A potential tragedy became a Christmas miracle for 36 puppies seeking a new home.
The incident occurred Dec. 13 while Nina Chiotasso was driving a rental van loaded with 36 puppies from the Española Animal Shelter to an Adoption Fair in Rio Rancho. Chiotasso, who works with Community Outreach for the Española Valley Humane Society, was accompanied by Lill, a pit bull that has become the Shelter’s mascot. While traveling down State Road 599, something went terribly wrong.
“I was driving about 30 miles-per-hour because most of our animals aren’t used to riding in vehicles,” Chiotasso said. “I’d left the Shelter at 7 a.m. even though we didn’t have to be there until 10 because I drive that slow.”
The road conditions were slippery because of recent snowfall.
“I hit some ice and the van started to spin and then hit the median and began to roll,” Chiotasso said. “The van spun two times and rolled one and a half times. It ended up upside down.”
Chiotasso crawled out of the van through the shattered windshield. Lill had been thrown from the van during the accident and Chiotasso immediately thought of her. Fortunately a good samaritan, who happened to be a veterinarian according to Chiotasso, had witnessed the accident and checked on Lill. who was okay.
Chiotasso’s attention now turned to the 36 puppies that had been in the van.
“It was terrifying,” she said. “My first thought was how am I going to get all these puppies to Rio Rancho. It was devastating — this was their best shot at being adopted.”
Help was coming right behind her.
Helen Lovato, organizational leader for the Los Lobos 4-H Club in Ojo Caliente, was driving her father’s truck to Rio Rancho to volunteer for Adoption Fair and was about 10 minutes behind Chiotasso.
With her were son Christopher Dominguez and daughter Alicia Dominguez, as well as Alyssa Lopez, Santana Suazo and Sucely Berger, all members of Los Lobos. She came up on the accident scene just as Chiotasso was calling her on her cell phone.
“I was scared.” Lovato said. “My heart dropped when I saw crates lying in the median.”
It was the first adoption fair for the 4-H members.
“We saw there were a lot of cages and puppies all over the place,” Alicia Dominguez said. “We stopped to help.”
As the volunteers began to check on the puppies, gathering them up and removing them from the van, it was then that they discovered something miraculous had happened.
“Every single one of them came out without a scratch,” Chiotasso said. “It was a miracle they made it through.”
The truck, which Lovato hadn’t wanted to take because it was so big and hard to park, became a lifeboat for the puppies.
“We loaded most of the puppies in the back of the truck,” Dominguez said. “Another car volunteered and took two of the cages.”
There were still puppies to take care of.
“We took five of them in the back seat of the truck,” Dominguez said. “We named them ‘Flip, Flop, Crash, Hype and Lucky.’”
Dominguez said Hype earned his name because he didn’t want to sit still.
The puppies were all transported to the Adoption Fair in Rio Rancho, where the 4-H members and volunteers helped care for them and show them to prospective owners,
“It made me proud because we were able to help animals that needed homes,” Christopher Dominguez said. “I’m an animal person.”
It was at Rio Rancho that the final miracle took place. All the puppies, even the rambunctious Hype, were adopted by new owners.
“Someone was looking down on us,” Chiotasso said. “Not only did the puppies escape unharmed, but they all got adopted. A new home for the new year.”
New Van
The van that Chiotasso was driving was totaled. It was a rental from Penske, which quickly replaced it with another van. The Shelter will have to pay for the insurance deductible and replace any crates damaged in the wreck, according to Chiotasso. Not only does the Shelter use the van to transport animals to adoption fairs, but 54 percent of the animals from the Shelter are transferred to a shelter in Colorado. The van facilitates that task.
The Shelter will spay or neuter pets of Rio Arriba County residents for $25 and offers vaccinations for $8, also for residents. The next Adoption Fair is scheduled for Jan. 10 at Petco in Santa Fe.