Apodaca: Many have a hand in hamster’s rescue

This is the story of a hamster, a trash-day surprise and a group of good-hearted folk who rallied to the cause of a sad-eyed rodent.

It’s also a testament to the power of social networking — both the electronic and old-fashioned varieties — and to the timeless tug of emotions that spur some of us to action when we fear an animal is in danger.

It started late last month, when someone in my Newport Beach community noticed a cage, the kind typically used to house small pets, which had been set out by the curb near her house. She didn’t think much of it, assuming that it was empty and had possibly been left by neighborhood kids.

The next morning, trash collection day, the cage was still there in a spot where refuse receptacles are set out for pickup.

That’s when the neighbor, upon closer inspection, noticed that the cage wasn’t, in fact, empty. Inside resided a tiny, white, furry inhabitant with pink ears and nose, and beseeching, “help-me” eyes.

How the hamster ended up as an apparently discarded item awaiting refuse collection remains a matter of speculation, but the neighbor who discovered the animal wasn’t about to leave it there.

She spoke to some other neighbors and ended up calling the Animal Control division of the Newport Beach Police Department, which assured her that someone would arrive shortly to collect the critter. In the meantime, another neighbor contacted our community’s system manager for the Nextdoor website, who posted information about the orphan hamster online.

Others responded almost immediately, offering to either adopt or temporarily house the little guy until a permanent home could be found.

“Right now I have a cat and a toddler,” said one neighbor, explaining that she wasn’t in a position to adopt the hamster but would have happily taken care of it for awhile. Another neighbor also offered to take it in, while others responded with concern and empathy.

“This got more interest than anything else I’ve seen” posted from our community on the Nextdoor website, one neighbor commented.

By the time all these people had responded, however, an Animal Control worker had already picked up the animal and transferred it to the Orange County Humane Society in Huntington Beach, a nonprofit organization dedicated to caring for lost and unwanted pets until they are reunited with their families or placed in new homes.

“People do abandon their pets,” said Valerie Schomburg, who runs the Newport Beach Police’s Animal Control division. Sometimes pets are left at the beach, or tied to trees, but often it’s not clear whether an animal has been abandoned or if it was just inadvertently separated from its family. In all cases, however, the animals are taken to the Humane Society, which holds them for a minimum of five days before trying to place them in new homes.

Sometimes people find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of care pets require, Schomburg noted. Indeed, many years ago my family was nearly undone by a combination of guilt and frustration brought on by a pet hamster that seemed not to reciprocate our devotion. At least that’s how we interpreted its repeated escapes from its cage, and the fact that it required an elaborately orchestrated trail of bait to lure it back to captivity.

That experience wasn’t nearly as stressful as the time my brother-in-law mistakenly reached inside the cage of his daughters’ pet hamster and her babies, not realizing that the mommy hamster would react defensively. When she sank her teeth into his hand he instinctively shook it so forcefully that when the hamster landed hard on the ground he initially thought it was dead. She regained consciousness just as he was trying to figure out how to explain to his girls that he had unintentionally killed their beloved pet.

But as challenging as some pets can be, abandonment should never be considered an acceptable option, Schomburg emphasized, noting that the department is currently pursuing abandonment charges against one former pet owner.

“You can always call Animal Control,” she said. “We work seven days a week. We’re here to help you.”

As if to underscore that point, Schomburg related that the story of the little hamster left out with the trash has a happy ending.

The Bunny Bunch, a nonprofit, no-kill rabbit rescue organization in Fountain Valley had agreed to take it. But it turns out that step wasn’t necessary. On Tuesday, a week after it was discovered by the garbage bins, the hamster was placed in a new home. From now on, it will reside — at least part of the time — in a classroom, where I assume it will enjoy lots of affection and good care, while also providing a wonderful learning opportunity for the students in that class.

I also assume that those students will have the privilege of bestowing the animal with a new name.

May I suggest “Lucky”?

PATRICE APODACA is a former Newport-Mesa public school parent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer. She lives in Newport Beach.