Freedom ride from Bakersfield - Day 1

"...there was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars."                                        Jack Kerouac from On the Road

 
Our four refugees from Bakersfield KCAS Animal Services spent their first day being loved and listening to the lull of the highway as they began to put their awful past behind them. It was bittersweet for them to say goodbye to Cole, Tahairah, Caty, Kimberly, Danny and the others at KCAS who went way above and beyond to show these wonderful dogs kindness and for the first time in their lives, a little love.

The first night, Ruben our incredible dog-loving transporter bought them all Jack-in-the-Box hamburgers. A first for them. We don't think they've ever been given treats, not even a drive-thru hamburger. The most reticent with new people Dorothy who is now Rza prononced Rizza sat next to Ruben to eat her burger. She's riding in the same crate with Indica (now Sza pronounced Sizza - either her sister or her mother - Chinatown, Jake? They are so bonded and we can tell it's made their transition easier to be able to cozy up together.

Their protector Apollo...now Apollo tha' Dog! - keeps his beautiful eyes on the road making sure his sisters are watched over. He is a good brother, and boy, is he ready to be a dog and play. It will be wonderful to watch him get to learn fetch and ball and Kong and really come out of his abusive past and his shell.

Ruben stopped and got new girly-girl collars and leashes for the girls and bright blue for our boy Apollo tha Dog! It was a side trip in Hesperia CA with a side story. Here's the review I left for Petco. They asked and I love to write so here goes.

PETCO: I've been a rescue partner for over 20 years and had a transport bringing four dogs from a horrible cruelty case here to Texas. They needed collars, leashes, food, treats and bowls. I spent 1.5 hours on your site trying to order but everything I ordered was unavailable for pick up at your Hesperia location. Finally just paypalled the money to the transport driver who tried to physically go inside the store in Hesperia to find they had next to nothing we needed so desperately while these poor dogs had to sit in the car. 

Luckily we were able to find a tractor supply which furnished my rescue with the much needed items. Thumbs way down to Petco. And you consistently raise tons of money to supposedly help animals yet there is no support for emergency situations like this. Animals are dying in shelters because Petco rediverts the money to who knows where. Shameful. 

I am always a voice for the animals anytime anywhere. Word. Add the story of the poor dog last week taken to local Austin Petco for grooming. She was inherited by the owner's son when his mother passed away. She was so horribly matted, the store groomer quoted him $360 and when he didn't have that kind of cash, was told to put the dog down. Petco, you need to step up your game.

Ruben is taking his time and stopping for bathroom breaks and leg-stretching more often than not. He is very tuned in tot these four and listens for any slight whine to let him know if they need to pull over and find a pet-friendly The trip back to Austin will be a little slower than the breakneck two day straight through drive Ruben did to get to the shelter before they closed for the weekend. Shout out to Tahairah and Cole for making that happen. Bakersfield KCAS is way lucky to have ya'll and Caty and Kimberly. Danny, too. Takes a village.

We expect to see this healing happy transport arrive sometime Tuesday. I picked up some food donations from Healthy Pet, Petsmart and Tomlinson's yesterday. Amazing good food like the rich peoples' dogs eat!! Our four are going to eat high on the hog and get real good and healthy. I order Emergency Australian Bush Flower Essences which I make up in bottles and add a dropperful daily to the water bowl. The stuff is like Rescue Remedy but a lot stronger and cheaper. Plus those Rescue Remedy bottles break so easily. Every time they lap the water up, the essences are re-energized and calm the body. Also, when I get the boarding paid, I'm ordering a couple of bottles of Robert McDowell's Animal Botanical which used to be Nervous Rehab. I've used it for years on incoming dogs from horrible cruelty. Just squirt into the food daily and watch them grow past fear, shaking and anxiety into healthy happy dogs. The cool thing is, even though it's expensive, the product is just given a month or two until the animal recovers.
Enjoy the photos of yesterday's ride and share the Bakersfield 4 Facebook page with your friends. We are all on this ride together. 

Please liken and share the Bakersfield 4 Facebook page with updates and photos.

We can sure use boarding $$ as the promised pledges are not coming through...donate at Reunion Rescue Donate button or the Gofundme set up for the Bakersfield 4.

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

It ain't all glamour...a day in the life of a rescue worker

I got up Tuesday morning to receive a message that my Facebook account, the one I have used for many years to save animals and help other rescues, shelters and pet owners, was disabled. And this isn't the first time. Because I use Facebook to do my work, I've been stalked, attacked and my account hamstrung over and over by a bunch of people who hate pit bulls.

People who know me will tell you I am a go-getter. Who else would start a pit bull rescue in the town where lacrosse icon Dianne Whipple was mauled by a Presa-Canario. I say dog in the singular, because I was rescuing in San Francisco from the pound where Hera, the female was locked up for a year awaiting to be used at evidence in a trial where she was already sentenced to be destroyed. Let me tell you, the good people who work behind the scenes caring for these animals had to do so with a heavy heart. Many of them developed a bond with Hera as they cleaned up after her and fed her the prison rations of kibble and tap water. She was not an aggressive dog according to these technicians. This is described more fully in my book, Pit Bull Nation, a behind the scenes look at what goes on in high kill shelters like San Francisco Animal Care and Control.  One of the animal control officers who arrived first on the scene at Whipple's Pacific Heights home told me confidentially that Hera was terrified when they kenneled her. After her arrival at SFACC, her kennel tech told me also in confidence there were traces of canvas from her dog bed in her feces. This was misrepresented, as much was, in court when the prosecution claimed the material to be Dianne Whipple's trousers. A lie.

I'm certainly not saying that all dog attacks need to be excused, but like all trials, they should be fair and follow the rule of law. There was much about the Whipple case that veered from the rule of law. I am one for the truth and nothing but. This is the reason the hate groups started after me, groups that have a nice comfy presence on Facebook.

Another huge dog issue arose and also in San Francisco. It was the case of Charlie, the pit bull that chased the horse in Chrissy Field. At the time, I was writing a column for the Examiner, American Pit Bull Examiner. I took on many topics to do with pit bulls and other animals as in the title of this blog. The anti-Charlie hate group streamed from every corner of the U.S.A. and beyond took up residence in the APBE comments section. This was the group who started en masse complaining to Facebook about me and resulting in my many stints at Facebook jail. To do the work, I'd create another account to share animals on death rows across the nation and beyond. I will say, thousands were saved at the last minute by good people who'd seen the photo and read the piece I'd written.

Finally, the group won. They teamed up with a woman who runs, of all things, a media group formed to cite newspapers for unethical issues. The group and this woman contacted Examiner and had me fired based on a series of untruths. I've documented the entire incident in a petition with details that were altered by the hate

groups and also a list of the people who involved themselves in the mob to get rid of Cindy Marabito. Amazingly, some of these people are involved in rescue, but let their hate and jealousy overcome their mission. I get mad, too, but never let it override the most important job, saving lives. That's the difference between them and me. Sadly, I see the big picture and all of the saved animals whose stories and photographs were wiped out in one fell swoop by haters. Now, that's sad.

What I'd like to do is have one Facebook account with the option to merge my materials into that one presence. It will be some job, because I've collected and posted many photos and essays through the years. I'd like to have those items documented somewhere and until now, Facebook was a good place for that. I spent many years creating business pages for each of the Reunion Rescued dogs, health pages on how to treat your animal holistically and not have huge vet bills, awareness pages, the books I've written for something fun, an Austin, Texas music page among others. None of these pages of which I'm an administrator can function any further.

So between trying to find a new raw food supplier for the cats and dogs here at Reunion Rescue, mopping up urine, keeping the dogs entertained in 28° with rawhides and marrow bones, running the Cracker Jack for America's Favorite Pet campaign without even being able to vote on Facebook, and my bookkeeping job, my writing, cooking and housekeeping among other motley and assorted duties, I'm jotting down a few gripes here. I have more, but I'm a positive person and like to concentrate on the good

things in life, nature, wildlife, birds and these wonderful rescue animals that I am truly blessed to have in my life. It's my reason for getting up with a twinkle in my eye each morning.

I'm blowing off a little steam and hot air, but don't worry about me. Or, the animals in my care. I have suffered through every kind of hardship you can imagine. I'm old enough to remember when Obama started the home modification program for people like me who almost lost their homes during a rough financial period. I remember all of the rescues getting kicked out of their homes and forced to send the animals in their care back to kill shelters. I was one of the lucky ones and never had to lose an animal and in fact, kept writing my articles and pulling dogs the whole time. 

So, on the side of gratitude, I like to look a the photos from time to time. Seeing the image of a dog who was facing a cold death on a shelter slab enjoying a marrow bone or running free in the grass is worth its weight in gold to me. A couple of days ago, I could find tens of thousands of those shots on my Facebook pages. I guess I put cleaning up that 57K in my photos app on the list. Like the manager at work used to say, "There's always something to do." 

Cracker Jack the rescued cattle dog needs your vote!

Hey there, Buckaroos! Cracker Jack is running for America's Favorite Pet and we need your vote!! If he wins, Reunion Rescue gets $5,000 and a two-page write up in Dogster Magazine. This would be huge for Reunion Rescue. We spend time and $$ reaching out to help pit bulls and other animals all around the world. Please help by voting for Cracker Jack!
 

 

Butter in Waco: Best Dog in the World!

Last week going back and forth between Waco and Austin tracking Cracker Jack, I heard about Butter.

Barbara had posted a notice on Centex Lost and Found Pets where I'd posted Cracker Jack and my husband, Scott gave her a call.

We talked on the phone back and forth while I was trying to find Cracker Jack and she told me the story of Butter.

There are many many lost and unclaimed dogs in Waco. Barbara has her own dogs and works at Luby's Cafeteria, but couldn't turn her back on this beautiful stray who showed up at her door.

We believe Butter is an Aussie mix, just as sweet and soft as fresh churned butter. He is extremely dog friendly and people friendly. He will make an excellent family pet.


Butter "walked up to us as we were doing yard work and has been with us over a week. He's not in great shape but we are gradually working on getting him neutered and back to health."

Butter has a chip in created to raise money for neutering and herbs to help him regain his pretty coat.

Please help out by sharing Butter's story and giving a small donation toward neutering and helping Butter:

http://gfwd.at/1nGBezA

Help us fix Butter and get him that perfect home he so deserves.

Visit Butter on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/butterfurever?ref=br_tf

Help purebred momma lab and her nursing puppies with a dollar!

This lovely purebred chocolate lab wound up at a very stressed shelter near Houston and had 10 puppies. The shelter director reached out for help to save this mom and her precious family.

Lifelong Friends in Lago Vista, Texas is taking on this lovely family but needs your help. Until the puppies are ready for adoption, Lifelong Friends will need help with vetting and care for this sweet family.

Donations are much needed and can be made easily on Paypal or mailed in:

http://lifelongfriends.org/donations

The puppies are still nursing and will be kept safe with mom and Lifelong Friends until the puppies are ready to be adopted
at a healthy age.

NOW: here's how you can help....name mom and puppies for a dollar a vote.....vote for a dollar via the Paypal link:

http://lifelongfriends.org/donations

Visit Lifelong Friends on Facebook  and post your vote..how fun is that?


For more information and how you can help,

contact Lifelong Friends @
20803 FM 1431 (Physical address). Po Box 4100 (Mailing address)
Lago Vista, Texas 78645
Phone    (512)267-6876 Shelter and (512)267-0156 Fax
Email    Info@lifelongfriends.org
Website    http://www.Lifelongfriends.org

Help Reunion Rescue with MONTHLY BILLS!!!

Bella is our little free puppy we saved from the internet.

She needs vetting and spay surgery along with microchip, etc.

We just ordered $600 free range chicken for the refuge

and $500 Texas Tripe food for the dogs here at Reunion Rescue

We spent $570 tracking Cracker Jack..he’s safe, but Reunion’s broke…

Besides balls, treats, toys, chews, bones, Reunion Rescue can use a few bucks to keep up with our lifesaving work.

Please donate what you can and share our request with friends by visiting  our beautiful pit bull website

http://www.reunion rescue.com 

 

Let's pull Cracker Jack from Fort Worth!

This is little Cracker Jack and he's plumb scared to death! He was supposed to be euthanized yesterday, but by a pure fluke, he's managed to stay alive another day.

What do you get when you mix a cattle dog with a pit bull? A whole lotta love and working together to rescue lives!

Texas Cattle Dog Rescue and Reunion Rescue are teaming up together to try and save Cracker Jack, but we only have until 6 p.m. tonight to organize details and raise the money for his vetting and boarding until he can find that forever happy home...we know it's out there!!!

Help us get Cracker Jack out of the stockyards of Fort Worth and over to Music City in Austin, Texas U.S.A.!!!

Until then, please consider sharing Cracker Jack's story and photo and donate anything you can to:

http://www.reunionrescue.com on the Donate button.

Reunion is full of pit bulls and TCD is full of purebred cattle dogs, but we couldn't turn away from those little sad eyes...who could?

Thank you for caring and and thank you for sharing!

Contact doggirl1@earthlink.net if you can help with transport or want to donate a chew toy or a bed for Cracker Jack!

The plan is to raise funds to care for Cracker Jack, try and get him picked up by 6 p.m. tonight in Fort Worth and transported to Austin, Texas where he can begin his new life! Please help us save Cracker Jack and then, the rest of the world!

Registered purebred heeler in danger...help us help him!

Okay, I know we rescue pit bulls, but sometimes we have to open the doors to other breeds. Reunion Rescue is not breed specific like some people....hmmmph!!!

Austin is a registered three year old beautiful dog...his dad moved away and abandoned Austin. We need your help to rehome him.

Austin will need to be neutered and boarded until the perfect home can be found. We specifically want an adult home that understands this breed.

Please consider a donation to help us fix and board Austin until his proper home is found:

http://www.reunionrescue.com/

Come on, Austin...all you dog trainers out there that won't have any other kind of dog....step up and fill out the Reunion Rescue Foster to Adopt application.

We have a list of requirements as we do with all of our dogs.

Seeking:

• a raw feeding home
• indoor pet only
• someone who practices crate and leash training
• open to homeopathic and herbal support
• lots and lots of love
• a cattle dog lover and someone who gets this breed

Cattle dogs are working dogs, but occasionally, they like a little lovin'....Austin is a great pet, but has been in a home that didn't get the breed. Do you?

If so, contact doggirl1@earthlink.net and let us know a little about you and your lifestyle.

Houston SPCA uses a blind puppy to raise big $$, but kills all pit bulls

When we posted the huge fundraiser for Ziggety Zag, a blind puppy being promoted for huge donation money, people began to respond they had no idea Houston SPCA kills all pit bull dogs and puppies. We posted the outrageous Houston SPCA plea with the opening line, "The Houston SPCA believes all animals deserve a second chance at life!"

How can a 501(c)(3) entity get away with such a bald faced claim? Houston SPCA makes over 10 million a year and has its own Animal Planet television show. There are never any pit bulls on the show because they're all euthanized.
No name pittie will die at Houston SPCA Facebook page was created to try and raise awareness to the ongoing slaughter of pit bull dogs at this massive Houston facility which enjoys so much revenue and attention.


Sadly, many still believe the Houston SPCA gives all animals a fair chance as they promised in their offensive post. The dog 'no name' in our No name pittie will die at Houston SPCA Facebook page never had the wonderful opportunity given to this blind puppy to be adopted, to have life and a forever home after fundraising chores are done with.


Reunion Rescue tried to save 'no name' pittie who made the mistake of wandering up to the wrong home. After a plastic bowl of water, the unsuspecting homeowner called Houston SPCA who not only turned Reunion Rescue down when our 501(c)(3) with exemplary record saving pit bulls, but killed her as soon as her 72 hour stray-hold was up.


We began a sorrowful mission that day with No name pittie will die at Houston SPCA Facebook page and a petition demanding the director Patti Mercer be fired and the facility investigated. If Houston SPCA is picking up stray dogs and animals, shouldn't they be accountable to someone? If not the city of Houston, then perhaps the state? Someone? Anyone?


No Kill Houston has done extensive research and has published shocking records and statistics about Houston SPCA and the mass killing that goes on behind its lush, but deadly doors.
We will continue to alert the public about the killing, the contests, the fundraising and the atrocity that seems to go completely unnoticed, yet well-heeled to the extreme.


Houston, please wake up. There are a small and dedicated group of hardcore volunteers that drop everything and drive when they hear of a stray pit bull on the roam in Houston zip codes. Although these people are animal lovers who strive to help save these dogs, the real reason behind their motivation is sheer desperation. These good people are terrified the Houston SPCA 'cops' infamous from long running Animal Planet's 'Animal Cops Houston' will arrive at the scene before the dog can be saved.


No name pittie will die at Houston SPCA welcomes all animal lovers who wish to see change and help save some of the some millions of animals dying at this institution.

The 12 dogs of Christmas: Part II

William and Scott

The 12 dogs of Christmas: William was skinny and scared when he showed up at Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge. He had one of the worst abuse histories I've ever heard and I hear a lot of terrible stories.

William had been starved nearly to death. He was skin and bones. Besides being starved, the monsters who owned William drug him behind a truck and also threw him on a lit bar-b-que grill. William has sear marks down his side from the grill.

We've got him on a healthy raw diet which does wonders for the temperament. He's been detoxed with Waiora and ABFE Emergency along with Robert McDowell's herbal tonic to help rehab the most extreme cases.

All of these links and helpful resources can be found on our website http://www.reunionrescue.com on the Health Page.

Amazingly, so many people call to dump their pets and skip past this invaluable information. Our goal at Reunion Rescue is to help animals so they don't wind up at high kill shelters like Stockton ACC where we found William.

Reunion Rescue can't save them all, but we can save a few like William and share his story. He still relives his horrible past when a stranger approaches his crate, but he will get past that. He's the most trusting soul in the world and loves going to work with Scott.

When William was being transported to Texas, he bonded with everyone he met. Adena drove to pick him up and he wanted so badly to be her boy...who wouldn't? Adena's home is the Architectural Digest of pit bull habitats. He bonded with the Petco guy who informed how to operate the dog wash.

William is a wonderful boy and will be a wonderful companion for some very lucky person. He has all the love in the world to give.

Princess

Little Princess was blind and seven years old when we agreed to pull her from Moreno Valley shelter. The minute we got her on transport, she came down with distemper.

After the initial donation, the group we pulled Princess for bailed and Reunion Rescue had to come up with $3500 the next six months to treat the distemper and pay for quarantine boarding.

That's ok. We made it work. Happily, the minute the infection started to leave Princess's body, so did the blindness. She can now see!

Princess is a love! She is sweet and gentle, quite calm and loves cuddling. She's learned to chew her rawhide and especially favors peanut butter flavored ones. She was not a fan of the rawhide when we first got her, but loves them now!

When Princess first came to Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge, she was extremely dog reactive, but now is very calm when another dog walks by.

We have very high hopes for our little Princess and know she will make someone a loving soulmate.

Shadow

We got Shadow back yesterday and boy is he a little love! He was found a few years ago by a couple in Pflugerville, Texas and Reunion Rescue helped him find a home.

He was placed with a loving family in Wimberley, Texas whose grandmother baby sat the toddler age grandchildren every day.

Shadow fell right into step and helped her care for the little children. He is a gentle, sweet dog who loves children.

She also has five small Pomeranians and Shadow is great with them. In fact, he's great with all dogs, all ages, all sizes, all breeds!

Shadow's mom tearfully had to part with Shadow as life has hit her hard the past few months. She has become ill and had no choice but to ask Reunion to help out. Reunion Rescue has a lifetime guarantee for every dog we place.

We are currently very full at the refuge and are hoping for an adoption to make room for Shadow. He's boarding at Doug's where it's Disneyland for dogs every day.

Every day at Reunion Rescue is like Christmas morning. Our little jewels are our sweetest pit bulls.