TulsaPets Magazine September 2022

September / October 2022 • TulsaPets 13 Rescuing the Heart Queenie Finds a Lovely Life with Sonny Dalesandro by Jennie Lloyd | Photo by Cindy Alvarez “W e do whatever Queenie wants to do,” says Sonny Dalesan- dro, owner of the popular Italian restaurant Dalesandro’s at 1742 South Boston Avenue. Queenie is a slender white Chihuahua who came into Dalesan- dro’s life after her dramatic rescue from an abusive situation in 2017. “She doesn’t have the most exciting life,” he says, “but she came from a situation where she had been someplace gnarly. They didn’t care for her properly and didn’t want her — then used her and threw her away. So it’s like, ‘Hey, what do you want to do?’” Dalesandro looks down at Queenie and asks, “This?” Her eyes are peacefully half closed as she dozes on his lap under the table. “You can do this every day forever.” Queenie is a very cordial, polite older lady. She is prim and proper, delicate. Her rabbitlike, sensitive white ears are radio- tuned into everything going on around her. She is never aggressive, but she won’t engage with other dogs, thank you very much. Queenie prefers a quiet, introverted life. One of Queenie’s favorite activities is napping in Dalesandro’s lap while he commentates during Tulsa Athletics soccer games. Dalesandro, a former professional soccer player, is part owner of the Ath- letics, a National Premier Soccer League team based in Tulsa. Before Queenie came into Dalesandro’s life, he was more of a big-dog kind of guy. He had a Cane Corso — sleek and gargan- tuan, 180 pounds of pure Italian mastiff. But when that gorgeous canine passed away years ago, Dalesandro’s girlfriend’s tiny Chihuahua licked his tears for weeks. “And like that,” Dalesandro says, a switch flipped in his heart. “I just love all dogs now.” Enter Queenie Not long after the loss of Dalesandro’s dog, his girlfriend saw a gripping story on a Chihuahua rescue site about a little dog who was recovering after having been aban- doned. Someone “threw her out of a moving car,” Dalesanro explains, “and all of her fur on her sides came off.” He pulls up a photo of forlorn Queenie when she was found by the rescue; she was skinny, in pain, her eyes dark and sad. The rescue was worried that she might not sur- PETS AND THEIR PEOPLE