BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Delilah wandered orchard fields for 18 months, looking for food and shelter after she went missing from her foster home. However, she wasn’t a stranger, neighbors tried to help, but she kept her distance. That is until one officer finally gained her trust, and gave her a new beginning.
Just off Hwy 58 next to Murray Family Farms, you can see open land and a huge orchard field.
It may look ordinary, but for one dog, Delilah, it was her home for 18 months.
She wasn’t just a stray, but rather, she lost her way from her foster home. For months, she survived on scraps and the kindness of nearby residents.
When they couldn’t get a hold of Delilah, they called Kern County Animal Services and that’s where Officer Desiree Linebarger comes in.
“She was initially very timid, kind of was interested seeing what I was about but still keeping her distance,” said Desiree Linebarger, Officer with Kern County Animal Services.
But this didn’t stop her, over the course of two days, Officer Desiree Linebarger would try to temp Delilah with food, sit beside her, anything she could think of to gain her trust.
“Eventually, she did start eating out of my hand,” said Officer Linebarger.
Once safely trapped, Delilah was transferred to Kern County Animal Services, where it was discovered she was healing from a hip injury, likely from being hit by a car.
Director of Kern County Animal Services Nick Cullen says, a majority of their calls are inquires of lost pets, adding the best way to protect your pets is by microchipping them.
“It’s a permanent form of identification that gets embedded into a chip that’s about the size of a grain of rice,” said Cullen. “The microchip gets implanted in between the dogs shoulder blades and it stays in it for the life of the animal.”
Cullen says microchips give lost pets a way home, Cullen says. Officer Linebarger says the rescue is also about the people who never give up on them.
“It makes me feel happy that I’m able to save these animals I mean Delilah is just one but we get many cases,” said Officer Linebarger. “Being able to gain an animals trust is just so rewarding.”
Delilah, like many dogs, now spends her days at the shelter, waiting for the next chapter in her life. To learn more on how to adopt her or any other shelter dog, click here.
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