Success was the strengthening of the 21st Paradigm production team. I especially thank Anthony Tanaka for his loyalty, persistence and dedication to the project. For Tonito, Felipa, Lilly and Emilia, the mutts who escaped life on the streets in Chile and are now blissfully happy in California and Oregon, for them the year could not have been better! Thank you to Gabriela Jarpa for staying true to the dogs of Rinconada.

Two massive earthquakes devastated parts of Chile, causing canine distemper outbreaks and worsening the already existing calamities of starvation and homelessness. Within days, television media was drugging the global public with other mundane news, while the struggle between life and death continued on the ground, unabated. So too, the struggle for life in US shelters. Another 3 million or more dogs were killed unnecessarily in “shelters,” including the 2-year old war hero who survived the war in Afghanistan and saved fifty soldiers’ lives, only to be killed by mistake within two days of entering the shelter system in Arizona.

As I look back on the year’s progress in terms of finishing the film, I am dismayed at how much time was taken up in the effort to generate funds for production costs. Grant writing, personal appeals, public fundraisers, gallery exhibits, online outreach… The efforts of this small band of volunteers was enormous, and still we operate on a shoe-string budget. It might be character-building, but the time lost is heartbreaking. Meanwhile the southern-most animal shelter in Chile closed it’s doors for lack of adequate funds; poisoning, shooting, stabbing and clubbing of street dogs increased dramatically in major cities, while animal activists continue their struggle to deter the Chilean government from enacting laws that would cause similar deaths for some 2.5 million stray dogs. This, when the feasible solution is at our fingertips – Spay and Neuter. All it takes is education and the will to foster a humane society.

As I mourn the recent loss of my beloved companion of ten years, Digby, I am struck by the immense honor of having a dog as teacher. It makes me that much more grateful for Fumarola, my Chilean rescue who brings me endless amounts of joy.

I take this opportunity to thank all our supporters and volunteers, and ensure that we will strive for a 2011 completion date for the film.

ANYONE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE, FRIDAY DECEMBER 31 IS THE LAST DAY TO DONATE AND RECEIVE A 2010 TAX DEDUCTION. Click here to donate: http://www.21paradigm.com/donate

I wish for better times for the animals of our world, for they too deserve a peaceful place.

Vanessa Schulz
Director

Meat laced with Strychnine is the cheapest and most common method used. It is also the cruelest, leaving animals to die slow, painful deaths from organ failure and ultimate asphyxiation. Their grimaced expressions upon death are testament to the agony that lasts for hours and even days.

This heartless action and the destruction of the dogs’ rudimentary shelters are thought to be the covert work of the local municipality. The mayor of Peñaflor, Manuel Fuentes, denied any knowledge of the poisonings, then had his communications manager falsely report that only seven dogs were dead and that legal action would be brought against those responsible. Read More here…

WHAT YOU CAN DO!!!

SIGN THE PETITION AGAINST DOG POISONING AT CHANGE.ORG!

UPDATE!!!! WE HAVE A Venue, and the event is back on!! Click here for more details!

or you can RSVP here on the Lost Dogs Site, or on Facebook!

We thank you all for your participation, and spreading the word for our LA Event that was planned for December 5th. Unfortunately, it is with a heavy heart that we must cancel this planned event at this time. Unfortunately, we could not get a reasonable answer, and service from The Westin in Long Beach, as they have refused to document to us their reason for canceling, although it has been relayed to us that the AKC (American Kennel Club) has intervened.

We are still looking forward to holding another event in the Los Angeles area after the New Year, and will be looking for more opportunities to create a great experience for you all to see, and ultimately help everyone become more aware of the lives we are trying to save.

Thank you and please keep up to date with us with the links below.

For the Dogs,
The 21st Paradigm Team

• Site: http://www.21paradigm.org
• Donate: http://www.21paradigm.com/donate
• Blog: http://21paradigm.wordpress.com
• Lost Dogs Film: http://www.lostdogsfilm.org
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/21paradigm
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/21paradigm
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/21paradigm

A tragedy has occurred in Chile – A pack of dogs attacked and killed a mother and her 25-year old daughter. Read the full story at http://21paradigm.wordpress.com/

The debacle between 21st Paradigm and the American Kennel Club continues. AKC is preventing 21st Paradigm from holding a Lost Dogs fundraiser – scheduled for December 5 in Long Beach – because it coincides with their National Championships held over the same weekend.

The censorship of our message – to rescue homeless dogs and improve the lives of all dogs, owned or not – by one of the giants of the dog world is akin to Haliburton securing business by bombing a mom ‘n’ pop hardware store in Iraq. The outcome remains to be seen, but for now, we’re three weeks away from the date and we still do not have a suitable venue to accommodate between 200 and 300 guests.

Our previous contract was with the Westin Long Beach Hotel. It seems breaking a contract is no big deal to the Westin, judging by their sloth-like assistance in helping us relocate. We’re just the mutts, after all. Mutts with a camera…

For the dogs,
Vanessa

On December 5, 21st Paradigm was scheduled to hold a benefit in Los Angeles to raise production funds for the documentary, Lost Dogs, the purpose of which is to raise awareness of the plight of millions of homeless dogs. The film focuses specifically on the street dogs of Chile and strays in the US shelter system.

The benefit was to be held at the Westin Long Beach Hotel and with over one hundred guests already confirmed, the Westin is canceling our reservation because of the American Kennel Club’s National Championships held over the same weekend.

AKC has the clout to shut us down. When breeding purebred dogs drives profit motive, an alternative message about rescuing homeless dogs is to be censored, and that is exactly what the AKC is doing.

21st Paradigm is asking for someone in the LA or Long Beach area to offer a space for a fundraiser for Lost Dogs (all additional arrangements will be handled by the 21st Paradigm staff). The filmmaker, Vanessa Schulz, will be in attendance to give a presentation and show a preview of the film in production.

To partner with 21st Paradigm, please contact Anthony at anthony@lostdogsfilm.org.

“Saving one animal may not change the world, but surely, for that one animal, the world will change forever.”
In that spirit, another dog has been saved, thanks to Anthony Tanaka, our web manager and graphic designer, who together with his family, adopted Emilia. Read more… http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/blog/. Thank you to all who donated the time and funds that made this adoption possible, in particular Gabriela Jarpa in Santiago, and Lost Dogs volunteers Reese Mercer and Carol Linacre who coordinated the logistics.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Anthony Tanaka, in addition to hands-on rescue, is organizing a benefit event for Lost Dogs in Long Beach, California.
December 5 (5-9pm) at the Westin Long Beach Hotel

If you are able to attend, please let us know through our RSVP page online, and consider spreading the word to friends in the LA region -
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162573190438238
Lost Dogs RSVP and invitation: http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/rsvp
We are inviting artists to donate a creation inspired by the Lost Dogs theme to the silent auction. For more information, please contact Amy Tanaka at amy@lostdogsfilm.org

GALLERY UPDATE
Our web site is constantly evolving and the gallery has been substantially expanded! Take a look at http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/gallery/

DOG IN NEED
Five dogs have already been adopted via our ADOPT page on the Lost Dogs web site - http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/adoption/

The latest soul posted to this page is called Cholita. In the photo below, you can see her left leg was cruelly hacked off, the scar on the right leg shows an attempt was made to amputate that leg also. The scar around her waist shows how she was inhumanely tied. This all occurred in an agricultural region of Chile, where compassion is often sorely lacking and traps (mostly wire snares) are set to kill dogs that pose a threat to livestock.

The first time Cholita was found by her rescuers, she was just four months old and pregnant, her leg already amputated. When they returned for her, she had already given birth but the puppies were never found. We are helping Carla Cuevas find a home for Cholita but the situation is urgent, as Carla cannot keep her in foster care any longer. If you are in Chile and can help foster or find a home, please contact Carla urgently at <krlita_itta@hotmail.com>. To adopt Cholita in the US, please contact me directly at <vschulz@gmail.com>.

Please consider a tax-deductible contribution to help us educate and save - http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/donate/

Thank you for your continued support and care for animals.

For the dogs,

Vanessa Schulz
Producer/Director

Since 2003, Anthony and his then-business partner, Tommy O’Connor, have donated their time and expertise to 21st Paradigm, helping the organization grow through tough times economically and culturally. With a spirit that can only be described as altruism, Anthony has offered up his nights and weekends to provide the project with the web sites that send our message out to the world.

Privy to the behind-the-scenes activity of the film project, Anthony knew of a dog left behind in Chile due to a case of mange that flared up right before she and two others were meant to fly to the US. Tonito and Felipa made it, now living happily in Oregon, but Emilia was left in Santiago… just one more dog for Gabriela Jarpa to care for (in addition to four of her own, and the hundreds of street dogs she encounters every day).

The cost of bringing a dog to the US can be prohibitive. Airfare is around $800, which some argue would be better spent on sterilization. The difference, however, is that the plea for dollars to sterilize is already out there. This was a separate campaign that needed cheerleaders with commitment. Reese Mercer, a former volunteer for Lost Dogs, and Carol Linacre, production assistant, lead the fight for Emilia, and won. With an online campaign they successfully raised the money, and at 6:30 a.m. on September 26, 2010, Emilia arrived at LAX airport.

The lengths to which her champions went are understood when one looks at Emilia’s history in a country supreme in its neglect of dogs.

Emilia was about two months old when Gabriela Jarpa found her in Rinconada, a dismal place outside Santiago where the heartless dump unwanted dogs. Surrounded by other abandoned, hungry strays and with nothing but rudimentary shelters (constructed by Gabriela and her friends) to guard against the winter cold, this tiny puppy survived here for almost three weeks. Without a mother or siblings, she stayed away from the other dogs, displaying the usual signs of fear and depression that lead to inevitable illness. Timing was crucial, so when a family responded to an online advertisement with an offer of adoption, Gabriela agreed.

The family comprised three women, a grandmother (55), her daughter (30) and granddaughter (2), plus a cocker spaniel that lived outside in the yard. But the yard was not secure, and when both adult women were at work and the child in kindergarten, the cocker spaniel would roam the streets, as owned dogs do in Chile. They assured Gabriela that Emilia would be kept inside the house and the yard secured.

The obvious happened. Emilia defecated, urinated, and chewed on whatever she could find. Teething aside, puppies separated too early from their mothers and with a history of human abandonment, have separation anxiety that manifests in destructive behavior. This can only be countered through patient training, companionship and nurturing, concepts of which many Chileans are ignorant.

So what did this family do to solve the problem? They put Emilia outside on the street.

Gabriela would never have found this out, had she not made a commitment to Emilia’s new guardians to have her sterilized once her health stabilized at seven months. When Gabriela arrived at the house, she was horrified to find Emilia on the street, in the first heat of her life, surrounded by a pack of male dogs.

Accusing Gabriela of lying, the family blamed her for the size to which Emilia had grown. Gabriela arranged for a sterilization procedure and a few days later she was able to take Emilia back. It was only then that she realized the extent of her condition. Emilia was showing all the signs of depression, frightened of loud noises and rapid movements, of broomsticks, hosepipes and newspapers. She was dirty, her ears were hairless from mange and her skin itchy and sore. Again, the family blamed Gabriela, saying she had given them a sick dog to adopt.

After Gabriela took Emilia to the municipal clinic to be sterilized and treated, the family demanded she return their dog. Supported by the veterinarians, Gabriela refused. Eventually the phone calls stopped.

Two other dogs from Rinconada, Tonito and Felipa, were flown to the US in May of 2010. Emilia was meant to be with them, but on account of the mange, she had to be left behind. It took another four months to raise the money for a flight to the US. All the while, Gabriela nursed Emilia back to health.

Through the perseverance of volunteers, Emilia would ultimately make the journey to America on her own. At fourteen months, with her formative and most harrowing years behind her, Emilia now lives with Anthony and his family in California. She loves his wife and follows her everywhere. During the first few days she shied away from Anthony as if his intention was to hit her, but with love, that too has softened.

Thank you to all who gave this story a happy ending, may it inspire others to choose one being and fight for its salvation.

Read more about Emilia from Anthony’s point of view:
http://www.anthonytanaka.com/?p=561 ]]> http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/2010/10/06/from-rinconada-to-los-angeles-emilia-saved/feed/ 0 http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/2010/07/26/192/ http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/2010/07/26/192/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 22:17:59 +0000 admin http://www.lostdogsfilm.org/?p=192 Galapagos Preservation Society (GPS) and Animal Balance have asked that Vanessa Schulz document their upcoming campaign to minimize the impact of stray dogs on the native wildlife of the Galapagos Islands. The shoot begins July 31, to August 10.

Read more here!