Southern California Dachshund Relief Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Corp that has been rescuing needy dachshunds around Southern, Central and Northern California since 1994! Please help us on our mission to find our rescue's forever homes!

ABOUT DENA DELGADO

A little about myself:  I am a wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother though not old enough to qualify for Social Security.  I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and as far back as I can remember, we always had a dog. During my teen years, my father, Martin Becker, rescued a series of Doberman Pinchers.  It was my job to walk them, feed them, and pick up after them.  They were all bonded to my dad.  After I was married, I had my own wonderful Dobie until a move to Southern California in 1978, and subsequent divorce, resulted in my being dogless for about 7 years. (I had to relinquish my Dobie to Doberman Rescue.)

I met Gil Delgado in 1983, and we married in 1984. We scrimped and saved until we were able to buy a house in 1987; and once again, I could have a dog. But this time Gil surprised me when he brought home two tiny dachshund puppies that we named King and Princess. Dachshunds have ruled our lives ever since.
This is how SCDR came to be:  Back in the early 1990’s, when the internet was new, I joined an e-mail list of people who were dachshund aficionados at “dachsies@riva.com”.  I met so many wonderful people from all over the United States and around the world, and they introduced me to the concept of rescuing homeless dachshunds.  In 1994, I rescued my first one, Tori, a black and tan piebald from Massachusetts.  I had her flown to California on Delta Dash and picked her up at the airport in Los Angeles.  And so it began, one at a time, little by little, until I went from rescuing 3 doxies a year by myself to over 400 a year with a network of wonderful ladies and gentlemen who share my passion. 
I started Southern California Dachshund Rescue officially in 1998 with 3 rescue dogs and a budget of $200.  Since then, dachshund rescue has taken on a life of its own, and in 2009, Dawn Albert, my best foster home, and I joined forces and we became a 501c3 non-profit corporation known as Southern California Dachshund Relief, Inc.  Together with Lindy Latham and Sue Flowers in Northern California, Janice Adams in Central California, Ralph Glasgow, George Caufield, and Mary Lou Force in Los Angeles, and Katie Earle covering the San Diego area, Dawn and I cover Orange County and points East.  

ABOUT DAWN ALBERT

It all started one day more than ten years ago when my husband Jim and I adopted our first rescue dog Buddy from Dena.

We started helping out at the Hallowiener and Wild Wiener Round Up picnics and here and there did a home check or fostered one doxie for Dena. Before we knew it, we were applying for a Conditional Use Permit and a kennel license so we could foster up to fifteen! We often have a dozen or more dachshunds in our home learning to be part of a pack, and readying them for adoption.

Since I was a baby, I have had a dog in my life, my Mom loved Poodles, so that is what I mainly grew up with, but have had German Sheperds and many mutts too. 

There are so many opportunities for each of us to volunteer in an area that we enjoy, or have a passion for. For me, it is the dogs that cannot speak for themselves. Each and every day brings more happiness in my life and I hope theirs as well. 

With each adoption that I am involved in, I learn a valuable lesson in compassion and commitment. What I do matters to these little furry friends. Dena has taught me so much, but there is also so much to continue learning about Dachshunds.