THE BRONX — A group of dog-loving Inwood residents who banded together to save a feral pup in Highbridge Park jumped boroughs to help rescue a Bronx stray with a 17-pound tumor, rescuers and neighbors said.
Domingo, who lived for more than 10 years in a section of woods off of Bailey Avenue between Heath and Sedgwick avenues in Morris Heights, was successfully leashed on Friday evening and veterinarians removed her massive tumor on Monday, people involved in the rescue said.
The dog, which rescuers believe is a Rottweiler-German shepherd mix, is currently recuperating in a Long Island animal hospital, they said.
“This was her territory,” said Frieda Marin, 58, who’s lived on Bailey Avenue for 10 years. “She would always roam the neighborhood at night looking for food.”
Marin said another neighbor pointed out Domingo’s tumor about a year ago.
“We could see that it would weigh her down, but she would avoid us,” Marin, a retired postal worker, said. “We knew it was getting too big for her to really walk safely.”
As neighbors noticed the dog was getting sicker, a plot to capture the pup was hatched about a month ago when Inwood resident Yuliya Avezbakiyeva, 35, and her group of animal loving neighbors learned about Domingo.
The group had staged a dramatic rescue of a Highbridge Park feral dog alternately named Ricky and Charlie in February just before a deep freeze struck the city. One of the people involved was a Bronx resident and saw Domingo one day while driving down Bailey Avenue, Avezbakiyeva said.
The team took turns visiting Domingo in The Bronx multiple times each week, leaving food and trying to capture her, to no avail.
Then one day while on the hunt, Avezbakiyeva ran into Linda Klampfl, 44, a volunteer animal rescuer and president of Almost Home, an animal rescue group based in Medford, Long Island. Klampfl had been alerted about Domingo by a concerned teacher who worked at a nearby elementary school, she said.
Klampfl was also making several trips a week to feed Domingo and set up traps hoping to lure her in.
Everyone's persistence finally paid off on Friday.
Klampfl with the help of two truck drivers parked near by, managed to corner the nervous pup and slip a leash around her neck, Klampfl said.
Klampfl took her home, and Domingo fit right in with her 11 other dogs, she said.
“She was wonderful,” Klampfl said. “The next morning [she was] giving me kisses [and] wagging her tail.”
Doctors removed Domingo’s massive, 17-pound tumor on Monday afternoon, Klampfl said.
Her vital signs started to falter after the surgery Monday evening, but vets at an emergency clinic managed to stabilize her, Klampfl said.
If Domingo makes a recovery, Klampfl and Almost Home will help find her a family to care for her. Meanwhile, the Inwood rescuers are raising $5,000 to pay for Domingo’s medical care.
Residents of Bailey Avenue said they were sad to see Domingo go, but hoped she would have a better life elsewhere.
“We will miss her, but she has a home,” Marin said. “She missed that human contact. She survived for so long but life will be a lot easier for her.”
