AKITA REFLECTIONS
Chillie
the Hero Akita
Chillie
the hero Akita, an eight year old female Akita who saved the lives
of two children and two adults in her family from a deadly fire in
New York City, has won the American Kennel Club Award for Canine
Excellence in the category of Exemplary Companion Dog.
The families pet Chihuahua and cat died in the blazing
inferno. Chillie is an example of what the Akita breed of dog is
capable of, loving and taking care of its family.
One
dark day in the City of New York when her family was sound asleep,
Chillie the Akita twitched her nose. She awoke with a start. Something was wrong in the apartment. She sniffed and
confirmed, something was burning. Fire! Chillie
began to bark, as loud as she could, to awaken her family. She raced over and began to scratch at the adults closed
door. She ran into
the children's room, pulled the covers off their beds and began to
nudge them with her paw to wake up and flee. Fire! The
children awoke and began to scream, the adults awoke, ran to the
apartment front door, opened the security locks and fled into the
street to safety. Chillie
was at their heels telling them to run, run. Fire!
Miriam
Rodriquez, awoke her
husband, Ignacio Vasquitelles, and their two sleeping children,
Ivy and Ian, then three and four years old and led them out of the
building to safety just seconds before a fire explosion rocked the
apartment. The
family's pet Chihuahua and cat died in the blazing inferno. The
family's apartment was totally destroyed by the fire,
unsalvageable. The
family found shelter at the Fernandez Family Residence in the
Bronx.
Ms.
Rodriquez said the devastating blaze erupted in the kitchen of
their second-floor apartment at 2832 University Avenue in The
Bronx, New York City shortly after 9 a.m. on March 12, 1996."I had just gone back to sleep after getting my two
older sons off to school when I heard Chillie scratching and
barking up a storm outside my bedroom door," said Ms.
Rodriguez." I
jumped out of bed, opened the door and saw flames racing through
the kitchen." Ms.
Rodriguez, who worked as a building superintendent before the
fire, spent the next month in a hospital undergoing treatment for
burns on her arms, back and feet.
Chillie
the hero Akita had saved her family. The Mayor of the City of New York awarded her a special
life saver medal and an official commendation, he shook hands with
the family and posed for photographs with Chillie and the children
whose lives she had saved. The local newspapers touted her courage, integrity and
advised everyone to get one of these life-saving fire alarm Akita
dogs.
However,
the heartless officials at the Fernandez Family Residence, a
city-owned, privately run long-term people shelter in the South
Bronx, ordered Ignacio Vasquitelles and his wife, Miriam
Rodriguez, to give up their dog Chillie or risk joining her on the
street. Shelter
officials, with the support of the New York City Department of
Housing Preservation and Development, filed a civil lawsuit in
court to force the family to get rid of their friendly Akita, or
face eviction. But
the couple and their four children were not going to part with
their beloved pet without a fight." She saved our lives, and there is no way we are going
to let them take her away," said Ms. Rodriguez, wiping away tears as she stood outside the
rundown, long-term shelter on Fox Avenue, in The Bronx, New York." They'll have to go over my dead body to take away the
dog.If it weren't
for the dog, me, my husband and two of my children would have
certainly died in the fire."
The
family's volunteer lawyer, Karen Copeland, Esq. of New York whose
specialty is the city's pet law, contended in court that Mr.
Vasquitelles was entitled to keep Chillie in the family's shelter
apartment because of his disability, under both the federal Fair
Housing Act and the city Civil Rights Act. Ms. Rodriguez insisted that the family's fight to keep
Chillie wasn't a frivolous one, explaining that her husband has
been sick and the dog has helped keep up his spirits.Mr. Vasquitelles, a former security supervisor, had
suffered a stroke and has also been diagnosed with diabetes.
Alas,
the court ruled against Chillie and her family.A draconian choice was faced, to part with Chillie their
loyal Akita who had saved their lives from the fire, or live in
the streets with four young children and an ill husband. With tears streaming down their faces the adults bowed
their head to the court order against them and sadly gave Chillie
up to the CACC.
Chillie
was despondent, dejected, stuffed into a small cage with a hand
written note outside proclaiming her "last day" to the
world. One
of the CACC shelter employees recognized
Chillie's name, she remembered reading the newspaper stories and
seeing the Mayor of the City of New York award Chillie a medal on
TV. Surely there must
be a mistake, an error. No,
replied the tearful family, Chillie was the hero Akita that had
saved her family, the same family that had brought her to the
animal shelter pursuant to a court order.Chillie's days were numbered. The nice shelter employee lady sent out emails to every
Akita Rescue group, every Akita breeder, that she could find with
an email address, telling of Chillie's plight. Each day the broken hearted family telephoned the CACC
animal shelter to ask how Chillie was and if she had been saved by
an adoption.
Fortunately,
Nancy Lamm, Director of Akita Rescue of Western New York (ARWNY)
and Kathy DeWees, ARWNY Vice President, were alerted to Chillie's
plight. Their hearts
sank when the CACC emailed them and described the once
distinguished Akita as depressed and dejected in her new
unfamiliar surroundings. ARWNY
did not have kennel space available, their fostering volunteer
homes were full up, the treasury was an empty joke and a hero
Akita was scheduled to be "put down" Shocked and touched by Chillie's story, the two ARWNY
officials rallied a handful of Akita Rescue volunteers who
selflessly brought Chillie to safety. The ARWNY volunteers dug into their own pockets for money,
they made telephone calls and sent emails seeking a foster home, a
spare crate, some little space to house the hero Akita Chillie. They were successful. ARWNY came through for Chillie.
Chillie
was transported across three state lines and placed in a foster
home with ARWNY coordinator, Debby Parcel in Pennsylvania. The ARWNY volunteers publicized the heroic Akitas situation
and patiently awaited the stoic eight year old Akita's adoption,
but they were concerned for Chillie's future.Her age did not make her a prime adoption candidate.
Ms.
Kathy DeWees, a long time Akita Rescue volunteer and also
president of the Akita Angel Fund said: "Many many thanks to everyone who helped save this
girl: Larry Kaplan who transported her, Nancy Allman for
helping with transport; Nancy Lamm and Lynny Benzinger
who brought her down to me in New Jersey; Jeff Clement who boarded her for free to help us find her the
best home; all of you on here who offered donations, tried to help
her find a home and sent us prayers and good wishes; and most of
all, to Hogan Sung who flew out from San Francisco to adopt this
old gal, who then spent thousands on her surgery when she bloated
and who loves her beyond belief."
Mr.
Hogan Sung, a California native, was surfing the Internet trying
to build a memorial web page for his deceased Bulldog,
coincidentally named Chillie.After typing in the name Chillie into a search engine, he
found ARWNY's web page on Chillie the Akita.Hogan read Chillie's story and was adamant that she be part
of his family. He
flew 3,000 miles to see her and bring her back home to California
with him. Hogan
and Chillie were brought together but their newfound friendship
would be tested. Most
likely because of the stress of losing her only family, a little
while after Hogan adopted her, Chillie bloated. Because of her age, the odds were against her, but with the
indomitable Akita spirit that her ancestors displayed in the
mountains of Japan, she pulled through. spent everything he had to cover his new
companion's surgery. Today
Chillie happily resides in sunny California with her devoted owner
Hogan, his wife Hannika and another newly adopted Akita rescue dog
named Slash.
Mr.
Hogan Sung said:"There
were many great people involved with saving this angel Akita
especially Nancy Lamm, Debby Parcel and Kathy DeWees of Akita
Rescue of Western New York.I
understand there were several other great people involved as well
whom boarded, fostered, and transported her to a safe situation.I thank all involved and thank God everyday for allowing me
to be Chillie's guardian."
Each
year the American Kennel Club (AKC) presents Awards for Canine
Excellence (ACE).To
qualify, the dog nominees must be purebred , AKC registerable and have performed some exemplary act, that has significantly
benefited a community or individual. One award will be given in
each of the five categories: exemplary companion dog, law
enforcement, search and rescue, therapy and service. Each of the five canine honorees and their proud owners
will receive a cash award of $1,000.00 and an engraved sterling
silver AKC collar medallion. In addition, the engraved names of the five recipients will
be added to the ACE Awards plaque that is on permanent display in
the AKC Library in New York City. All nominees will also receive an AKC ACE Certificate of
Recognition in acknowledgement of their nomination. The Akita world offers its congratulations to Chillie on
winning the American Kennel Club Award for Canine Excellence.
Being
nominated for the American Kennel Club Award for Canine Excellence
is an action to express the Akita Rescue communities time-honored
respect for the extraordinary canine-human bond. Chillie being nominated, selected, making two final
selection cuts and then unbelievably winning the AKC ACE is an
example of what the Akita breed of dog is capable of - loving and
taking care of its family.
On
Tuesday, October 17, 2001 the assistant secretary of the AKC, Mr.
Ron Rella, will make a special presentation of the ACE medallion
and certificate to Chillie and her forever owner Mr. Hogan Sung at
the ACA national specialty show in St. Louis, MO. Akita owners and
canine admirers are invited to attend and take photos of Chillie
the hero Akita.
The
Akita Rescue of Western New York (ARWNY) is a recognized 501-C-3
tax exempt Akita
Rescue that needs your money and your help. There are far too many of Chillie's Akita relatives that
are also seeking their forever homes. Please send your generous checks to ARWNY, P.O. Box 428,
East Amherst, NY 14051.
Submitted
by Emy DiMattia and Louis A. Fallon,
DiMattiaE@ljc.edu and LAFallon@aol.com
Akita Rescue volunteers.
Pictures
of Chillie today...
happy and in love with her new family!!
|
