EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. — A litter of Anatolian puppies and their mother were stolen from a fenced-off area in El Dorado Hills, where they were training to herd sheep and goats used for weed abatement. However, their quick return renewed their owner’s belief in second chances.
The emotional homecoming with the Mallory the Anatolian and her puppies came just a day after they were snatched while training with a flock of lambs.
“It was a real struggle not to cry,” said Lee Hazeltine, owner of Integrazers. “It's just an emotional thing, you know? We get attached to these dogs. We get attached to the animals. We're so attached to what we do that when something happens to upset it, it's really, really hard."
Hazeltine had just started a new weed abatement program with the animals in the Blackstone community of El Dorado Hills last week. The pups were in training to follow in their mother’s guard dog paw prints.
On Thursday, Mallory and the litter were taken with their collars were left behind. The herders were devastated, and they had all gone to bed depressed that night.
“Whoever had taken Mallory and the puppies, we don’t know all the circumstances, but whoever it was had a change of heart,” Hazeltine said.
The Blackstone Homeowners Association and Integrazers took to social media pleading for the dogs’ return, Hazeltine said.
“Everyone who engaged were like - it wasn’t get the bad guy. It was get the dogs home. It was just fantastic,” he said.
By Friday morning, Mallory and the pups were dropped off at El Dorado Animal Services. Hazeltine says he’s a believer in second chances and wants to applaud whoever took the puppies and had the strength to admit their mistake and return them.
“A bad decision in it of itself, that’s just life. We’re defined by what we do next,” Hazeltine said.
“Someone made a good choice and they should feel good about that. Our culture doesn’t do enough in our communities. We’re too quick to blame. We judge and we blame and we want to find fault and wear the victim hat, that’s not where solutions are.”
Hazeltine says Mallory was orphaned by the fire in Greenville last year. She overcame a lot of obstacles to become a herding dog. That was her second chance.
The puppies will soon graduate to the next steps, separate from their mother, and become herding dogs just like her.
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