Cheeseburgers in Paradise - Day 3 with the Bakersfield 4

Today's update features some of exploits of our four Bakersfield dogs on the road somewhere between Hesperia, California and paradise. They don't seem to mind the road and are getting looser and more relaxed with each mile. Only one problem so far. After that first night when Ruben stopped and got them all a hamburger, they were sold. Now every time he has to slow down, they think it's hamburger time and get all waggly-tailed and excited. I told him they were spoiled for good now.

Dogs amaze me. I'm still carrying a hard grudge against SFACC in San Francisco for the time they nearly killed a dog I was saving, Slappy, when the green volunteer who was trained to handle dogs properly sprayed her down with a firehose and opened up the spay incisions from the surgery she'd only had the day before. Slappy was a wonderful dog and as dogs do, she put that horror behind her with injuries that caused her to endure medical issues for the remainder of her life. She forgave them, but I remember every single bitter moment. When Carl Friedman director and his henchman Kat Brown fired Ann Bennet, the vet tech who demanded Slappy transported to Pets Unlimited for emergency surgery when she found Slappy lying in the floor unresponsive in her filthy San Francisco kennel, blood and intestines everywhere. A true horror story in a town shelter named after St. Francis. And they banned me and Reunion Rescue. 

Slappy lived a nice long happy life eating a raw Reunion Rescue diet. She was adopted and a much beloved family member

to Rachel and Mark who witness that evil green volunteer spraying Slappy with the hose. As luck and fate would have it, they moved the family here to Austin and I got to reunite with that beloved Slappy.

But, back to the Bakersfield 4. Dogs move forward. Even the shitty trainers (and I've had a snoot-ful of those) will tell you dogs live in the moment. They honestly do. Like Dorothy, the most impacted of the Bakersfield 4, now called by her Hip Hop name Rza. I like to give all the hard cases a new name to go with their new collar and leash and new home with newfound hope for new beginnings. She was holding back in the car ride that first day, but when Ruben stopped and got them all hamburgers, things began to change. The other three now called Sza, Cardi B and Apollo tha' Dog gobbled theirs up like they were at a backyard BBQ. Rza was not so sure. She growled a little bit when Ruben gently offered the burger to her, but then very carefully she moved out of the crate she shares with either mother or daughter or sister Sza - it's Chinatown, Jake - and sat next to Ruben. She ate her hamburger, probably a first in this dog's life, while gently resting her body against his leg. This, my friends, is a huge breakthrough.

They enjoyed their ride yesterday. Ruben is taking a slower route back home, thank goodness, because he nearly killed himself trying to get to Bakersfield KCAS before they closed for the rest of the weekend last Saturday night. He stops to let them potty every time he hears the slightest whimper or moan. These four have proved to be very well-behaved traveling companions I'm told. They are scheduled to arrive Wednesday morning at the sanctuary where they'll board indefinitely. If I have to go out on the highway street corner with my Reunion Rescue jar to collect their rent, I'll do it. These dogs will never again have to experience anything but love and respect. It's time for them to learn to just be dogs. That is how it works.

And please sign up for the new Reunion Rescue newsletter - organizing to #savelives just like the Bakersfield 4.