Tacoma’s 11 ‘suitcase puppies’ and mom get happy ending. We get lesson in compassion
When an emaciated dog was found in a Point Defiance Park restroom stall last spring, tied to a suitcase with her 11 newborn puppies piled inside like cordwood, one of the first thoughts to cross my mind, though I’m not Catholic, was of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. And how this act of cold-blooded abandonment would cause his heart to ache.
“If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity,” the 12th-century friar once said, “you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”
But when Trevor Lafontaine of Tacoma found that mama pit bull guarding her suitcase pups on May 5, visiting the park restroom at the end of his marathon training run, one of his first thoughts was how he and his wife, Sammy, could help.
How they might fill a need with their skills as an experienced foster dog household. How they might bring love and light to 12 forsaken animals during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when countless pets have been snapped up from animal shelters only to be cast aside by unprepared owners.
Looking back, Sammy Lafontaine summed up that day with matter-of-fact good humor. “He got in his full workout,” she said of her husband, “and found 12 dogs.”
What’s happened since then stands as a testament to resilience, hope and happy endings. The Lafontaines — and several families that adopted all the pit bulls into permanent homes through the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County — serve as counterpoints to St. Francis’ worst fears.
By providing some of God’s creatures with the shelter of compassion, they’re an example for those who would do likewise with their fellow humans.
Though the dogs went their separate ways several weeks ago, Sammy Lafontaine still gushes with the joy of fostering the mama, Oolong, and her whole litter for more than a month. She described the situation as “the best chaos.”
“It kind of fell into our laps at a perfect time,” Sammy told me Thursday. She was transitioning out of her job as a teacher, and the extra canine companions offered excellent socialization for the Lafontaines’ three adopted rescue dogs — two Chihuahuas and a Great Dane mix — who’d been mostly cooped up during the pandemic.
To see the nursing puppies gradually open their eyes, break away from their mother’s belly, gain energy and develop personalities was a wondrous first-time experience for the couple. So was observing Oolong quickly emerge from the shadow of abuse and malnourishment, which necessitated immediate veterinary care for her and her pups.
“I can’t imagine her going through what she went through and still be as good around people as she was with us, or to be so trusting,” Sammy said.
Personally, I can’t imagine the work required to take care of a dozen newly rescued dogs. I do know something about raising one pit bull mix with an unknown past. We adopted our sweet girl, Luna, from the Humane Society in the summer of 2017, when she was believed to be around 1 ½ years old.
All it took was one visit to the Nalley Valley shelter, and Luna was in the backseat of my teenage daughter’s car, headed for our home in Gig Harbor, despite the holes in her resume.
Alec and Jasmine Mrochek had a similar love-at-first-sight encounter in late June, when they met one of Oolong’s puppies.
They knew nothing of the restroom suitcase story that had seized media attention. They were simply seeking a companion for their 8-pound mutt, Archer, and wanted to help clear out the shelter at a time when it was facing a glut of pandemic dogs.
“We were pretty sad when we heard what happened,” Alec told me. “It’s sad that anyone could do this to any dog, much less 12.”
The Mrocheks left with the last member of the litter to find a home; she’s a cream-and-white beauty with a red nose, formerly known as Caramel, whom the couple named Lacey. Having recently moved from a Tacoma apartment to a 1.25-acre spread in Graham, there’s plenty of room to roam.
Lacey has a penchant for mischief, such as uprooting Jasmine’s blueberry plants. But it’s hidden under the skin of a four-month-old puppy who thinks she’s a baby and who refuses to start the day until her belly is rubbed — a lot.
“Lacey does not recognize that she’s almost 40 pounds and I can barely carry her,” Jasmine said.
For me, the most heartwarming part of this story is that Ooling (since renamed Rosie) was eventually adopted, too. In the animal rescue community, the harsh reality is that cute pups find homes quickly while mothers often can go unclaimed.
The Humane Society’s work is never done, of course, and the need for temporary foster providers and permanent homes remains high.
Their slogan should be: “Never a dull moment.” Just last week, a cat delivered five kittens in a Federal Way motel room after the family that’s fostering her had to evacuate their Puyallup neighborhood, displaced by a fire in a cold-storage facility.
Talk about room service.
Through fires, pandemics and other times of crisis, the call to care for all God’s creatures great and small goes on and on. And the model it provides to look after humanity’s most vulnerable members is as clear as the red nose on a puppy.
St. Francis would be proud.
Reach News Tribune opinion editor Matt Misterek at matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com
HOW TO BE A PET FOSTER PARENT
Anyone interested in fostering dogs, cats, puppies, kittens, rabbits or exotic pets can fill out an application at www.thehumanesociety.org/get-involved/foster/
This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 6:00 AM.