Zest for Life
Addicted to Animal Rescue Written by Diane Krieger | Photographed by Mykel Helene Leddel
S
ome people are hooked on video games. Shaland Leach gets her endorphin rush rescuing animals. By day, she’s the sales manager at Pacific Alloy Casting, her family’s metal casting business. But outside work, this 29-year-old South Bay native devotes nearly every waking hour to Rescue Bae, her one-woman animal adoption agency. Since 2016, Leach has rehomed more than 200 surrendered dogs and 1,000 unwanted cats and kittens. Wounded waifs and sad-eyed seniors especially pull at her heartstrings. “I like to take on medical cases,” she says. “I’ve had cats and dogs with leg amputations and eye removals. I really love seniors. They’re the ones everybody looks past, yet they’re so loving.” Her “barn program” relocates captured feral cats to live in Palos Verdes stables. A six-week, crate-based regimen devised by Leach gives these scrappy street dwellers a new life as working members of the equestrian community, treated humanely and appreciated for their rat-catching skills. Since Rescue Bae has no physical facility, Leach taps into a network of animal foster families and kindhearted vets who provide temporary shelter and discounted medical services ahead of each adoption. She takes care of chipping, vaccinations, neutering and any other health needs. What the adoption fees don’t cover, Leach unstintingly pays out of pocket.
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Her happiest adoption case was Harley, a Great Dane she rescued in 2019. Three days after arriving, the 120-pound giant fell gravely ill with pneumonia. She languished on death’s door for five days at the emergency animal hospital. As expenses mounted, the vets delicately broached the E-word. “I told them: ‘There’s no way I’m euthanizing a dog because of lack of funds!’” Leach recalls. She started a GoFundMe page to raise the necessary $15,000. On day seven, Harley turned the corner. Today she lives on a ranch in Texas. “She’s the happiest dog ever,” Leach says, “and I truly saved her life. Knowing that just feels so amazing.”
