DETROIT — When someone shot Jose Cantu's pit bull in broad daylight, Cantu didn't call the Pontiac, Mich., cops. He called Pam Porteous and the Animal Care Network.

"I called Pam first because I knew she would come right out and take care of it," said Cantu, 32, an unemployed construction worker who, like many Pontiac residents, has come to rely on the group for pet needs in the financially troubled city.

For 19 years, Porteous and her volunteers have patrolled low-income neighborhoods of Pontiac, providing food, water, straw and compassion for the community's often-neglected dogs and cats.

Some residents, including those suspected of dog fighting and drug trafficking, have complained that the group is pushy and nosy. But police praise the volunteers.

"They do an outstanding job of trying to curb the dog and cat problem in the city," said Capt. Robert Miller, whose department is coping with drastic cutbacks. "They are a great group of volunteers."

Cantu's pet, a gentle, 1-year-old male named Spot, was shot by an unknown sniper Tuesday after it climbed out of a window and strayed onto the next street. The family heard a boom and Spot raced home, bleeding from shotgun pellet wounds to the chest, leg and flank.

Porteous' assistant, Kathryn Tucker, helped stop the bleeding and called an animal shelter to schedule treatment. Tucker even loaned the family $20 to help pay for it.

Spot survived, and Porteous and Tucker made Cantu promise to have his dogs and cat spayed or neutered to help reduce the number of unwanted animals in Pontiac.

Since 1990, the group has rescued 11,000 animals, helped spay or neuter 4,000 pets and improved conditions for pets left outdoors.

"It's a passion; we're animal lovers and there's a big need," Porteous said.

VOLUNTEERS HELP IMPROVE ANIMALS' LIVES

Compared with other backyard dogs in Pontiac, Hype, a 6-year-old shar-pei mix, has it pretty good.

Though his chain-link pen often is matted with mud and feces, Hype has a doghouse, is well fed and is living temporarily in his owner's house to escape flies that gnaw on his ears.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give him an 8 compared with other outdoor dogs in Pontiac," Porteous said last week after checking on the dog.

She left straw for Hype's doghouse and insect repellant for his ears and rated the house call a success.

It was one of 30 stops that Porteous and two other volunteers — Kathryn Tucker and Frankie Hutchison — made recently in tough sections of Pontiac where guard dogs like Hype protect residents, but often are treated more like burglar alarms than loyal companions. Many of the dogs are pit bulls.

The volunteers delivered food, water and a doghouse to several pet owners who couldn't afford to buy the items.

They also set traps to catch feral cats, administered first aid to a pit bull who was mauled by a neighbor's two Rottweilers and picked up three unwanted dogs.

"This whole neighborhood loves Pam because she helps out with the animals," said Robert Deans, 42, who flagged down Porteous to give her a Labrador retriever mix he had found. "I've never met anyone with such a generous heart."

She said the three dogs would be evaluated for adoption.

Porteous doesn't shy away from controversy.

Two weeks ago, she made headlines by declaring that dogs in Pontiac and Inkster, Mich., were dying in a parvovirus outbreak because residents weren't vaccinating their pets.

Inkster Police disputed the claim and plan to meet with the group to discuss the issue.

The network dates to 1990, when four volunteers at the Michigan Animal Rescue League shelter in Pontiac decided to do something about stray animals and the living conditions of outdoor pets.

They solicited pet supplies and dispensed them along with animal care advice on weekend house calls.

One volunteer, Marie Sklaad, a Westwood One radio network advertising saleswoman, formed her own groups in 1994: the Michigan Animal Adoption Network to select pets for adoption and Animal Care Network to work the streets.

The groups operate on a $100,000 annual budget — all from contributions — and have one paid employee, an office manager.

Porteous, one of the network's original volunteers, quit as assistant director of the rescue league in 2003 to become manager of the Animal Care Network in Pontiac. Another volunteer manager handles the program in Inkster.

"There are a lot of animal rescue groups in metro Detroit, but the Animal Care Network is unique because of the heart and soul and time that Pam puts into it," said Kayla Allen, executive director of the Michigan Animal Rescue League.

In 2006, Allen nominated Porteous for the Animal Planet cable network's Hero of the Year award. She placed sixth nationally.

Porteous works six days a week, pays for her gasoline and drives a 2007 Chevrolet van friends donated. Other volunteers pay their own way too.

"We get paid in hugs," said Tucker, the assistant manager in Pontiac.

Porteous said shady characters threaten the volunteers sometimes, occasionally at gunpoint, but no one has been hurt.

Though there is no shortage of work to be done, she said Tuesday the group is gaining ground:

"We didn't see a single stray dog today. When we started, you couldn't drive through the city without getting out and chasing something."

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