Ooma: Foster dog to forever home

TAYLORSVILLE — More than 150 dogs and a handful of cats were rescued from an Ogden home last April. Rescues and shelters from across the state stepped in to help care for those pups, sending them to foster homes and new families.

One of those dogs is a chihuahua mix named Ooma. 

New friends 

When Beverly Nichols first got the call from the Utah Animal Advocacy Foundation to foster, Ooma was not potty trained, anxious and did not do well with crate training. She even got a bloody tongue in the process of trying to get out of her crate.

Ooma was first set up in Nichols’ bathroom so she could have her own space to get used to. Nichols said now, Ooma is much calmer and has become fast friends with Nichols’ husky mix, Sierra. 

“She just sticks to her and just follows whatever Sierra does. It’s really touching because Sierra is not really bonded to our other two chihuahuas … So it’s really, really sweet to see them both together and that Sierra has someone with her too,” Nichols said. 

Ooma has also bonded very fiercely to her rescuer, Nichols. 

“She’s pretty much bonded exclusively to me. She tries to protect me from everyone else in the house, but she’s absolutely doll,” Nichols said. 

Adoption 

All the dogs rescued have gone through a lot, but Ooma has her own unique challenges. The bottom half of Ooma’s jaw is only halfway formed, leaving her tongue sticking out.

But Nichols said she’s adapted to it quite well and it doesn’t stop her from eating at all. 

“Sometimes she just kind of … scoots the food up in her mouth and moves it to her back teeth. I tried to watch her eat ‘cuz I was fascinated to see how she was going to manage that, but she’s a little trooper.”

Nichols added that the little chihuahua appears to be perfectly healthy otherwise, and is at a healthy weight and has great looking fur. 

Ooma’s forever home

When Nichols agreed to foster Ooma, she didn’t really know the full situation and was just honored to be asked to help. 

In fact, Nichols said she is actually better with cats. But when Ooma, or as Nichols likes to call her, “my little peanut,” arrived, things just clicked. Letting her go didn’t seem like an option. 

“I was fostering her. I had planned like, ‘Okay she needs to go to a home with another dog for sure,’ and this and that, but when they asked me to make her profile to put on the adoption page, I just couldn’t let her go. Just the idea of it, just broke my heart to think of her going.” 

What we know now 

Nichols said when she did finally see the video of the home situation Ooma was rescued from, she was glad they weren’t stuck in crates. She wants others to know that being rescued doesn’t mean getting stuck in a cage. 

“I read some comments that said, ‘Well, that doesn’t look so bad, now they’re going to be in cages.’ And I just would like people to understand that rescues from all over the state stepped in and took who they could. So, it’s not like they went straight to the pound.”

Nichols said that though the situation Ooma was found in was bad, she does believe Ooma was loved. She said it’s unfortunate and sometimes good intentions can get out of control very quickly. 

Miguel Salgado Vargas and his nephew Ramon Aispuro Cano, who lived in the house with Vargas, are facing more than 1,000 misdemeanor charges together, including animal cruelty. They could face up to six months in jail and or a $1,000 fine for each count if they’re convicted or found guilty. Vargas is scheduled to report back to court next month, while Cano is expected back in October. 

Related: Not guilty pleas entered for 2 men in Ogden dog-hoarding case