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• Passport was needed to reach doctor

• Heart of gold

• 10 are cited for loitering near theater

• Lodi Kiwanis Club hands out books to Lawrence students

• City of Galt discusses 2007-08 budget

• Regional Roundup

• Local Republicans target Latinos

• Explosives test range Site 300 questioned over cleanup plan

• Thousands of schools face major overhaul under No Child Left Behind

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (170)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (73)
• Public health care is a Christian option (64)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (50)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (25)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (18)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

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Heart of gold

Lodi woman helps rescue retrievers, place them in new homes

Jill Morgan happened to be wandering around a pet fair eight years ago when she came across a sign reading, "NorCal Golden Retriever Rescue."

She thought it meant the dogs rescued people trapped in emergencies, but soon learned that the dogs themselves had been rescued.

"Those dogs had been thrown away, abused, abandoned. And that was it," Morgan said of the day when she decided to get involved with the nonprofit group.

Since then, the Lodi resident has worked with hundreds of dogs and is now the organization's San Joaquin area coordinator. So far this year, she's seen 79 purebred golden retrievers who no longer had homes and were abandoned. And that's just in the San Joaquin Valley.

There was Sydney, who was 4 months old when she fell from a vehicle and lost one of her front legs but now has no problems swimming and playing fetch. There was Teddy, a yellow "fuzzball," as Morgan refers to him, whose owners didn't want him but now works as a licensed therapy dog in nursing homes.

And there was Captain Jack, an 8-year-old golden whose previous owners apparently no longer wanted him. A rescue group found him in a Reno shelter and he wound up in the Stockton area, then went to stay in an Acampo home in March.

Mikie, a 7-year-old golden retriever, plays with other retrievers at Jill Morgan's home in Lodi. Morgan is the area coordinator for NorCal Golden Retriever Rescue. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Captain Jack was in the Des Moines Road home one week ago Wednesday night when, according to authorities, a man intentionally rammed his vehicle through the front door of the home. Captain Jack, or "CJ," was run over and killed as the vehicle crashed through the living room and came to rest outside the back door.

When the driver, 39-year-old Ravi Vora, got out of the vehicle and moved toward the homeowner, the man shot Vora once, killing him, according to San Joaquin County Sheriff's officials. Until that night, when Vora mistakenly thought his wife had run from him and hidden in the rural home, neither family had ever crossed paths.

News of the dog's death stunned and saddened volunteers whose purpose is to protect and save dogs.

"These are my children," Morgan said. "Once you get started, you can't stop. Which dog with big brown eyes do you say no to?"

While Morgan focuses her energy on golden retrievers, she's quick to promote other rescue groups. In northern San Joaquin County alone, volunteers work with rescue groups focused solely on greyhounds, Labrador retrievers and German shepherds, and that doesn't include them all. Most breeds have rescue groups that focus on just that type of dog.

Morgan has scrapbooks and albums holding hundreds of photos of golden retrievers, and she can point to each one and tell a story about the dog's past.

She buys 300 pounds of dog food at a time and is well-known to her veterinarian.

When someone wants to adopt a golden retriever, Morgan or another volunteer conducts a phone interview and then a home inspection.

One time, said volunteer Jeannette Markgraf of Valley Springs, things seemed perfect until she went to visit the home and took one of her own rescued golden retrievers along. The mother and children were excited to see the dog, but the father never once got up from his chair or pet the animal.

Volunteers won't place a dog unless they're sure it's really wanted, Markgraf said.

Even after a golden retriever has been placed in a home, volunteers keep in touch with the family. Morgan calls, asks if there are any problems, and said she'll take a dog back if it doesn't seem to be working out. So far this year, only three dogs have come back.

Morgan and her husband don't have children, so the dogs have become her hobby — though her day job is as an account executive. The couple live east of Lodi within the county limits, with a large fenced backyard among vineyards.

The most goldens Morgan has had at one time was 17, though that was only temporary. The couple currently has two rescued dogs of their own; a third died in his sleep last week, and Morgan still has a hard time talking about it.

What frustrates Morgan more than anything else is the fact that "puppy mills" breed mass quantities of dogs to make money.

Dogs are bred constantly, each giving birth to at least 20 to 30 puppies a year, Morgan said. Then the puppies are stuck in tiny cages until they're barely old enough to be sold for roughly $800 each.

And then the puppies get bigger, needing more care and training than one might imagine from movies such as "Air Bud." Rather than train a dog not to bark and tear up furniture, the owners simply ditch it.

Contact reporter Layla Bohm at layla@lodinews.com.