When a little Chihuahua mix – later named Viva – was abandoned on the streets of Los Angeles, she found shelter near LAX airport.
Without her family, the people she once loved wholeheartedly, and without any food and water, she desperately roamed the area, hoping to survive somehow.
It wasn’t until someone called the rescue organization, Hope For Paws, that her luck finally changed.
Rescuing Little Viva
As soon as Hope For Paws got a call about a little dog living near the airport, the two rescuers (Lisa Arturo and JoAnn Wiltz) headed out to find her.
Eventually, they found her huddled up in the grass, but when they tried to approach her, Viva got scared and ran into the traffic.
Viva was scared of anyone who even tried to come near her, so they knew that rescuing her wouldn’t be an easy mission.
The rescuers then decided to set up a doggie trap, but unfortunately, a pedestrian startled her, and she ran away once again.
While searching the area, the two women found out from employees at Wally’s Parking that Viva often hid in their structure. They spent several hours searching every floor of the parking area without any luck.
Four days passed, and the Hope For Paws rescuers were still not able to catch her, but they were not about to give up.
Thankfully, the employees at Wally’s Parking were able to tell them where Viva usually entered and exited. In an effort to finally catch her, they set up a trap right there and hid for a while.
After a couple of hours, Viva did, in fact, go inside the trap.
She was finally safe and secured!
Locating The Owner
Once Viva was trapped, the rescuers immediately noticed she had a collar on her.
There wasn’t a tag on it, but they still assumed she might be someone’s lost pet, so they decided to investigate.
However, when they called Avid Identification Systems and inquired about the microchip they found on the dog, they got the saddest answer in return.
“So, we do have an owner, but it looks like we did try to contact them, and they stated they no longer owned this pet,” said Avid representative.
When Hope For Paws asked if they had given the dog to someone else or whether there was somebody looking for her, the representative said once again, “No, when we called them they stated that they no longer own it.”
The owner simply decided they no longer owned the pet and dumped it on the streets.
Starting A New Life
With the help of her rescuers, little Viva said goodbye to Wally’s Parking and headed to a much safer location.
She first went to a temporary foster home, provided by Los Angeles rescue organization, Foxy and the Hounds, to decompress. Once she finally felt safe, Viva transformed into a happy and playful pup.
“We are so in love with this cross-eyed, adorable underbite, snaggletoothed girl who is the cutest little hot mess you will ever meet. Viva is a 2-year-old, female Chihuahua mix, possibly with Min Pin? She is so loving, so funny, so happy, and you will undoubtedly be smitten with her,” Foxy and the Hounds wrote in their Facebook post.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for Viva to find the perfect forever home.
Her new family saw the post on Facebook, and they immediately knew they had to come and adopt her.
They were exactly the family Viva was waiting for.
“Viva loves kids and ran through their house and then started a fun game of chase… She was chasing them through the yard, and then they were chasing her and Viva was having the best time ever.”
Everyone was delighted that this adorable little dog finally found the right family that would never abandon her like her previous owner did.
“Thank you, Robert Gomez, and your amazing family for opening your home and your hearts to sweet Viva. We were just so happy for her and our hearts are full knowing Viva will have a lifetime filled with love, kids to play with, and a family to call her own,” the rescue wrote in their post.
Enjoy your new life, sweet little girl!