Protestors Gerri Norton, 64, of Norco, Ardythe Rodriguez, 53, of Riverside, and Ellen Lo, 40, of Rosemead, stand in support of the owners of a French bulldog named Birkin, who was lost and picked up by animal control but the shelter refused to give the dog back, saying it was adopted by an Arizona family. On Sunday, Birkin was returned to his family at the Upland Animal Shelter in Upland
UPLAND >> His legs were too short for Birkin, a French bulldog, to jump for joy when he was returned to the arms of 2-year-old Sugar Qian and the toddler’s mother, Jingyun Li, but his frisky friendliness with his family and about 75 protestors gathered outside the Upland Animal Shelter showed how glad he was to be home again.
Dog lovers and animal activists defied excessively high temperatures Sunday afternoon to come from cities all over Southern California to protest Birkin’s allegedly illegal adoption. They cheered, clapped and shouted as Birkin was put into Li’s outstretched arms. He immediately licked her laughing face while Li’s husband, Kewen Qian patted his wife’s back and their 3-month-old daughter Dora Qian slept peacefully in her stroller.
“I’m just happy he’s home again,” said Harmony Smith, 11, of Twentynine Palms whose family came out to show support. “It was sad they didn’t let her have her dog and she had to fight to get him back.”
Birkin’s return may have ended his family’s frustration, but protest organizers say they’re not done investigating procedures at the shelter cooperatively operated by the city of Upland’s Animal Control Division and the nonprofit Friends of the Upland Animal Shelter.
“We’re emphasizing the failure to follow proper procedure in allowing Birkin to be adopted even after his owners showed up with the proper paperwork showing he was theirs, he was seen and photographed at the shelter after his owner was told by shelter staffers he wasn’t there and hadn’t been seen,” said Ashley Ruggles of Upland who organized Sunday’s protest with Joyce Chang of West Covina and Jacqueline Wang of Hacienda Heights.
The three started a Facebook group that generated responses from pet lovers across California and stirred media coverage.
Li and Qian paid $6,000 for the 2-year-old pure bred, champion French bulldog a year ago. They said they wanted the dog and Sugar to grow up together. Birkin mysteriously went missing on June 7, Li said, even though she said the doors were locked and she couldn’t determine how he escaped. She and Qian put up posters in their Upland neighborhood, but didn’t include the shelter in their search until June 12.
Li said shelter officials told her Birkin was not there when she inquired about him, but when she searched in the back, she found him, took his photograph and informed staff Birkin was her dog. She said she was told he was not hers anymore and he had been adopted by an Arizona family. When she protested the adoption and returned to the back just minutes later, Birkin was gone.
Protestors claimed shelter officials violated procedures governing animal adoptions from a shelter despite an official statement shelter representatives posted on Facebook. The shelter statement said staff didn’t have the authority to require the new owner to return the dog.
“As an organization that works to save lost and abandoned animals, we consider animals to be members of our families,” the statement read. “Our first preference is always to reunite an animal with its owner if the owner can be located prior to adoption to a new family. Due to the unusual circumstances of this situation, we have made efforts and continue to make efforts to have the new owner relinquish the dog.”
Customer service representative Brenda Seager said the shelter had several conversations with the new owner and finally persuaded her late Saturday night to return Birkin. She drove in from Arizona early Sunday morning, signed ownership back to the shelter and in doing so gave the shelter the right to return Birkin to his family, Seager said.
Protestors weren’t buying Seager’s explanation, however.
“Did you see a helicopter land outside?” asked Carl Shulver of Riverside. “How did that dog get here so quickly? The adoption should never have been allowed. I’ve been involved with rescues for years and have never seen anything like this.”
Wang also said she was suspicious of what actually happened, especially after a shelter volunteer told her the adoption was faked and two shelter staffers took Birkin home.
“They’re just not holding up to their responsibility,” said protester Ardythe Rodriguez of Riverside.