Stockton woman helps litter of huskies dumped at old golf course
STOCKTON — A Stockton neighborhood is trying to help a litter of huskies abandoned on a now-shuttered golf course.
Linda Recuparo saw the dogs first through a social media post.
"Somebody had dumped the mother dog, and she had given birth to seven puppies," Recuparo said.
She then arrived to see eight dogs living on their own. Recuparo has been helping take care of the dogs by leaving food when she can, saying she "couldn't let them starve."
Recuparo has been helping the litter since October and recently got in touch with Deb Phillips. Phillips runs Cruisin' 4 Paws, a volunteer rescue group, and said the issue is getting worse.
"Eighty-five percent, almost 90% of what we trap are tossed or abandoned," Phillips said.
The City of Stockton said there has been an uptick in strays and pet abandonment. To abandon a pet is a misdemeanor.
Phillips said it's a community issue more than a city or county problem.
"It's not an issue they have created," Phillips added. "It's a societal issue and it's not just here in the valley, but it's up and down the state."
Even as shelters fill up locally, Recuparo hopes the dogs have a good life ahead of them.
"Even though they're feral, they're not aggressive one bit," she said.
Recuparo added that she hopes these kinds of things stop happening in the Stockton area.
"You're going to abandon your child like that? I don't think so," she said. "There needs to be something to help save these animals."
The city suggests that if you see a pet being abandoned, try to record the people or driver's license plate dumping the animal and report it to the city.