Big Blue, a 10-year-old Australian shepherd, was found injured and abandoned on the railroad tracks on Feb. 6 near Bowman, after an anonymous caller phoned the county shelter. The shelter took in Big Blue, who also needed treatment for heartworms.

This week Big Blue escaped the fate of his pen at the county shelter when Kim Kuenlen, president of NorCal Aussie Rescue picked him up.

“He was actually on the railroad tracks and couldn’t walk for a couple of days,” Kuenlen said. “Nobody called to claim him. In the mean time, he got better and better.”

Heartworms can kill a dog if left untreated and Kuenlen expressed thanks to the Placer County Animal Shelter that donated $300 for Big Blue’s treatment with Sacramento veterinarian Erin True. Kuenlen already has 23 shepherd dogs at her Grass Valley shelter that is funded entirely by private donations.

“We’re the only Australian Aussie rescue for Northern California,” Kuenlen said.

Kuenlen’s group has seen an increased volume in calls to rescue dogs in the last six months.

“I’ve seen a huge increase because of the housing foreclosures and shelters have seen a 30 percent increase,” Kuenlen said. “People don’t know where to take their dogs, so they just abandon them.”

Kuenlen told of one Australian shepherd that was abandoned in a fenced-in backyard by a Sacramento homeowner going through foreclosure.

“The dog burrowed under the fence and waited on the front porch for the owner to return,” Kuenlen said.

When the owners returned for mail, a neighbor asked if she could have the dog, and they said, “yes.”

While this was one happy ending, many dogs and cats are just left unclaimed.