{"id":115,"date":"2019-04-12T15:34:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T22:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/?p=999946147"},"modified":"2019-04-12T15:34:11","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T22:34:11","slug":"home-at-last-chloe-gets-a-new-loving-family-and-brings-a-friend-along","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/home-at-last-chloe-gets-a-new-loving-family-and-brings-a-friend-along","title":{"rendered":"Home at last: Chloe gets a new, loving family, and brings a friend along"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maryanne and Doug (aka Tiny) James\u2019 house was festooned with it\u2019s-a-girl balloons and pastel decorations; the kitchen counter was loaded down with cookies, jelly beans and bubbly; and about half the living room floor was piled with gifts: high-end dog food, toys, blankies and a stroller for when the dogs decided to take advantage of the live-in chauffeur. It was a sweet homecoming party to honor the first day of the rest of the lives of Chloe and Beatrice, two little dogs who\u2019ve been through the wringer.<\/p>\n

Moving continually from physical embrace to sniffing feet to nosing around the outdoor patio and back into anyone\u2019s arms were Chloe and her new sister\u2014or, more fittingly, grandma\u2014having the time of their lives. Beatrice is a poodle mix whom Fix Long Beach also fostered. She\u2019d had extensive surgery, and all but four of her teeth had been extracted. Veterinarians estimated her to be between 8 and 12 years old, but she didn\u2019t act her age as she skittered joyously across the James\u2019 slick hardwood floors.<\/p>\n

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Maryanne James holding Beatrice, an elderly dog that was adopted alongside Chloe, on April 12, 2019. Photo by Valerie Osier.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chloe made national and global news<\/a> in December as a victim of horrible animal abuse\u2014\u201cthe worst case I\u2019ve seen in 30 years,\u201d according to a veterinary assistant. Fix Long Beach volunteers had brought her first to Primary Care Animal Hospital and then to Long Beach Animal Emergency to nurse her through her extensive injuries. She had an initially rough road to recovery that the Long Beach Post and other news outlets chronicled. Many members of the public clamored to adopt her, moved by the pain and humiliation that the little girl had suffered and quite possibly and understandably attracted by an element of celebrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cOriginally, we had 400 people who said that they were submitting applications, but as people filled them out and came to requests for referrals from the vet and other people, it weeded the number down to 75,\u201d said Diana Kliche, president of Fix Long Beach\u2019s board.<\/p>\n

Board member Pam Rainsdon said that the Jameses were selected from among several qualified applicants because of their dedication to Chloe\u2019s situation even before it was determined that she was going to pull through. The couple had also cared for disabled pets.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Maryanne and Doug] supported Chloe from the very beginning and not because they wanted to adopt her\u2014that was later,\u201d Rainsdon said. \u201cThey helped put signs up to find the abuser, and they volunteered for us. We also wanted to be sure that her medical [needs] would be taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of this writing, the abuser has not been identified; a $20,000 reward is still being offered for information leading to his or her arrest.<\/p>\n