{"id":25454,"date":"2011-03-24T11:25:59","date_gmt":"2011-03-24T15:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/25454\/hero-dog-homeless\/"},"modified":"2011-03-24T11:25:59","modified_gmt":"2011-03-24T15:25:59","slug":"hero-dog-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/25454\/hero-dog-homeless\/","title":{"rendered":"Hero Dog Now Homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted By:
AfSD\u2122(ADVOCATE FOR SAVING DOGS\u2122)<\/a>
<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b>Advocate for Saving Dogs\u2122 on Facebook<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

\n \t\t <\/b><\/p>\n

Hero Dog Now Homeless<\/b><\/h4>\n

posted by: Megan Drake<\/a> <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/b><\/p>\n

\"Hero<\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

It’s every parent’s nightmare. Waking up to an early morning
\nblazing fire in your home and realizing it is not a dream. Your
\nprecious children are sleeping in their beds. Dazed and panic-stricken,
\n you call for your kids in a desperate attempt to get them to safety.<\/p>\n

That’s
\n what happened to Darryl Steen this past October. But if it weren’t for
\n his pit bull puppy Diamond awakening him from a sound sleep with her
\nbarking \u2013 an unusual behavior for the dog even during normal
\ncircumstances \u2013 Steen and his daughters, Sierra and Darahne, would have
\nsurely perished in the blaze.<\/p>\n

<\/b>Quick Thinking<\/b><\/p>\n

Steen
\n was able to drop his nine-year-old daughter out of a second story
\nwindow to safety, unharmed. His sixteen-year-old daughter, hearing her
\ndad call, ran to his room and tried to protect herself by getting under
\nthe mattress. She suffered smoke inhalation and some burns over seven
\npercent of her body. As it was, Steen and Diamond suffered burns that
\nstill require treatment.<\/p>\n

Steen has third degree burns on his
\nhand, arm, back and feet. Diamond also suffered burns over 30 percent of
\n her body, which caused nerve damage to one leg. Check out a photo of Diamond’s injuries.<\/a><\/p>\n

The
\n reason Diamond sustained such bad burns was because she was protecting
\nSteen\u2019s older daughter by lying on top of the mattress until
\nfirefighters arrived and rescued them both. Diamond would not desert her
\n family.<\/p>\n

Recovery<\/b><\/p>\n

Steen and his daughter
\nspent several weeks recovering in the hospital. While the family lost
\nall their worldly possessions, Steen told me in an interview “I don’t
\ncare. All that matters is I have my family. We are all alive and
\nwell.” He went on to say “All the things we lost in the fire\u2026’oh, well.’
\n I don\u2019t care. All three<\/i> of my girls are alive.”<\/p>\n

For her heroic efforts, Diamond was a finalist in the HSUS Fourth Annual Dogs of Valor Awards<\/a> and although she didn’t win, she is a hero just the same.<\/p>\n

Breed Discrimination<\/b><\/p>\n

The
\n problem Steen and his family are facing is trying to find a landlord
\nwho will rent to Steen and Diamond. Because she is a pit bull, at least
\n 20 potential landlords have refused to rent to the Steen family.<\/p>\n

Diamond
\n is adored for her unconditional love and loyalty to her family. She is
\n temporarily staying with Steen’s sister until they can find a pit
\nbull-friendly landlord. The Steens will not give Diamond away just to
\nfind an apartment to live in. He is adamant on that point. “We
\nwouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Diamond,” Steen said in a video news interview<\/a>. So they will not leave Diamond behind. <\/p>\n

Diamond’s
\n situation is ironic. Here is a verified hero who loves her family and
\nliterally saved their lives. But because she was born a pit bull,
\nsociety discriminates against her without even giving her a chance. <\/p>\n

Diamond
\n is a super-friendly 14-month-old gal who rarely barks and loves to
\ninteract with both humans and other animals. She will have permanent
\nscarring from her injuries.<\/p>\n

Fear of pit bulls is based in
\nignorance. Just like humans, canines deserve to be judged as
\nindividuals based on their behavior and character – not how they look.<\/p>\n

How You Can Help<\/b><\/p>\n

If
\n anyone knows of animal-friendly rentals available in the Hayward,
\nCalifornia area, why not suggest the Steens as potential tenants? Mr.
\nSteen said he would be happy to receive any referrals for pit
\nbull-friendly housing. He prefers to be reached on his phone
\n510-688-3707 but can also be reached at his email address darryl_steen@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How about it, Care2 members \u2013 does anyone know of some pit bull-friendly rentals in Hayward, California?
Source<\/a><\/div>\n


<\/b><\/b>Please join me at Friendburst<\/font><\/a>
\n<\/b><\/b><\/b>Advocate for Saving Dogs\u2122<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b>Animal Rights<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b>\u2665We\u2665Are\u2665All\u2665Connected\u2665<\/a>
\n<\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b><\/b>Wolfen Warriors<\/a><\/p>\n


<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted By:AfSD\u2122(ADVOCATE FOR SAVING DOGS\u2122)Advocate for Saving Dogs\u2122 on Facebook Hero Dog Now Homeless posted by: Megan Drake It’s every parent’s nightmare. Waking up to an early morning blazing fire in your home and realizing it is not a dream. Your precious children are sleeping in their beds. Dazed and panic-stricken, you call for your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-other"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/friendburst.com\/blog-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}