By Laurel Busby

News & Information Editor

Two dogs and a baby bird drove Rustic Canyon residents into action yesterday.

In the morning, realtor Diana Braun’s gate was left open for house painters, and a stray beagle wandered through and into her kitchen.

The dog had no collar and Braun had to leave for work, so her husband, Frank Langen, who owns a real estate office in Canyon Square, drove home to supervise the stray.

“She’s very sweet,” he said. “I put her on a leash and walked around the neighborhood, trying to find the owner.”

He stopped by the dog park and also posted messages in various neighborhood WhatsApp groups, but no owner was found. He planned to take the beagle to a veterinarian to check for a chip when a neighbor, Louisette Geiss, who had seen Langen’s WhatsApp post, mentioned that a mobile veterinarian was already at her home. Langen stopped by with the beagle, and the vet discovered that the dog didn’t have an implanted chip.

The veterinarian also said that the dog may have recently given birth and then been abandoned by her owner, a practice that some unethical breeders do. Langen had an appointment, so another neighbor, Tracy Chandler, offered to watch the stray for a few hours.

Around 4:30 p.m. that afternoon, Tara Amiel of RustiCoffee called Langen to report that a beagle was running down Latimer. Langen thought the stray dog must have gotten loose again, but when he texted Chandler, he learned that the dog was still with her.

So, there was a second beagle roaming the Canyon. Amiel’s husband, Jon, caught up to the dog, and the families decided to get the two animals together.

“Tracy brought beagle number one to meet beagle number two, and it seemed like they probably knew each other,” Langen said. “They’re both friendly. They have different personalities, but they seem like they’re a similar age maybe. They’re both nursing or gave birth recently.”

The neighborhood search shifted from finding the owners to finding a home for the dogs. Langen and Braun couldn’t adopt the two as they already had three dogs at home. However, the 13-year-old daughter of another neighbor, Ashleigh Arrell, was anxious to meet the dogs, and the family soon volunteered as a temporary home until a permanent one could be found.

Her neighbors Nina Jacobson and Jen Bleakley pitched in with food, collars, a dog bed, treats. and dog bowls, and, since about 6 p.m. yesterday, Arrell and her family have begun a crash course in dog ownership. First, Arrell had to divide her house into a beagle zone and a cat zone, as the family has three cats who have not been too pleased with the new arrivals. In addition, Arrell beagle-proofed her fenced yard as the dogs were inventive at finding ways through it.

“Oh my God, it was a Disney day,” Arrell said, noting that getting to know the dogs has been a multi-faceted adventure. “One can go up the stairs, and one can’t. So, one will run up after me, and the other will sit at the bottom of the stairs and cry.”

Unfortunately, because of their cats, the family can only foster the dogs until a better situation is found. One Palisadian has offered to adopt one of the dogs, but the rescuers are hoping that somebody might be willing to take the pair, who Arrell suspects might be a mother and daughter.

The two dogs were not the only animals that needed help Monday morning. Another neighbor, Erin Chiamulon, found a baby bird on the ground while she was walking around with her own newborn baby. She reported the bird on WhatsApp at the same time that the beagle notices were circulating. Neighbor Mary Steenbergen offered to come to the rescue and has been working to nurture the little bird ever since.

“If anybody can save it, she can,” Langen said.

Anyone interested in adopting or visiting with one or both beagles can reach out to Arrell at (917) 406-5146, or pass by her home at 8 Latimer Rd.

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