LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – To Karen Schaver dogs and underdogs are one and the same.
“ … Because dogs are innocent and have no choice for what happens to them,” Schaver explained. “Our society created them and then abandoned them. They are underdogs as are any domestic animals and I’ve always been for the underdog.”
But never more than she was 15 years ago when, with her husband Mike, she founded Lake County Animal Services, an alternative to the dog pound or animal shelter.
This past May her organization “homed” its 2,500th dog.
Their service began when the Schavers were stunned to see some small children out in front of a house playing with some puppies from a litter of eight in a most alarming way.
“The kids were naked or had dirty diapers on and were playing with the puppies as if they were footballs,” said Karen Schaver. “The puppies were about 6 weeks old and I just walked over and took them. “Nobody said anything when we took them home.”
Second Chance Dog Rescue, a service with which Schaver was associated at the time, “was a little miffed because they were just ugly black Lake County dogs and there were so many of them. So we broke with Second Chance Rescue and started our own group,” she said.
But then it was the county’s turn to be “miffed” because it reasoned the Schavers had too many dogs on the property they rented for them.
The couple got married and started saving up to buy their own property. “We saved enough to buy 80 acres up the road,” she said.
There have been more crises since then. One this past year involved 10 newborn puppies in the litter of a purebred German Shepherd.
“Because they were purebred they came with a whole set of health issues,” Schaver said.
Two of the 10 died. All of the surviving pups were at risk for a life-threatening intestinal disease. Two of them got the disease, requiring surgery that costs in the neighborhood of $5,000.
An expensive endeavor
Today, you can find Lake County Animal Services on the Old Toll Road in Lakeport.
The number of dogs on the property ranges from five to 35 and they’ve reached the higher figure no less than three times in the last six years.
“If you have two litters that’s 15 to 20 right there,” Schaver said.
Lake County Animal Services adopts each of its dogs for $250. Puppies are adopted out when they reach 8 weeks old, Schaver said.
By the time all the expenses are paid for – dog food, toys, spaying and neutering, and extra medical aid when needed – the organization nets about $40 per dog, Schaver said.
“I work with a lot of veterinarians,” she added, estimating the organization's annual vet bill is $40,000 to $50,000, or about $200 per dog.
The Schavers had no intent of adopting any of the mutts that come to the service. But one of the dogs – a sweet-natured female German Shepherd mix – adopted them.
“Monique came to us to have puppies four years ago. She is 8 now. She was always a good girl, but, boy, she’s got her stubborn side,” Karen Schaver said.
“Mike and I wanted to go to the movies and we left three times, but she got out each time so we finally just took her with us,” she continued.
“She loves cats. She thinks they’re delicious,” Schaver added. “She doesn’t eat them in front of me, but I think she’s done it. She can also scale a six-foot fence and will do it to get where I’m going.”
She said that Monique is no longer up for adoption.
“I’ve worked with her and she’s a marvelous dog,” said Karen. “I couldn’t give her up, although I’ve tried real hard to find her a home. She doesn’t get adopted because of her cat-eating.”
Monique laid contentedly at Schaver's feet, oblivious to the passersby at Safeway in Lakeport, during an interview.
Offering another chance at life
The health of unvaccinated dogs and puppies is an ultra-sensitive issue because of a highly contagious and invisible infection called parvovirus, which causes fever, vomiting, dehydration and diarrhea.
“Sometimes you have no choice but to euthanize them,” said Schaver.
The good news is she’s had a 90-percent success rate in restoring dogs’ health. That’s partly because of a “paranoia,” as she calls it, for keeping the puppies’ environment immaculately clean.
Schaver said that, as far as she knows, her organization is the only one in Northern California that takes in puppies with parvovirus. People from shelters in Humboldt and Mendocino counties call her organization asking for help.
In addition to caring for ill dogs, Lake County Animal Services takes in dogs that are physically and behaviorally challenged dogs.
“We’ve had three-legged dogs, two-legged dogs, blind and deaf dogs,” Schaver said. “They have the same sort of difficulty that people with physical and mental frailties do. Sometimes they’re just real shy.”
She added, “Whether they have a physical disability, a physical illness, or a mental disability, it’s oftentimes very easy to take care of it.”
As part of the effort to find homes for the dogs, Schaver and a group of dedicated volunteers make almost weekly trips to the Bay Area, where they hold adoption events.
Lake County Animal Services, which won a Stars of Lake County Award several years ago for its efforts in the community, is a labor of love for Schaver.
“It’s a labor, an avocation and a need,” she said. “I thought that after 10 years we’d solve the problem. We had a new shelter built for the dogs. We have a clinic now and I thought it would be easy for me to stop. But it’s not stopping. We have to be all over the county. We get calls from people everywhere.”
The time requirement for caring so many dogs is immeasurable.
“We don’t get to take our dogs places,” she said. “We don’t get to take them to the beach, we don’t get to go camping with them anymore. We gave up a lot. When you have so many animals to take care of you can’t leave them.
“I get one to 20 phone calls a week from people who need to give up their dog, one to five calls a week from people who need help with their vet bills and one to 10 calls a week from people who need to get their animals spayed or neutered,” she said.
“But,” she added, “I get one to 50 calls a week from people who want to adopt.”
To learn more about Lake County Animal Services or to donate, visit http://www.lakecountyanimalservices.org/ or www.orphandog.org . A donation button can be found at the main Web site home page. Follow the group on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LCAnimalServices . Karen Schaver can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Email John Lindblom at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .