Studio City rescue helps dozens of abandoned dogs in Lancaster

This Studio City rescue saved abandoned puppies in Lancaster. Here’s how to help

Staff Writer

April 5, 2023 5:13 PM PT

Melissa Bacelar, owner of Wagmor Pets Dog Rescue in Studio City, said she received a call Monday night from someone who spotted close to 50 dogs that were without food and water, languishing on a remote property in Lancaster.

“I don’t know what to do,” Bacelar said the caller told her. “I need a miracle.”

It was an all too familiar story for Bacelar. She said she hears about abandoned dogs every week, and the issue is “happening everywhere.”

Bacelar said she sprang into action to help the dogs and the overwhelmed man living on the property that had become a dog dumping ground. By Tuesday morning, she said, she had secured 400 pounds of dog food and transportation for 10 puppies that were weaned enough to be taken away from their mothers.

As of Wednesday, the puppies were in the care of Wagmor Pets Dog Rescue. The remaining 30 to 40 dogs are feral and not currently adoptable, but the rescue group is working to save them, Bacelar said. She said the plan is to “wrangle them, get them spayed and neutered, find trainers for them,” and “slowly get them out of there.”

The resident of the Lancaster property was in tears after seeing the dogs fed, Bacelar said, but much work remains to be done. Wagmor Pets Dog Rescue is raising donations via Instagram to provide the dogs with food, fencing, shelter and veterinary services.

Bacelar said she talked with the man about installing “some kind of fencing so we can keep the males and females separated” to prevent more puppies from being born. A fence would also stop the dogs from running into nearby roads.

Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control had been called already but “couldn’t help,” said Bacelar, adding that “there’s only so much rescue groups and animal control can do.”

Raul Rodriguez, a deputy director with Animal Care and Control, said the agency received a call Monday afternoon about the property. He said Animal Care and Control has visited the property three times, and it appeared that “rescue groups had gotten there before us and took some dogs.”

“We’re working with the person who claims to be the owner [of the property] to reduce [the number of dogs] or remove [the dogs] from the property,” said Rodriguez, adding that the agency only saw about 10 dogs in a fenced-in area that “didn’t look sick or injured.”

If the dogs cannot be sheltered on the property, Rodriguez said, “ultimately we will take them in. That will be the last resort.”