Tuesday, March 5, 2013

A Facebook page for every dog

It's been a busy time at Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge. It took some doing, but in between feedings, walkings, freezing pumpkin bones and other chores, each doggie has his own or shared Facebook page.

Please take a minute to share with your networks and like our guys! Most of these precious dogs have never had a friend before coming to Reunion.

BeBe loves to watch old movies...and she's our star.
BeBe used to be Batgirl and was the first of our Spindletop refugees to make her way to safety. She is thriving and doing great on her raw food diet and herbal support. Looking way forward to getting some volunteer help and entering BeBe and some of the others in obedience classes.

BeBe (a.k.a. Batgirl) Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/For-the-Love-of-Batgirl/179774255405090?ref=ts&fref=ts

Angel before he went Yankee on us....
Angel was the first one to go. We got him back from Spindletop and talk about bounce back! He was ready and raring to travel all the way to Minnesota to be with Barbara and Ms. Murmur who was adopted almost four years ago from Reunion Rescue.

Angel who is now called Hub Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Angels-new-home/176244839175242?ref=ts&fref=ts

Amber..the love of my life...
Amber is doing wonderfully. We've kept her original page in memory of Stella who was rescued with Amber and died tragically at Spindletop. Whatever joy can be brought into Amber's world helps to honor Stella and move forward to a better place.

Amber's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Help-Amber-and-Stella-abused-in-Houston/137819022958959?ref=ts&fref=ts

Nolan chillin' at doggy day care...
Nolan was another abuse case who came within a hair's distance of winding up at Spindletop. Although Leah Purcell actually collected hundreds and hundreds of dollars for him, his transporter got wind of the raid and turned the car around.

Nolan is safely with Reunion Rescue and has gained almost 30 pounds...he is looking gorgeous!

Nolan's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nolans-Rescue-Page/174957495973999?fref=ts

Peanut on the trail!
Peanut was pulled illegally from Alvin Animal Control by Purcell under Reunion Rescue's 501(c)(3). We heard about this after the raid and seizure. Peanut used to be Feo...and who could name a cutie pie like him a word meaning 'ugly?'

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peanuts-Page/452948948111371?ref=ts&fref=ts

After we got all the Spindletop refugees safe and on the road to recovery, it was time to bring our California dogs to Texas.
William is all smiles!

William was tortured, starved to bones, thrown on a lit grill and drug behind a truck before being dumped at one of the worst shelters in the U.S. Stockton. He is loving Texas and hits the trail on a daily basis.

William's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Williams-Page/174863255994426?ref=ts&fref=ts
Vinny and Guido..best friends for life!

Last, but certainly not least, Vicente and Guido share a page just like their close friendship. Vicente came from Marin Humane Society who wanted to euthanize him due to 'human aggression.' Boy, we'd like to meet THAT human! This boy is about as loverboy as they get. Still scratching our heads over that assessment.

Guido came from Wasco and is all about the love. You literally have to peel him off to get him to go on a walk! He will sit and love you all day long if you give him half the chance.

Vinny and Guido's Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vinny-and-Guido/126643237518249?ref=ts&fref=ts


Please take a minute to 'like' our pages on Facebook. One thing you can say about the dogs at Reunion Rescue and it's been said about a million times before....we really are the 'home of the world's friendliest pit bulls!'

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Pit Bull stabbed by vicious neighbor 13 times!!


"Some of you can relate.... for 4 long years we have been buying our house on a land contract. finally no more moving due to the breed of dogs we have right? WRONG!"

This hideous account is quoted from Rachel Baird, a responsible pit bull owner whose dog was viciously stabbed by a neighbor who lured 'Junior' to the fence on the dog's home property!

"It is documented with the police dept. several times that our neighbors have threatened our dogs the whole 4 yrs. We have other witnesses that say they've heard the neighbors will stop at nothing til our dogs are dead or we move."

"In this small town they must be related to one of the cops, because they never done nothing in our defense. 4 long years of them calling the police on us twice a week and cps twice a month. I have put in a nice privacy fence to protect our dogs and security cameras to prove that every time they call its a false report and still nothing happens to them."

"Junior Reed is the guy's name. He has poked at them with a iron poker. police did nothing.. the police did nothing. Last week he poisoned my female dog."

"THIS WEEK HE LURED MY DOG OUT OF THE YARD AND LEAD HIM OVER TO HIS HOUSE."

"My dog barked at him only never bit him or anything for that matter. He stabbed my dog in the face 3 times."

"The police showed up and maced my dog and my 12 year old son. When I asked to file a complaint the cop told me, "if i didn't shut my mouth, i was going to jail for disorderly conduct."

"My sons face burning and my dogs face burning off; the cop made me stay out there while he ran my name for warrant instead of letting me assist my animal and my son."

"And guess who has to go to court over the whole thing? Yup, me. The cops said my dog attacked the neighbor. I said, "how bad are the injuries?"

"He (policeman) said, "What do you mean?"

"I said, "from my dog biting or attacking them."

"He (policeman) said, "my (owner's) dog didn't bite nothing. There were no injuries except to my dog and my son."
"They have won. We will be leaving our home."

"Today, Junior (neighbor) rode thru our alley whistling for our dogs."





"It will never stop and the police will never protect us. I hope this story goes viral!"Junior's owner, Adrianna Catt has shared this plea for help on her Facebook page.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day to Pip...

and to all the rescuers everywhere. Pip was saved from high kill Delano, California animal control four years ago. She had quite a story. Her story is detailed in Pit Bull Nation along with other special dogs who've touched Reunion's heart over the years.

But this is about Pip. By chance, Pip made it in and out of three California high kill shelters. She rated her own chapter in the book not only to tell the story of a special dog, but also to share with other rescuers the power of believing.

In rescue work, you hear of the 'lifers.' Good rescues have 'lifers.' These are dogs which for some reason or other just haven't found that perfect home yet. Pip and I had resigned ourselves to perhaps that perfect home might not show up. That was ok. She had refuge at Reunion Rescue for life. On cool days, she went to work with Scott.

Pip is home
Last fall, I received an inquiry about a dog, a great Pyrenees, I'd placed for Spindletop. Journey was still on my website, but happy in her new home with friends of one of our raw feeding co-op members. The gentleman and I emailed back and forth and by chance, I suggested he meet Pip.

What ended up happening was one of those special miracles. He and his partner were just beginning their search. His partner was undergoing some serious treatment and they really weren't ready to adopt. However, they did come out and meet Pip. Pip seemed to know healing was needed and everyone in the room felt it.

On a funny note, Pip goes to work with her new dad now. He is also in the landscape biz. One day, he and Pip's mom dropped into Vivero Growers, a small organic nursery in Austin. Katherine, the owner hollered out, "Pip-a-li-cious!"

It wasn't Pip's first visit to Vivero. She'd been to Vivero a bunch with Scott....it's a small world in our world.

These little 'coincidences' are really not a coincidence. Those of us who share their paths with these beautiful creatures are no strangers to serendipity. It's nature's way of telling us we're doing our job.

Pip is their family now. I dropped off some food the other day and visited with Pip, a happy house dog, a necessary part of their lives. I must say, there is nothing more beautiful than a 'wanted' pet. Pip is truly their companion. My job is done.


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

BeBe's Valentine All-Day Planet of the Apes Marathon




BeBe shopping for outfits
Amber's winding up for the the big day!
http://www.meetup.com/reunionrescue/events/104193512/

You don't have to leave the comfort of your own La-Z-Boy to join BeBe and the Reunion dogs this Saturday for a meet-up! We are going to be watching AMC's Planet of the Apes all day marathon.

Vinnie Barbarino and Guido Sarducci
Upstairs, Guido Sarducci and Vinnie Barbarino will be tuning in with William, Girl, Tex, PeeWee and Amber while BeBe enjoys the 'Apes' in the privacy of her boudoir.

With all the bad stuff going on with companion animals in our world, sometimes we have to just hug the ones we're with. And that's just what we're planning on doing.

Girl getting wiggy with it
You don't have to have a pit bull to join Reunion Rescue Meet Up. You don't even have to leave your house! We love having your spirit.

Come on over to the happy side:

http://www.meetup.com/reunionrescue/

We'd love to have you! We try to do fun things like all day Planet of the Ape marathons. Please join Reunion Rescue Meet Up where every day is like Valentine's Day!!!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Reunion Rescue No-Kill Refuge...a day in the life..

Many of you know Reunion Rescue from the many dogs we've saved from death row at San Francisco Animal Care and Control. Many of those dogs were adopted by you and share happy lives in your loving homes.

Recently a subversive group has posted some nasty things about Reunion on public networks. This group knows nothing about our rescue work, but when the director of SFACC animal control joined in the fray, it was time for a real loud "OFF!"


SFACC continues to kill many pit bulls and while we can step in from time to time under the radar to save a Faris or Allie, representative of the many who fail SFACC's temperament test, Reunion just doesn't have the means to save them all. Back in the day, we actually did. One week, we pulled 11 dogs from San Francisco including Ollie who lives in Sausalito and brothers Ferdinand and Dickie Betts who were going to be killed so SFACC could resurface the floors in the kennel room.

Many of our wonderful Reunion Rescue alumni are featured on the Reunion Rescue Facebook page album. We're still working to upload everybody, but there are only so many hours in the day. Believe it or not, there are other things to do.

William at Frisbee practice
Like, William's Frisbee class for example....William came from high kill Stockton, a severe case of abuse and torture. He has responded amazingly to Holly and Walnut Bach Flower remedies to move him past his awful past. He is detoxed as are all the dogs from over-vaccination which has proved to contribute to cancer and all kinds of nasty maladies. William enjoys a healthy raw meat diet as do all our refuge cats and dogs.

But...mainly...William has shown a prowess for Frisbee. Girl's since retired from back in the day when she headed up the Reunion Rescue Frisbee Team. She's nearly fifteen, still kicking it, but doesn't mind handing the baton, or Frisbee, to this new whipper-snapper.

Vicente is a blind boy who was going to die at Marin Humane Society. He loves fetch and even though sight-impaired, Vicente could be a candidate for search and rescue.

Ball according to Vicente
His other senses have been heightened to compensate for not having sight. He is an amazing dog, Vicente.

Guido is one of those 'just joins right in there' dogs. He came from Wasco, outside Bakersfield. Guido has absolutely no issues, just wants to be loved on.

Vicente and Guido..what's next?

He's one of the crowd, so whatever is on the agenda for the Reunion Rescue day is all right with Guido...whether it's first thing in the morning 'rise and shine' for a romp in the yard or morning breakfast of frozen pumpkin/cottage cheese marrow bones, anything goes with this happy-go-lucky fella'.

A couple of nasty things were posted about Spindletop, the former pit bull rescue where we'd boarded dogs previously to the huge raid last summer.

Luckily, we were able to get several of the dogs out alive, however, Stella was killed in the Morgan Building, the incident which prompted investigation and seizure which netted nearly 300 abused dogs.

Amber catching some 'z's' and some rays...

The refugees from Spindletop are learning how to be dogs again, some for the very first time in their lives.

Amber came with Stella from a horrible abuse situation in Houston. She needed some time to heal from an even worse experience at Spindletop. It heals us to just spoil our little Amber. Ok, so she's put on a couple....guilty of being over-cookied!

In the lazy afternoons at Reunion Rescue No Kill, a nap is in order before din din...BeBe, formerly Batgirl and recovering from severe abuse in Austin, Texas and a terrible stay at Spindletop, has discovered a love for old movies. Just the other night, she watched 'Key Largo' and commented how much Guido looks like Edward G. Robinson.

BeBe loves watching TV!
BeBe will watch anything with Robert Mitchum. Last night she enjoyed 'Bonnie and Clyde' while chewing her marrow bone.

Peanut from Alvin and another Spindletop survivor has gotten part-time work accompanying Scott in our landscape business.

He loves being a working dog, but by lunch-time, this little man is ready for a nap and a bone.

PeeWee and Scott
Reunion Rescue, like any rescue group has made its share of mistakes. In fact, I've written about those errors in judgement in Pit Bull Nation so other rescuers don't have to encounter those pit falls. However, when inflammatory and untrue statements are published, the air must be cleared or the animals will continue to suffer and die as they are in San Francisco.

The work of Reunion Rescue and the wonderful dogs who've passed through the doors over the years is valuable. We truly are a no-kill refuge and sanctuary and the only holistic raw fed no-kill pit bull rescue sanctuary in the world. We have discovered a way to save every dog and passionately wish to share that formula with other animal advocates.

Please share our stories and photos to help spread the word and help save other animals.

Visit and 'like' No-Kill Refuge and Reunion Rescue  on Facebook.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Thursday, January 31, 2013

The herbal pit bull

Every day, I get hundreds of emails regarding pit bulls and other animals with or without issues being put to sleep. To somebody like myself, this news is sheer insanity! Imagine hearing the same issues over and over and over with remedy and solutions so close within reach.

Let's take the story of BeBe for instance. BeBe was previously Batgirl, beaten severely with a baseball bat  and sentenced to die at Town Lake Shelter in Austin.

I adopted her personally, not being a partner with Town Lake now known as Austin Animal Center. At the time, Reunion was full and I had to board BeBe at what I believed to be a reputable pit bull facility, Spindletop.

A year and a half later, Spindletop was raided and I was lucky enough to get BeBe back. She was ten times worse than the dog I'd entrusted to them.

I've long been using the products from Robert McDowell Herbal Treatments to support various issues in the dogs and cats we've rescued over the years. We've treated issues from kidney failure to parasites with great success. It finally dawned on me to try herbal support for behavioral issues.

One thing Reunion Rescue does with every pulled animal is an immediate detox. Most domestic pets are extremely over-vaccinated. The longer I am involved with pulling these shelter animals, the more I'm convinced that most if not all problems stem from vaccine. What the average Joe doesn't know is a domestic pet who's received one vaccine has a 1 in 800,000 chance of contracting rabies. Never in history has rabies shown up in a pet who's received two vaccines. Then why on earth are we vaccinating our pets year after year after year? Again, insanity!

I'd learned Bebe's herbal tinctures had been thrown out by the proprietress of Spindletop, so when BeBe arrived here at Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge, she went through a complete detox and began on Australian Bush Flower Essences Emergency.

Vicente and Guido naptime
I contacted the wonderful people at Robert McDowell Herbal Treatments who gave BeBe remedy and tincture specific to her needs. Along with a healthy raw meat diet, BeBe slowly, but surely began to change.

BeBe sustained severe damage to her head from the baseball bat beatings. In addition, we'd learned she had been abused and kicked repeatedly in her head with steel toed working boots. She suffered from headaches and her vision in the left eye had been compromised.

In addition to her daily tincture, she was dosed homeopathically. The remedy selected for BeBe worked! She was pain free in a little over a week and the homeopathy remedy was halted.

When BeBe arrived here, she couldn't sleep through the night. She woke up with night terrors and would screech over and over until she could be calmed enough to resume her sleep. Today's BeBe is a totally different dog. She smiles. She is a happy dog. She loves to play and dig. She loves her chews. She loves training and to sit for her cookie.

Imagine if pet owners used flower essences for their 'problem' pets. Imagine if the nation's shelters were to simply drop some Australian Bush Emergency essences into the daily water bowl. The shelter animals would be calm and not barking hysterically when potential adopters walk through the kennels.

More pet owners would keep their pets. Shelter adoptions would increase.

BeBe's problems were some of the worst I've encountered in all my years in rescue. There were some moments when I thought BeBe was not going to ever get better. She taught me to not give up on her and what a blessing she has been. She has taught me a lot about dogs, about animal behavior and mostly about love.

Peanut, William and Guido are also receiving daily tinctures from Robert McDowell. Although their problems were not nearly so severe as BeBe's, they each needed something to help their confidence and  help them smoothly segue into the life of just being dogs.

Each day, I'm more and more amazed at the sparkle I'm seeing in the eyes of these animals. One of the main complaints I hear is the old 'I don't have the time for ....' routine. I have a refuge full of pit bulls, each crated with a job to do and routine yard time each day. I've spent the greater part of my rescue life trying to explain to people their dogs want to be with them, not sequestered out in the backyard.

None of the dogs here at Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge are 'problem' dogs. After a couple of days on raw meat diet, some herbal support and detox, every dog has settled into a routine. In fact, dogs which had come to me severely over-crated and stressed, run to get inside their crates! The reason is because they have a job to do in the crate.

Each time a dog returns to his or her crate, there is something new and fun to do. Whether it's a frozen marrow bone or one which has been re-frozen with cottage cheese and pumpkin, a rawhide or weiner-stuffed Kong, there is a surprise waiting for them.

They feel safe and confident in their crates and to most of these dogs, this is quite a foreign experience. These dogs have been mistreated and abused. We've tried to simulate the wild as much as possible through diet and habitat, but mostly, first and foremost, we let them each know they are extremely special and very much loved beings.

Most of the pets people contact me about are not such severe abuse cases, but simply dogs who once past the puppy stage, have become bored and problematic for their stressed owners. The very easy and simple resources on our website can fix any dog.