10/27/2026
On pets “Day of the Dead” we are sharing the passing of a legend. We recently lost our old girl Callie. After 12 long years with our rescue.
We are so sad that we lost her. But feel so grateful for her last 8 months of life. Mandy’s son, Jonah, and his lovely partner, Sophia, welcomed her into their home. The very first house she’s ever lived in! They wanted to foster a dog. And when we suggested Callie, they were all in!
Callie came to our rescue as a feral dog. She had lived on the streets of Compton her entire life. It took her rescuers months to catch her. The only reason they caught her, was due to her having a liter of puppies under a house. When the rescuers started pulling the puppies up from under the house, their mama stayed with them. (The first photo is Callies rescue day. She was petrified).
Callie was incredibly shut down. She had no idea what us humans wanted from her. She is the reason we grew SévaDog. We couldn’t have her at our house due to her ability to escape. We needed an extra secure building to start her rehabilitation. Mandy moved into a warehouse with her and her 8 puppies.
Over time she bonded to Mandy and her kids. But that’s after she tried eating through walls, ripping off door frames, and finding the tiniest hiding places!
She was the best mom. But a weird one! She would carry her puppies to new locations in the warehouse regularly. She hid food all over the place to go back to feed her puppies with. It was such an interesting time.
Once her puppies were all adopted, she was the center of our attention. Which she didn’t always appreciate. But she learned to tolerate us. I remember the day she climbed into bed with me. I thought we really broke down her walls. But she still continued to hide and steal food from the trash. She had her street life skills embedded deep inside her. Even though she worked so hard to overcome her fear. Once she was finally making real progress, we had to move out of the warehouse. We were so worried about her. And for good reason. Moving to our next kennel was incredibly hard for her.
It took a couple of years for her to adjust. But she faced her fears. She slowly started making friends with volunteers. It was a slow and long process. But she got to a point where she rode in cars for field trips! We didn’t have to worry about her escaping and hiding under houses anymore. It was finally time to try out a real home.
In her foster home she was treated line a queen! She went on walks (something she used to be terrified of), she played with the neighborhood kids (incredible!), made lots of doggie friends, and got to experience what a real life for a dog should be like.
Letting her go was very difficult. But it was the right thing to do. She was in a lot of pain. Her old lady body had given up on her. She was unable to walk or get up from the ground. She had a great last day! All her favorite people from the neighborhood came to say goodbye. Her “grandparents” came and snuggled her one last time, Mandy came over to be with her, and she ate all her favorite things all day! We made some fun foot print ornaments to give to her favorite people. She was such a good sport about it. The vet came to the house, and Callie was with her 3 favorite people, Mandy, Jonah, and Sophia. Sophia held her little paws til the very end.
We will miss her terribly. However, the gratitude we feel towards Jonah and Sophia makes up for that pain.
Fly high Callie ma! You will be in our hearts, forever!
