(Photo Credit: Bill Lollis)
A remarkable story of survival is emerging following the rescue of 4-year-old Quiana, a Labrador Terrier rescue dog found in the streets of Westchester after wandering around the city without shelter for a year.
On Jan. 6, 2017, Paws4You, a Miami-based, non-profit animal rescue organization with a mission to save dogs from euthanasia at Miami-Dade Animal Services and combat displacement of family pets with guidance and alternatives to surrender, was introduced to Quiana after being rescued from a nursery in Leisure City where she was abused and neglected.
On Apr. 29, 2017, Paws4You placed Quiana in a foster home in Leisure City but within 12 hours after being placed in her new home, she escaped. That was the last time she was spotted in the area, near SW 171st Street and 93rd Avenue.
For the next few days there were multiple sightings from east of US1 to the Deering Estate and Old Cutler Road. Paws4You volunteers and staff continued to look for weeks (and even caught a similar dog only to realize it was a male and it had an owner) but there were no new sightings and her location became unknown. Flyers were distributed for months throughout Miami-Dade County with no luck. Hurricane Irma hit Miami and still no sign of Quiana.
On May 2, 2018, almost a year to the date, Paws4You received a call that Quiana had been found by a good Samaritan named Elicia Diaz.
Diaz discovered Quiana in February 2018 in an expansive, deserted area next to the train tracks by the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826) and Coral Way intersection in Westchester, more than 30 miles away from where Quiana was last seen.
Diaz was walking around her neighborhood by the train tracks with her son, 22, when they heard a noise coming from the bushes and saw Quiana, a frightened and malnourished Labrador Terrier mix dog hiding fearfully behind the trees. Quiana had profound scars around her neck from a tight collar and wounds on her paws.
For the next three months, Diaz and her son would visit Quiana every day, twice a day, to drop off food, water and blankets. Quiana, terrified and nervous, would always run away when Diaz would visit and try to get close to her. It would take months for Diaz to gain Quiana’s trust.
On the morning of May 2, when Diaz went to drop off food as she always would Quiana came out from her hiding spot and came close to Diaz. Without hesitating, Diaz grabbed her. That same day, Diaz took her home, gave her a bath with medicated shampoo to kill fleas and ticks, and took her to a veterinarian. The vet contacted Paws4You thanks to the microchip Quiana had and informed them she had been found and rescued. Diaz, who had fallen in love with Quiana by now, adopted her that same day.
Today, Diaz and Canela, Quiana’s new name given to her by Diaz because of her cinnamon-colored eyes, are inseparable and live happily together along with two other rescue dogs, Campeón and Riley.
wonderful this dog now has a home! please adopt a dog in need.