DALLAS — Animal welfare activists hope that two Dallas-area dogs, having made the news recently in decidedly different circumstances, could help generate interest in the hundreds of other animals also waiting for new homes to call their own.
The journey to a new home is almost complete for the pup named Toast. Rescued by Dallas Police weeks ago while she was scrounging for food near a southern Dallas dumpster, she has been in the care of Dallas Animal Services wildlife specialist Jacqui Sutherland because the officers who found the animal thought it might actually be a coyote.
DNA results finally completed this past weekend, show that she is actually a German Shepherd-Siberian Husky-Australian cattle dog mix.
Multiple people have signed up with Dallas Animal Services offering to adopt the "international" dog and a new home should be chosen soon.
Another dog, a German Shepherd named Max, is in a slightly longer pipeline but also headed soon to a new home.
He is the dog abandoned last week on Teagarden Road near Dowdy Ferry Road. Surveillance cameras installed by the Dowdy Ferry Animal Commission captured a man in the act and showed the dog racing after him as he drove away.
Ramiro Zuniga, 41, was arrested Saturday and charged with cruelty to animals misdemeanor. But as of this writing, he is still held in the Dallas County Jail while federal authorities investigate his immigration status.
Dallas Animal Services says Max will be transferred to a local rescue but will remain in DAS custody while the investigation is still pending
But, citing his abandonment, DAS posted on social media that it has dozens of other German Shepherds, adults and puppies, available for people who might be considering his adoption.
German Shepherds, Pitbulls and Great Pyrenees are some of the most common dogs available at DAS.
"We have so many great dogs, hundreds of dogs available, to foster or adopt," said Dallas Animal Services' Karla Alvarado at their shelter facility at 1818 N. Westmoreland Road location. "Just come check us out whenever you can."
Because if you don't get to adopt Max or Toast, perhaps they can interest you in a 1-year-old mix named Tommy or an 8-week-old Shepherd mix named Paige. On any given day DAS says it has as many as 300 dogs available.
Adoptions are free at Dallas Animal Services, located at 1818 North Westmoreland Road.