All about Wally - bad start but winning finish

Wally at the shelter - redlisted for behavior

Wally was pulled by Reunion Rescue back in September 2023. The shelter in Modesto had him red-listed as a pit bull soon to be exterminated due to fearful reaction. To their credit, a Stanislaus ACC employee brought Wally - he was known by another name in the shelter - into her office where he came alive and blossomed, so thankful for a little kindness and to be away from the noisiest clangiest part of the facility where animals were brought to their death nearly every hour.
I saw his TikTok created by a shelter volunteer with the story and couldn't get this little man out of my head. I knew he could flourish by using the Reunion Rescue resources we've trusted for years to save animals like Wally. First thing I did was contact Patti to get an animal communication reading. These conversations would go on over the next few months. Into the fray would pop other spirits from the afterworld who've helped Reunion pets over the years.
I had a big surprise this time. Various dogs would pop up from time to time. Pip from Bakersfield is a longtime guide who helps the new kid learn about Reunion and how they will be safe and never ever feel pain or cruelty again. Peanut from Alvin, Texas who'd wound up at the horror house Spindletop and ended up living his life with us until last year when he passed gently into the night from old age. But, the biggest surprise was Penny. Penny was my mother's dog who'd lived to be 23 years old. Even though he'd passed away

back in the 50's before I was born, the stories my mother would tell my sister and I about Penny were the bright spots in a dark dismal past. Penny told Patti that he'd been with me my whole life, watching over me. He told her about a tree I'd climb and sit after school, where he'd "be with me..." his words. These communications with Penny have opened up a whole new realm for me and I'm writing another book about Penny and all the rescues and animal communication that have saved me and a lot of animals. I have little Wally to thank for that.
So when Wally's time was up at the shelter, I was frantic. What could I do? There was no money in the Reunion bank account as usual. So like our Found a Pit Bull page suggests, I created a Gofundme and stayed up all night contacting anyone and everyone who'd ever donated to Reunion for the past two plus decades. That was a lot of bounced emails, but I was able to raise $775. With that amount, I was able to place a hold on Wally.
The volunteer who'd been so adamant about helping Wally had given me misinformation about how to collect the pledges. I'd been told the donations could not be accessed until a freedom photo of Wally in front of the Stanislaus shelter was taken and posted. I had nobody to pick Wally up and move him to the boarding facility, his only option. A last minute contact of that volunteer was good enough to retrieve Wally, but that's where the buck stopped. When I asked for a photo, no answer from the dude and a sound rebuff from the volunteer. When it came time to make good on the pledges, the volunteer only posted the Gofundme I'd set up rather than our Paypal, Venmo and website donation links as was the policy with all of the other rescue groups and last minute pulls from this shelter. What that translated to was Wally's funds only amounted to the $775 I'd collected on my own as the pledge donors saw the amount and figured that was plenty and their money was needed elsewhere for another dog in need.

Life is a carnival - only good things for Wally

What most people don't realize is upkeep for an animal is expensive. How costly you ask? The boarding and food was $850 a month. Wally was boarded for over four months along with pricey neutering.
And, he had no options. I finally in all that time had one longtime adopter willing to foster Wally. She had a pet rabbit and lived hours away from Modesto. We had to rabbit test Wally first. I posted on that same volunteer/pledge Facebook page and was shocked at the response. The same crowd who'd championed pulling Wally at the last minute were first to slam the request asking for someone who had a pet rabbit to agree to a very supervised intro with an experienced handler. Everybody seemed to have an opinion and none of them helpful. I was shocked to say the least.
My only option at this point was to transport Wally here to Texas. I'd just brought the Bakersfield 4 here and was over-full with pitties and dogs, not to mention cats and the birds. A full house but not in the poker hand sense. Like most things I do in rescue, it was a leap of faith. I'd deal with it when Wally got here.
The $500 transport put Wally at almost $5,000. Most people who don't get rescue would balk at this amount, but I knew I had to get Wally to me. I knew he needed me, but I had no idea just how much. The communications with Patti began to illuminate his awful past. Wally had a problem with men. First, the boarding facility owner, a guy, had to warm him up and that took some work. Then the transport driver, another guy, had some issues with Wally. When he got to us, he was not receptive to Scott, to say the least. It was growling, fear-based lunging and most of the reactive behavior seemed to be associated with his crate. I'd first had Wally in a plastic kennel, my crate of choice, but not being able to see everything around him seemed to activate his fearfulness. I changed him to a wire kennel and while not perfect, the adjustment seemed to improve matters somewhat. I addressed this with Patti and that was when I found out Wally had been horribly abused. When he got to the shelter, he weighed 33 pounds at a year and half. Someone, a man, had inflicted great cruelty upon Wally. I still don't know exactly what happened and really don't want to. Patti added, "and it was severe." That was enough. We did not want Wally to have to relive his past. It was time for him to have a new life and that's where me and Reunion went to work.

First, I was amazed when Scott pulled me aside and told me I could keep Wally here even though it put us way over the top

Scott refused to give up on Wally...check out the payoff!

with dogs. This when Wally was still barking, growling and reacting to Scott. This was big. I'd already begun the work to help him move past his trauma. Use of Animal Relief, the flower essences which help move past a horrible experience(s) 

For any abandoned animal, whether feral or residing in a relief shelter

• Any animal being adopted into a new home, or being given a new guardian or caretaker
• For loss of the primary caretaker due to death, divorce or changes in the family system
• During any time of significant travel or re-location to a new home or living space
• For any animal with a prior history of physical abuse, torture or abandonment
• For performance or work animals who are exploited, or valued only for monetary worth or reproduction value
• During times of prolonged illness, or extensive surgery; can be used in tandem or alternation with Magenta Self-Healer
• For any time of pronounced stress in the animal - such as the prolonged absence of the primary caretaker or environmental disruption due to any natural disaster. Can be used in alternation or in tandem with Post-Trauma Stabilizer

Emergency stock Australian Bush Flower Essence for medical help, this essence will provide comfort until treatment is available. Administer this remedy every hour or more frequently if necessary until the person feels better. It can also be used topically or mixed into a cream.

These items are listed on the Reunion Rescue Health Page published to help others - shelters, pet owners, fellow rescuers - or any animal lover who might be facing issues.
It wasn't overnight, but Wally began to show marked improvement. Another factor - also on the Health Page - is a great diet. The more raw meat that can be added to the diet, the better. There are some great dog trainers out there who refuse to train a dog not eating a raw diet. It's amazing what eating the food intended to maintain the body can do for the behavior, the peace of mind.
The icing on the cake was a big surprise. Wally was a ball dog and a half. He loves it. He's learned to fetch and retrieve from all the way up to the top deck down two flights of stairs to the backyard. Not since Peanut have I seen such a great ball dog. Wally could go for it all day. Since he was so proficient on the ball, I tried him on Frisbee and he took to it like a champ. By the first day he was jumping up into the air to catch it. Wally has the makings of a real Frisbee champ.
He is very treat oriented and wasn't too fond of raw chicken at first, but I began chopping up some raw thighs minus skin and bone and covered it in a gravy of high quality canned and some premium almost raw kibble. He snarfed it up. By the third or fourth try, he was eating bone and all like the other dogs. And you could see the marked improvement. I've fed enough abused dogs to notice the difference in a kibble-fed pet and a well-fed dog. The food choices are a solid element in our E.A.T.S. Empty All the Shelters program. If you want to help us launch this incredible plan, please subscribe to the Reunion Rescue newsletter.

Check out Wally first day with his Frisbee -

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. 

More than 4,000 dogs saved thanks to one death row dog

Murmur leaving Bakersfield

Murmur was at the high kill shelter KCAC in Bakersfield, California. It was four years ago and the situation involving our nation's extreme killing was as bad then as it is now. According to some animal figure crunchers, the shelter euthanasia has diminished, but to those of us who are involved in rescue work, it's a bloodbath. It was a bloodbath four years ago and it's a bloodbath now.

Streets of Bakersfield group

Murmur was spotted by then kennel manager at KCAC and posted on a group email. When I saw her photo, something clicked. Reunion Rescue was full at the time as we always are, but I started scrambling to see what I could do to save this one dog. Besides being an adult in a very high kill shelter with intake of over 500 dogs per week.

Streets of Bakersfield: Driving to save dogs

Murmur had a heart murmur. I started posting to try and find her a foster and my post was answered by Barbara, a woman from Oakland, California. What began that day was a small effort between two people which has resulted in a volunteer transport group responsible for saving over 4,000 dogs up and down the state of California. I met a few solid transport and rescue people who dedicate their lives to rescue and transport.

One of the dear members of Streets of Bakersfield left us this past Memorial Day, John McCauley. John helped found Streets of Bakersfield and was one of Murmur's transport legs the day she was driven to Barbara four years ago.

Goodbye John McCauley: rescue dogs lose one of our own

Hub on his way to Minnesota

One year ago, Barbara adopted a 'brother' for Murmur. One of our Spindletop dogs pulled from the high kill Garland Shelter was transported to Barbara and Murmur who have since relocated to Minnesota.

Labor Day Labor of Love: 23 legs to happiness

Barbara has created a Strut Your Mutt page for Murmur and Hub to represent Reunion Rescue this year
in San Francisco and to raise awareness for homeless pets everywhere.

Please take a minute to visit Murmur and Hub's page and contribute a dollar or two so that we can help that next homeless pet in some high kill shelter.

Murmur, Hub and Barbara's Strut Your Mutt page

Visit Reunion Rescue online to see some of the many other wonderful dogs in our refuge which came from terrible abuse and shelter situations.