Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 14, 2014

8 

JUST FOR BEST FRIENDS 

Mountain Views-News Saturday, June 14, 2014 


A SECOND CHANCE 
FOR FREEDOM 

LOOKING FOR A BEST FRIEND? 

Think of Tommy! 

Tommy may impress you as being on the shy or 
quiet side at first, but once he gets comfortable, a 
cute and playful personality comes out that makes 
him irresistible. He gets cuter and cuter the longer 
you get to know him and he has a way of bringing 
laughter and fun into your day! 

Tommy’s fur coat is very soft and makes you want 
to cuddle him in a ball in your arms, but he is all 
“boy” and sometimes will try to turn that into 
playtime with you. He also loves to play with toys 
including tug-of-war with his human and dog 
friends. 

Tommy has a pleasant disposition and is a friendly, 
social boy with both people and other dogs of all 
sizes. He loves being part of a family group on a 
pack walk or in a play yard. He has average energy 
and walks very nicely on a leash. But when he is trailing behind in a group walk, a really sweet and 
humorous part of his character comes out. He doesn’t want to miss out on anything and will huff and 
puff and work those short little legs as fast as he can to keep up with everyone! You can almost hear 
him tell the human on the other end of the leash to “hurry up”! 

Tommy is a 11 ½ lb. dachshund mix boy approximately 1 ½ years old and he is looking for his forever 
family who he can have fun and enjoy life with. 

 

He currently resides at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society located at 851 E. Grand Avenue in San 
Gabriel with his roommate. We are located off San Gabriel Blvd., north of Mission and south of Las 
Tunas. 

To arrange a ‘Meet and Greet’ with Tommy, please stop by any time from 10:00am to 4:30pm Tuesday 
thru Sunday. 

His adoption fee is $120 which includes a microchip, neuter surgery, first vaccinations and a free 
wellness check-up at a participating veterinarian. Feel free to call us at (626) 286-1159 for more 
information on Tommy. 

 

See our website at www.sgvhumane.org for information and photos of all our available pets. 


Happy Tails 

by Chris Leclerc 

 

A few weeks ago I was having coffee with a 
couple of my BFF‘s, and during the course of 
our conversation my friend Kim shared with us 
a story she’d heard about a guy who helped rescue 
a very sick, critically injured American bald eagle, 
and through much effort and tender-loving-care 
managed to bring her back to good health and 
has been giving her refuge ever since. 

 The poor eagle was found nutritionally deprived 
to the point of near death with two broken wings, 
and covered in lice. She was barely able to move, 
yet with remarkably tenacious resilience and 
strength, she was still holding on to dear life. The 
ravaged raptor’s rescuer, Jeff Guidry was strongly 
compelled to do everything he could to help that 
innocent, ill eagle recover, in spite of the dire 
condition she was in. Jeff’s compulsion to remain 
hopefully devoted to the cause was mainly driven 
by the look in that eagle’s eye when she stared up 
at him as he assessed the situation and formulated 
a plan to give her a second chance. 

 You see, even though the injured eagle’s frail 
body seemed ready to succumb, her desperate 
call for help clearly came through to Jeff in her 
intense gaze. It was as if she was saying, “Please, 
give me a second chance, and I will be forever 
grateful to you, and perhaps I can pay you back 
some day.” These are my own words for what 
that beautiful bird might have been thinking 
at the time, but Jeff has his own set of words to 
describe the experience, and was kind enough to 
share them in his book entitled, An Eagle Named 
Freedom: My True Story About a Remarkable 
Friendship, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 
2010. 

 It was 1998 when Jeff first met the desperate, 
dying juvenile eagle, whom he later named 
“Freedom“. Freedom had been brought in to the 
Sarvey Wildlife Care Center in Arlington, WA 
where Jeff volunteered and teamed up with the 
others to assist in saving her life, if at all possible. 
As it is so nicely put in the preface of his book, 
“From the moment Jeff Guidry saw the emaciated 
baby eagle with broken wings, his life was 
changed.” As a miracle might have it, the eaglet 
did indeed recover and Jeff became her forever 
devoted caretaker. 

 By the time Jeff wrote his book, he was no 
stranger to miraculous recoveries. Not only had 
he born witness to and played a major part in the 
second chance his new found friend, Freedom 
experienced, but he also had a brush with death 
himself in the year 2000 when he was diagnosed 
with stage 3 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. That is 
when it became clear to Jeff that Freedom had 
a very important purpose to play out in life; 
not the least of which was that of giving back to 
him what he had given her - hope for a second 
chance. Between 
c h e m o t h e r a p y 
treatments and 
countless doctor 
appointments, Jeff 
maintained a regular 
regimen of visiting 
Freedom at the 
Center, taking her out 
for walks and talking 
to her about what he 
was going through. He 
knew she could relate 
to his experience. 

 Soon the two were inseparable companions, 
connecting with one another in a way that most 
friends cannot fully understand. They had each 
been granted a front-row-center seat that provided 
an all-too-close-up view of life’s potential final 
moments, yet remarkably, they were both still 
alive! Both had been through a dark tunnel that 
would eventually lead back to the light of living, 
but not without much pain and suffering. And 
both knew what it meant to appreciate every 
breath they would take thereafter. 

 As I read about Jeff and Freedom’s story, I 
began to wonder how I, myself might deal with 
such a challenge. Not only a challenge IN life, but 
a challenge OF life. Would I be so strong, as to 
not give up or give in? I believe that one can only 
be sure of their own reaction to such a situation if 
they are met with it, and so far I have been spared 
from such a traumatic life-threatening ordeal. 
However, I also believe that when a person 
(whether it be an human or an eagle) is willing 
to give their all to survive, they are transformed 
into a stronger creature with much deeper 
potential for thought, reflection, appreciation and 
compassion. 

 And so it seems that is indeed what happened 
to Jeff and his wonderful winged friend, Freedom. 
As it turned out, Freedom would never fly again, 
or at least not in the way she understood flying 
before her demise. Even though her broken 
bones and fragile body healed amazingly well, 
the damage that had been done was such that 
she would never be able to join the others of her 
species in soaring above the clouds, as she had 
when she was a child. However, part of the lesson 
learned by both Freedom and Jeff through their 
brush with death is that flying or soaring are 
terms that can be applied to more than just the 
physical act as we know it. 

 Without spoiling the entire story written in 
Jeff’s book, I will say that in many ways both 
Freedom and Jeff fly or soar every single day of 
their lives! They soar above those of us who have 
never had to come to the crossroad of whether we 
will be strong enough to overcome, rather than 
succumb to death, and I can’t help wondering 
if they could have done it without each other’s 
loving strength and relentless support. 

 I don’t have a great summary with which to 
end this Happy Tail, and in fact I don’t think 
it is my right to offer such wisdom, since the 
experience was not my own. I can only offer what 
I have drawn from the story those two amazing 
individuals were kind enough to share with me 
and the rest of humanity. I find it to be one of 
the most inspiring accounts of what can happen 
when a dieing person is encouraged by another, 
to live and not give in. Miracles do happen, I 
believe. And when miracles happen, positive 
changes are played forward. I’d like to say thank 
you, Freedom and Jeff for playing it forward to 
this humble human being who can only imagine 
the wisdom of truly loving and appreciating life 
to which you are now privy. 

PET OF THE WEEK: BARNABY 

Animal ID #A4716755 


Meet Barnaby, a sweet pup that is ready to give 
you a lifetime full of love and affection if you’ll let 
him! Barnaby (A4716755) is an endearing 8-yearold, 
black with tan accents, small male canine. 
We believe him to be a Miniature Pinscher and 
Apple Head Chihuahua mix. Barnaby came to the 
Baldwin Park Animal Care Center as a stray on 
June 2nd. Weighing only 5½ pounds, Barnaby is a 
mostly low-energy boy who is not too shy to show 
the pep he’s still got in his step every now and again. 
His favorite activities are being carried around or 
lounging in a lap—just as long as he’s close to his 
humans! Who wouldn’t want him as their lap or 
purse dog, with his adorable face that often has a tongue or tooth hanging out of it? 
Barnaby will make an awesome indoor pet for any household around; but because of his 
easygoing nature, we imagine that he will be an especially good fit for either a first-time 
dog owner or a senior. Barnaby is a great little guy! To watch a video of Barnaby please 
visit the following link: http://youtu.be/WskWpNlxjpA 

To meet Barnaby in person, please see him at the Baldwin Park Shelter, located at 4275 
N. Elton, Baldwin Park, CA 91706 (Phone: 626-430-2378 or 626-962-3577). He is 
available now. For any inquiries about Barnaby, please reference his animal ID number: 
A4716755. The shelter is open seven days a week, 12 pm-7 pm Monday-Thursday and 
10am-5pm Friday-Sunday. This is a high-intake shelter with a great need for adoptions. 
For more information about Barnaby or the adoption process, contact United Hope 
for Animals Volunteer Adoption Coordinator Samantha at Samantha@hope4animals. 
org. To learn more about United Hope for Animals’ partnership with the Baldwin Park 
Shelter through its Shelter Support Program, as well as the many dogs of all breeds, ages, 
and sizes available for adoption in local shelters, visit http://www.unitedhope4animals. 
org/about-us/shelter-support-program/. 


148 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. 
Sierra Madre, CA 91024 
626-355-1800 
NOW OPEN!