Woman saves dogs, one at a time
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

A DOG'S BEST FRIENDS- Tammy Sue Roberts and her daughter, Shyane, 10, of Calabasas, run Oz Animal Rescue to place shelter animals into foster homes. Roberts holds Wylie, a Lhaso Apso mix dog who was found with a neck bite. For information about Oz, call (818) 991-0071.

The e-mails that Tammy Sue Roberts fears receiving the most are those from the animal shelters she visits often. The lists that crowd her inbox aren't filled with the dogs and cats who have been adopted by a new family or have recovered from an injury.

They are long lists of animals who have a day, sometimes hours, before they will be euthanized.

Roberts did sign up to receive the red-alert e-mails, but she rarely gets through them, often deleting them immediately.

There were more than 25,000 dogs and 21,000 cats in Los Angeles Animal Services shelters last year, which does not include Los Angeles County shelters or private rescue groups. Of those, 7,000 dogs and 12,000 cats were euthanized.

One dog at a time, Roberts is trying to decrease that number. With her new animal rescue group, Roberts tries to place animals from shelters all over L.A. County and beyond with foster families while a perfect adoption match is found.

"It can make you feel defeated or overwhelmed," Roberts said. "But we try to stay focused on just one at a time. We are so thrilled to do whatever we can do."

It started a couple years ago when Roberts and her daughter Shyane were walking into a local movierental store. Outside, an animal rescue group was trying to adopt out a dog with a bad leg. They fell in love with the pup but couldn't adopt it. Instead of walking on, they launched a campaign to raise money for PNut's surgery and were successful.

Now Roberts' real estate company donates $2,500 to an animal cause of the client's choice at the close of escrow. If a referral results in a sale, that person can also choose a charity.

"Whether it's dogs and cats to turtles, whales and dolphins," Roberts said, "they are important animals too. Even if we don't share the exact animal passion, we still want to be helpful."

Donations may go to Oz Animal Rescue, Roberts' organization, and through those gifts her own rescue group places dogs with foster families and sponsors them with food, treats, medical costs and any other needs.

"The hard part for me is finding quality foster homes and avoiding those people who check out a dog from the pound and then say, 'I can't deal with it,'" Roberts said.

Once a foster family is found, Roberts will go down to the shelter with them. They look for an animal that the family likes and one Roberts feels she could re-home. The family is sent off with a goodie bag, and the animal's information is put up on the web and is featured in newspaper ads. When Shyane's in school at Lupin Hill Elementary, she takes fliers to class.

"I think everybody at my daughter's school who wanted a dog has one," Roberts said. "They see me coming, and they are already like, 'I don't need a dog today!'"

In less than a year, Oz Animal Rescue has placed six dogs, but with more willing foster families could accommodate many more.

For more information, visit www.ozanimalrescue.com.