Man’s best friend suddenly needs home
By Daily Press staff
When local homeless man Michael Stranger died in an alley north of Wilshire Boulevard last month, he left Lenny, his 4-year-old mutt, to wander the streets alone.
Animal activists who knew Stranger quickly took up the cause. They bailed Lenny out of the shelter, had him groomed and evaluated, and started looking to find him a new home.
“That dog was his whole life,” said Patricia Stake, a longtime resident who runs Lost Angels, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to helping needy animals. “He was the center of his life.”
Stranger’s body was found by city trash collectors early March 19 tucked underneath an apartment building in an alley between Ninth and 10th streets north of Wilshire Boulevard.
Lt. Cheryl MacWillie, a supervisor from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, said Stranger, 56, who was known on the streets as holism. When he was found, Stranger was still wearing an identification bracelet from Santa Monica Hospital, where he’d been treated just days before he died for an unknown illness.
Stake said Stranger often would hang out in front of the 7-11 at Seventh Street and Wilshire Boulevard. It was there that she saw him last, just days before he died.
“As we’re talking, I’m realizing Michael’s having a hard time holding the leash, it’s painful for him,” Stake said. “As we’re talking he’d say, ‘Excuse me, I’m just in so much pain.’”
Stake, who brought chew toys and bones for Lenny to play with, said Stranger told her he’d been attacked and robbed in his sleep the night before by other homeless people who knew he was given powerful painkillers during his hospital stay. Stranger told Stake doctors had told him he had only weeks to live, Stake added.
“He was trying to find a home for that dog,” she said. When Stake learned of Stranger’s death, she immediately went to the Santa Monica Shelter and bailed out Lenny, a labrador-shepherd mix. Since then, a groomer called the “Laundered Beast” in Venice has donated a free grooming and Faith Mantooth at “Doggy Central,” which is a Culver City-based cage-free kennel, donated a free temperament evaluation.
But as of Thursday, Lenny was still looking for a temporary caretaker and in need of a permanent home. Stake said she was hoping to find someone in the community who had bonded with Lenny before she opened up the adoption to the general public. She encouraged people to call for more information.
Lost Angels (310) 401-0182.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 2, 2004. Read the original PDF.