward becoming a 501(c)(3) organization, began fundraising and found five acres of picturesque landscape in the West Antelope Valley to begin building Paw Parent.

Isabell, a member since the early nineties, credits Best Friends as being a “huge role model” and is a great admirer of the operation and attitude of our amazing organization – and so it was only natural that she approached the Best Friends Los Angeles Brigade when she was ready to start the laborious work on the grounds. With dozens of donated trees, Isabell needed a bunch of extra hands to get them planted for wind protection and shade, so on an early Sunday morning in September, a group of dedicated volunteers headed to Paw Parent.


It was great fortune to have Barb Halcomb and Audrey Brooks with us that day. Both avid gardeners, they took the helm and gave us all instruction and direction for the planting of the trees. We began by digging small trenches around the front and side perimeter of the fence. The hard ground proved to be quite challenging but aided by water and our muscle man for the day, Jerry Benjamin, we starting making headway. His wife, Monica, worked in tandem with Jerry, and in no time we had the two dozen or so holes needed for the trees.


Next task was to drive wooden stakes (some hand-sawed by our volunteers) deep into the ground and surround each hole with a pliable basket-type fencing to secure the small tree saplings – and, hopefully, keep the resident dogs from digging! Erika Pena grabbed some shears, then measured, cut and assembled each little basket and so began the actual planting of the trees.

While we worked diligently to get the planting done, the day was not without its breaks, often to stop and snuggle one of the many dogs living with Isabell – some hers, others for adoption (check out the Paw Parent site to see the angels looking for homes - cats, too!). Monica had an affinity for Bella, while Willow, a beautiful baby terrier, puppy-eyed his way into the hearts of others. I, the pit lover, couldn’t resist Valentine – one of Isabell’s dogs.



And being the gracious host she is, Isabell brought us into her home and satiated us with drinks and yummy vegan snacks!

The whole environment of Paw Parent is charged with love, inspiration, compassion – and the promise of a beautiful sanctuary that will help and house countless animals for years to come. There’s still a lot of work to do, but our day was a productive one, and we were all quite proud with the job we did!

The Brigade hopes to make another trip to Paw Parent to help with more planting, installation of a drip system and in any other way we can be of service. Thanks to our amazing volunteers for your dedication and spirit.

Paw Parent is being built and operates on donations. If you would like to help, please visit the website www.pawparent.org, and click on “Support” to contribute items or monetary funds.

Posted by Laura Thompson, Best Friends Volunteer

Photos courtesy of Andrea Lewis and Isabell Csaki

---