A four-year-old pit bull named Rosie was chained inside a van being used as a home early Thursday when someone threw a flammable object inside and set it ablaze on Skid Row. A stranger raced in with bolt cutters and freed her before the flames could reach her.
Surveillance video captured the moments before the fire, showing a person in a white hoodie and black pants tossing the object into the van, according to FOX 11 Los Angeles. Rosie's owner, Clara Catron, said she had been living inside the van with her dog when the fire broke out. Catron said Rosie is her life, and that she would not have wanted to go on if her dog had died in the blaze.
Rosie had protected Catron before
Catron told FOX 11 that Rosie had helped protect her twice when people tried to break into the van. During the fire, a passerby cut Rosie's chain and pulled her out.
John Kim, owner of Bee Bee Food, said he reviewed security footage of the incident and that Rosie was freed just in time. Kim said situations like this happen frequently in the area.
Lopez calls for city action
Estela Lopez, executive director of the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, said Rosie came within seconds of being burned. Lopez, who has worked in the Skid Row area for 25 years, described conditions there as lawlessness and linked many of the problems she has seen to untreated mental illness and addiction. She called on city officials to prioritize anti-camping enforcement and expand mental health and drug treatment for people experiencing homelessness.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Catron obtain a van after losing the one she had been living in.
Pet services and housing options
The City of Los Angeles Community Resource Guide lists Downtown Dog Rescue’s Pet Resource Center on Skid Row as a provider of services for low-income pet owners in Los Angeles County. It gives the center’s address as 1309 E 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90021, and its phone number as 213-403-0129. The county says all Pathway Home interim housing locations are pet-friendly and provide basic pet essentials, including food, water dishes, dog beds and blankets. That program information does not establish whether housing is available to Catron or Rosie.
City agencies investigate fire and animal-cruelty allegations
Mayor Karen Bass' office called the allegations incredibly troubling and said the circumstances surrounding the fire will be thoroughly investigated. The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Animal Services are investigating the arson and animal-cruelty allegations tied to the incident.
The mayor's office said the city takes animal-cruelty allegations seriously and that anyone found to have abused or neglected an animal will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Bass has acknowledged more work is needed on animal-cruelty issues on Skid Row. Her office also pointed to a permanent partnership between Los Angeles Animal Services and the LAPD focused on investigating such allegations on Skid Row and in surrounding areas; more than 100 officers have received specialized animal-cruelty investigation training as part of that effort.
