SAN ANTONIO – The Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) has seen its fair share of stray animals amongst its campus, but a few of these strays have found their forever homes with OLLU individuals.
OLLU Associate Clinical Professor Yvette Lozano and graphic designer for the OLLU Marketing and Communications Department Priscilla Dominguez each found their beloved dogs on the San Antonio, OLLU campus.
At the beginning of the 2010 fall semester, De La Calle, also known as DeLa, was found on the street of Cesar Chavez by one of Lozano’s coworkers. DeLa was only a few weeks old and could fit in the palm of Lozano’s hands. Her name derives from the Spanish translation of ‘De La Calle,’ meaning ‘From the Street.’
Lozano’s coworker handed DeLa over to another staff member, Dr. Christine Charmichael, whom she knew was an avid animal rescue advocate. Once DeLa was seen by a veterinarian, she began to thrive. The pup became a temporary mascot under the care of several graduate students at the Harry Jersig Center before Lozano ultimately adopted her.
“Getting a pet wasn’t even on my radar,” Lozano said. “I had seen her in the arms of students for several days and even took pictures of her at a student event. That fated day when Dr. Carmichael brought her into our faculty conference room, I finally ‘saw’ her fall out of her towel and was compelled to hold her. I now firmly believed in love at first sight!”
Despite needing the weekend to decide on whether to bring her home, Lozano said she was pretty much decided when she crossed the name-decision threshold.
“I can’t imagine my life without her; she is family and attends all birthday and holiday events possible,” Lozano said. “My home is way too quiet when she visits the vet or her sitters.”
Lozano said some of her favorite things about DeLa are that she loves snuggles, giving kisses, playing hard to get, and squeaking her toy for attention.
On the morning of Jan. 30, 2020, a faculty member found another dog on OLLU’s campus who shared a video of what he called a very cute and friendly dog that approached him on his way to the cafeteria.
Dominguez and her husband had been looking to adopt a small, black dog. After expressing this to her coworkers and after the video was shared, Meatball was brought to Dominguez’s door nearly 30 minutes later. Her supervisor allowed her to take the rest of the day off to get Meatball vaccinated, cleaned up and get supplies for his new home.
“Meatball is not a pet; he is a part of my family,” Dominguez said. “I would be the first person to say that I am obsessed with Meatball, but I dote over him because he is a sentient being that I have chosen to care for. It is not a light responsibility, and I am lucky enough to have the resources and time to care for him.”
Dominguez said that even though it was earlier than planned, she is glad that Meatball came into her and her husband’s lives when he did.
Photo by: Yvette Lozano
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