Ok, the Suburban Lair does not need more foster doggies. We currently have two fosters, in an addition to an undisclosed number of permanent residents on the Island of Misfit Toys (just in case anybody from LA County Animal Control is reading this). One of the fosters is currently available for adoption. She’s a little Tibetan Spaniel named Hillary, and she’s a delight:

The other little girl, Chaka, needs some TLC before we can let her out for adaption.

So my worthless neighbors were evicted due to foreclosure. These are the people who had nine dogs, none of which they took care of. They used to let them run around the street. One dog, in particular, was really adept with getting out. I used to hesitate before knocking on their door to give him back because I had, more than once, yelled at one of their boys to stop kicking, hitting, or dragging this little black dog around while it cried in pain.

So the little black dog is smart, small, and fast–and it’s been taught that people beat you if you let them get near you.

When the yucky neighbors moved out and left the dogs, there were a couple of bruisers in the backyard who wouldn’t let any of us get near the place. They were a pack of dogs–the big brown mutt was the dominant dog, and it was tough. There was a black pit bull who looked pretty marked up to me, and a softer, quieter, smaller yellow dog that the others ones beat up on.

We had to call Animal Control as we just couldn’t get past the bruisers, and even though we were shoving low bowls of water under the fence and food over the fence, we couldn’t do this forever as the house is up for auction. So animal control came and got the big dogs.

But the little black dog? He evaded them. I knew he probably would. He has a hole in his fence that he uses to run in and out. He evades my attempts to make friends outside the fence, and, if somebody gets in the yard, he leaves and gets out into the neighborhood.

I’m not sure how to capture him. I keep putting food down, and he apparently eats it, but I spend my days looking outside for him as he comes and goes.