El Paso Animal Services Center rescued a big red dog in El Paso's Franklin Mountains in July. After recovering from his injuries, the dog, appropriately named Clifford, is waiting for a loving home but now he is at risk for euthanasia. Tina Ramirez, field protection manager for El Paso Animal Services Center, spoke with KRWG's Susan Morée about Clifford.
Susan Morée:
Tina, tell us about Clifford's rescue in the Franklin Mountains. I have the impression it was pretty dramatic.
Tina Ramirez:
It was, you know. Thank God Clifford is with us today and remarkable and hoping for a home. But so around July 7th in the midst of the summer, we got a call from our partners over at the El Paso Police Department, the academy where they have their cadets and their recruits are going through their training. They contacted us regarding a dog that had been observed earlier in the day, just kind of in desperation on one rock, not really moving, pacing back and forth. And from what the sergeant said, he's like, 'it looks like he wants to jump, but it's just, it's so hot. I think he's burning himself. I think he's giving up. It looks like he's giving up hope.' And my heart dropped and I said, 'look, keep eyes on him. Please, if he jumps or if he falls, please try to get him. We're on our way.' We didn't even try getting officers out there. We just grabbed our utility belts and ran out there. It was myself and two of my field officers. We got there pretty quickly. It was just down the street from us. And when we arrived, they pointed us to where Clifford was. And immediately I knew he was in a desperate mode where he was going to just jump for it. And I knew it just off his body language. He kept doing a little dance and I said, 'he's burning his paws.' It was, I think, 107 that day, very top of the mountains, the Franklin Mountains. So, he was in the midst of the heat and trying to find a way down. Unfortunately, he got himself onto a rock to where there wasn't really a connection to it and he didn't know how. I think at that point he was just desperate to get off the cliff. While we were preparing our equipment, I looked up and I said, 'He's going to jump. He's gonna jump.' He put his little paws over it. He started whining and he just jumped. I would say about 30 feet. About 30 feet from where he was at, he fell. We ran to him and he didn't fall directly. When he jumped, he broke his fall with a little, like a small little heel that was there and then he bumped down to the ground and I, you know, we were scared. We just paused and we're like, 'Is he okay? Is he alive?' And when we saw him perch his little head up, we all ran to him and he was still in shock, but definitely trying to get his composure back. He looked at us. He knew we were there to help him, but we knew he had to have sustained some injuries. He started limping. He picked up one of his back legs right away. So we had to be very careful when we got him, when we were trying to apprehend him. He absconded a little bit. He gave us a little run around the academy. But he was frightened. It was totally understandable, but we were able to get him. It was in a long run. It was just like one or two minutes. He just ran. He tried to hide. He tried to hide from everyone. We were able to get him. We cooled him down with water, made sure we lowered his temperature. And at that time when we were able to apprehend him and put him in the unit is when we saw how burned his paws were. I mean, they were completely burned off. His stomach was burned. His little scrotum was burned. So at that time, we were able to secure him. We called our medical team and our chief veterinarian. We're en route. We're five minutes away. This is what we have. He fell about 30, 40 feet, and they were already on standby waiting for us. Thank God our medical team was able to do wonders in saving Clifford. He suffered a hemothorax and I want to say his liver functions were really high because of the dehydration. We really don't know how long he'd been up there. We are assuming that he was one of the strays that got lost or a pet that got lost during the 4th of July because 4th of July had just passed.
Susan Morée:
And how is Clifford doing now? Has he improved?
Tina Ramirez:
He has. He's medically cleared. He improved initially. He was very timid. He was still very weary of us and wasn't sure where he was at. 'What am I doing here?' But he's opened up slowly. He's blossoming. He loves to be cuddled with. He loves the affection. He loves the attention. And we're just, we're trying to get Clifford to get seen, to get known so we can get him his forever home. He suffered such a traumatic experience. And he deserves a loving home. He's doing exceptionally well.
Susan Morée:
And for someone who might be interested in adopting Clifford, what else can you tell us about him? I have an impression from the photos that he's a little bit red and he looks a little shepherdy. Do you think that's an accurate description?
Tina Ramirez:
Yes, yes it is. A little rust color. Like I said, he's very, he's loving, at first he was very timid, but he's allowing affection. He comes for affection. He's been on Doggy Days Out and his report card is that he is really great with our volunteers who take him out. And I think he's just ready for a home where he can either be out and about for walks, but he can also acclimate at the end of the day and then just kind of cuddle and watch some TV or Netflix and definitely adapt to the environment. We have been able to introduce him to other pets in our shelter and he's taking well with them as long as they're calm. He's still a little wary of the excited dogs or maybe puppies that just want to play, but he hasn't shown any aggression or anything like that. It's like he's scared, but he just wants to be accepted. It's just a very cute demeanor of him.
Susan Morée:
Does he watch the cartoon Clifford, the Clifford, the big red dog?
Tina Ramirez:
Big dog, that's him. Because we were like, 'what should we call him?' And we were like, 'Well, he's red.' And we were like, 'What can we name this beautiful soul, right? What can we name him?' And we're like, 'Well, let's think of names.' And then one of our techs was like, 'Well, how about like Cliff?' And then they're like, 'Well, how about Clifford? And we're like, 'Let's do that.'
Susan Morée:
All right, well, here's hoping that Clifford can find a home.
Tina Ramirez:
Yes, given the opportunity, he shines again on the doggy days out that when he's gone out. He comes back with such a good report card. Now we do suspect that he might be a little runner because during our little playgroup, he likes to jump high. So we're like, 'Okay, we need to make sure whoever decides to adopt him that they have some good fencing or how we're going to, what the setup is that going to be.' But other than that, he's, I mean, he's just a lovable dog. He's come such a long way and he's been here since July 7th. And I think he's ready. He's ready for a forever home.
Susan Morée:
All right. Well, I hope Clifford finds that home. And thank you so much, Tina, for taking the time to talk to us.
Tina Ramirez:
Yes, of course. Thank you.
