Three Doberman Pinscher-Terrier blends stared up at Helen Woodward Animal Center’s Adoptions’ staff with sad, chocolate eyes. They had lived hard lives in their six months of age. They had been born to backyard breeders in Los Angeles and kept in atrocious conditions. When the city impounded them, they noticed all three were severely underweight and were infested with Demodex — a microscopic parasite that can cause irritation and the dog’s fur to fall out. Worse still, the smallest of the bunch — a black dog who would come to be called Curly — had rickets. Rickets is the name for a bone condition caused by malnutrition. In other words, these dogs were in bad shape.
Fortunately, they had been taken away from their less-than-stellar home life. They made their way to the SPCALA in Long Beach, where they sought their forever families.
But then tragedy struck for the City of LA at the start of 2025. Fires erupted through Los Angeles County, displacing thousands of pets and maxing out space in shelters across the metropolitan area. Among those overburdened rescues was SPCALA.
“They were taking in orphan pets from shelters closer to the fires,” Kendall Schulz, The Center’s Adoptions Director, said. “But then THEY hit critical capacity, so they called us.”
The Center sent our Rescue RV to the Long Beach based shelter to take in as many pets as we could. Among those who made the trip back south, the three Doberman Pinscher-Terrier blends.
The Helen Woodward Animal Center Rescue RV on the way to LA.
We named them Moe, Larry, and Curly. The three brothers certainly had the goofy personalities befitting the Three Stooges. Our veterinary staff assessed their health more thoroughly at the Center. They noted that all three of the brothers were still recovering from their Demodex infestations and that Curly’s front legs were still bow legged from rickets. The adoptions staff sent the brothers to foster care where they could fully recover in a low-stress, loving environment.
Two weeks later, Moe, Larry, and Curly came back to Helen Woodward Animal Center. The search for their forever homes began!
Moe and Larry found their permanent people almost immediately. But Curly required a little more time. His Demodex wasn’t healing as fast as his brothers, and so the Medical Team decided to hold onto him just a week longer. By Valentine’s Day Curly was in the kennels, courting potential adopters. His stay on the adoption floor would be cut short when he fell sick again. This time, the Doberman-Terrier blend contracted a stomach bug that kept him out of commission for another week. By the time he made his way back to the adoption floor, his brothers had been in their forever homes for a month.
From there, the search truly began. Curly’s rickets left him slightly bow legged and his tendency to throw himself in peoples’ laps — despite being 45 pounds — may have deterred some potential adopters. Still, the now 9-month-old Doberman Pinscher-Terrier blend never lost his playful spirit and continued to gregariously greet everyone he met.
After four weeks of holding onto hope, Curly found a family who loved him for who he was. He’s been living there happily ever since.
