ABC-7 Do-Gooder: Teenager gives second chance to homeless dogs in El Paso
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- An El Paso teenager spends her time outside of school making tails wag by giving homeless pups a second chance at finding loving, permanent homes.
"Max.... he never had a family. He never had someone to call his own," said Celine Pineda.
Celine is a high school student.
"Most of the dogs that come here, they don't have a really good past," said Celine.
She volunteers with Huckleberry Hounds, a non profit, no-kill dog rescue.
"She's had a passion for animals, dogs, cats. She loves them dearly. She'll do anything to help them," said Victoria Serna, Celine's mom.
Celine rescues homeless, abandoned, abused and neglected dogs. She helps train them.
"They're like some cases where we have some for over two years, some they'll stay for a week, a day."
Her passion for animals started at a young age.
"When I was little, I always wanted to be a veterinarian," said Celine. "I've always had a love for dogs. I grew up with dogs. I love to like, help see them get new homes and everything, especially after the lives they've gone through before," said Celine.
Celine says while working with animals can be rewarding not every moment has been easy. One case hit her the hardest.
"Max was a little deaf pity that we had found. So I started teaching him sign language and everything. We only had him for a week, though, because he did have end up having Parvo, but we didn't find out till the end. And the main thing I did for him was at school. We started a little donation drive in his name for huckleberry rescue."
Celine contributes over 3,000 volunteer hours at the rescue annually. She also excels in her schoolwork as an honor roll student. For her efforts to save lives one dog at a time, she has been selected as this month's ABC-7 Do-Gooder, receiving a $1,000 dollar award for her charity of choice.
Celine will donate the reward to Huckleberry Hounds. It will help to spay/neuter, vaccinate, microchip and rehabilitate future foster pups.
"We're very, very proud of her. I'm going to cry. Just seeing her, you know, with the dogs and the animals. It's a passion for her. It's a passion for us. She's blossomed. She's opened up is more confident now," said Victoria.
"Do it for the reason that it makes you feel good. It makes a difference," said Celine.
You can nominate someone who makes a difference in the community like Edmundo for ABC-7 Do-Gooder. Just follow this link to the submission form on here.
