Rain was coming down hard in Los Angeles when Lisa Chiarelli drove through a trash-covered area and spotted a lonely stray Pitbull.
She could not keep going after seeing the dog by herself in a place like that. Lisa pulled over immediately, hoping she could gently convince the frightened pup to get into her car and leave that unsafe stretch behind.
But fear took over before trust had a chance to settle in.
The dog ran, disappearing into an enormous area where there were endless places to hide. With so much space around what looked like a recycling plant, finding her again would not be simple.
Lisa later told The Dodo, “It was acres and acres. It was kind of on a recycling plant and there were so many places that she could hide.”
Still, she could not shake what she had seen in the dog’s eyes.
That first rescue attempt had failed, but walking away for good was not an option. For the next three weeks, she kept returning to the same spot, carrying the memory of that sadness with her and holding onto one goal: helping the abandoned Pitbull finally reach safety.
Building Trust, Day By Day
Lisa visited the same spot every day, searching for the scared dog.
To build trust, she began feeding her in the same location.
The dog appeared to be in good health, which suggested she had been cared for recently before being abandoned.
On day three, Lisa brought a friend and a trap. Unfortunately, the trap malfunctioned and caused the dog’s leg to be caught.
“I was so disappointed. I mean, I just started crying. She got really scared of me after the trap failed, and she wouldn’t come as close to me as she did on the first day. She would just see my car and leave,” Lisa explained to The Dodo.
Despite the setback, Lisa refused to give up. Day after day, she thought about the dog and kept trying to gain her trust.
A Breakthrough Moment
Lisa continued visiting the dog two or three times each day, checking on her and maintaining the feeding station.
Around day 18, Lisa decided to try the trap again, this time securing it to a tree.
“Each day I would push the food bowl a little back more to the back of the trap. We brought chicken pastrami and I set the food a little bit around the entrance, and we put the jackpot in the back of the trap,” Lisa recalled.
After 21 days of effort, the dog finally entered the trap. They had her.
The dog, now named Xena, was anxious but strikingly beautiful.
Lisa gently placed her in the car and drove her to the vet. After an hour of quiet companionship and gentle petting, Xena began to relax.
With each passing day, Xena grew more comfortable and began to enjoy the affection she received. By the third day, she wagged her tail for the first time.
“She just started blooming each day, with love and trust and removing the fear,” Lisa said.
A month after her rescue, a family from Orange County expressed interest in adopting her.
“Usually, the black Pitbulls are the toughest to be adopted, but that’s what we had before. I was like, ‘No, that’s what I want! I said, ‘Give me the one that I knew would probably be in boarding for so long, not even find a foster.’ Yes, that’s what we wanted,” Shelly, Xena’s new mom, shared with The Dodo.
Once Xena realized she could trust people, she transformed into a joyful, affectionate dog. Her new family took her on countless adventures and cherished every moment with her.
Xena, the warrior, was loved deeply until her final breath.