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.

Rebel..it was lots of fun to have you there

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.

12 dogs of Christmas at Reunion Rescue

LuLu and Nolan...friends for life!

I woke up this morning and went around to see who's been naughty or nice this year. All I saw were nice dogs. Nobody's naughty at Reunion Rescue.

LuLu and Nolan are near perfect and looking for a home together. Nolan's old home was evil to him and he was on his way to Spindletop the day of the raid. Leah Purcell took all his chip in money, but we took him at Reunion Rescue and have gotten Nolan back on his feet. He was very sick.

LuLu was abandoned at daycare, but found her soulmate with Nolan. They are bonded and will only be adopted together, even if it takes forever.

Buster Posey

Buster Posey nearly died at Solano County ACC. After he was found by a kindly Reunion adopter and

Anybody looking for a Great Dane Weimaraner with a little bit of pit bull thrown in? He's lots of fun and not incredibly smart, but is working on getting his G.E.D.
her little boy, he wound up at ACC and was about to be put to sleep.

Reunion stepped up to the plate and now Buster is here safe at Reunion Rescue No Kill Refuge and looking for that forever home.

Vinny

Vinny came from Marin Humane Society. He is an extraordinary dog. Ok, so he's blind, but that doesn't slow Vinny down for a minute. He's what they call a hunka hunka burning love and thinks he is a puppy.

He figured out how to fetch and maneuver himself up and down three flights of stairs in an afternoon! He loves to play ball and will fetch till the cows come home. He's like a big ol' calf!

Vinny is sweet and charming and will make a wonderful companion for some special and very lucky soul.

Little Amber is a butterball and sweeter than honey. She's a victim of horrific abuse. We have no idea how she got that star shaped burn on top of her head, but she is not one to

Amber

dwell on her terrible past.

She was another Spindletop survivor and when we drove to Conroe to get her back from the mass raid and seizure at Spindletop, she was nearly shut down. No one knows what these poor dogs went through at that horrible place.

What we can do is give her lots of treats and love and cuddling and make her life as sweet as she is. Bless Amber and all these wonderful creatures who just want a little love. That's all. And a cookie.

Amber loves food and will eat anything..pineapples, carrots, you name it. So far, we haven't found a food type that isn't Amber's type.

Peanut

Peanut is another Spindletop survivor. I wrote a story about him when he was at Alvin, Texas animal control. Leah Purcell took advantage of his sad plight and pocketed donations raised to save his life.

When we got him, he threw up everything he ate, but I suspected it was due to his trauma. At first, instead of a raw diet, I cooked his chicken and deboned it with cottage cheese and well-cooked rice. Once he settled in, Peanut began to keep his dinner down and joined in with the rest to eat a delicious organic raw meat diet.

Who knows what Peanut suffered while he was at Spindletop, but we can try and change that. He is a perky, happy little boy who loves nothing better than to fetch that ball! He is all about fetch and

BeBe

will go like the Energizer rabbit if a ball's involved.

Everybody loves Peanut. He loves nothing better than to curl up in a little ball with the person he's with. After fetch, of course.

Next is BeBe...she used to be known as Batgirl as she was beaten over the head with a baseball bat before being dumped in Austin at ACC to die.

I wrote a few stories about her before I was threatened at the Examiner. Now I write blogs and pet BeBe. I pulled her as a citizen on my birthday three years ago in April. She went to Spindletop and survived. She was the first one out and has her own little house to live in at Reunion Rescue No Kill.

BeBe loves her orange ball, going on walks and old movies. She watches Turner Classic Movies round the clock on a big tv set.

The next installment will have more dogs...I'm going to get Shadow today!

Former worker reports brutality at Spindletop Refuge

The Spindletop Morgan Building after death of 39 dogs

Each day, a former worker at Spindletop Refuge is coming forward with reports of horrible brutality and abuse at the Willis, Texas facility still open and boarding dogs.

In the agreement with Montgomery County, Leah Purcell was allowed to continue working with animals by running her boarding facility. How can anyone be allowed to even handle an animal after nearly three hundred dogs were removed and in deplorable conditions.

A former worker whose name is being withheld to protect their anonymity and to insure safety from retaliation has stepped forward to try and help those people who placed dogs for care and boarding at Spindletop.

Just a paid hourly employee at Spindletop, this person became overwhelmed by the conditions at Spindletop and did not know where to turn. "Whenever there were medical issues with the dogs, Louise would send April back there and supposedly check them out."

"I can tell you that April was their go-to guy. She has powerful information about the history of that place. All three of them were habitual liars.  I could never do anything to hurt a dog or animal of any kind and it broke my heart for the whole time I was working there. But I can say that I did help a lot of the dog's in certain ways that would not have come about without me constantly making recommendations for them."

The employee attempted to aid the investigation after the raid in hopes of helping to reunite some of the surviving near 300 which were sequestered at Montgomery County Fairgrounds. The employee attempted to contact investigators and never received a reply. Several of the dogs on Spindletop Missing and Dead Dogs Facebook page have been positively identified as dogs who perished in the Morgan Building due to horrific conditions and no cooling in the middle of a hot East Texas summer.

"I actually have some of my own concerns about how the investigation began. I was in the back of the property where about 200 out of the 300 were housed and we were about two hours into working the dogs. When all of a sudden a hand full of cops and h/s (Humane Society) came to collect all the workers.'

'While about twelve dogs were out in the outside runs with full sun exposed in mid-July. I had to argue with the the officers that these dogs could not be left in the hot sun for extended amounts of time. After putting my foot down and refusing to cooperate until the dog's were housed out of the sun did they let me put them back in their arranged crates."

Recently recovered texts from April Longhurst, the longtime right-hand attendant of Leah Purcell and Spindletop, have disclosed information about a 'farrier' who was taking truckloads of dogs and killing them.

"April held so many secret's of that place . I alway's felt that April knew deep dark secrets of Spindletop, due to the way she carried herself around the place and the way she talked to Leah's mother Louise when they argued.

Since the raid and seizure, Spindletop Missing and Dead Dogs Facebook page has been searching for answers so that those who entrusted dogs at Spindletop could find closure. Many of these people attempted to communicate with Spindletop attorney Zandra Anderson, but have come away hurt and with their questions unanswered. 

This good person has offered to help those who still have unanswered questions about their dogs. Some of the dogs whose pictures have been recognized on Facebook are 'Nero, Delilah, Dewy, Lucky, Ava, George, Buster, Bridgett, Fawn, Grace, Tyson, Rayford, Holly, Dude, Glorianna, Momma, Kenny, Scarlett, Stricker...' all who are believed to have perished in the Morgan Building.

It's become doubtful that the individuals who harbored these secrets while cruelly teasing the only people who cared about these dogs will ever be punished. So much evil surrounds this entire case that it becomes difficult to list all the criminal activity. Pit bulls and other animals will continue to follow the goings on at 11797 Calvary Road and hope for the day that justice will be done for the hundreds and hundreds who suffered and died there.

Liars, lawyers, death, abuse: the dog killers of Spindletop

Abuse at Spindletop

It's been nearly a year and a half since nearly 300 dogs were confiscated from the horror hotel known as 'Spindletop Refuge.' Not one of the 'players' have been punished for their gruesome behavior, however, one person has stepped forward to try and help the many who entrusted animals to the torture den masquerading as a shelter.

Anyone who hasn't heard of Leah Purcell and the operation known as Spindletop Refuge can still read about the operation on the web under a new moniker Texas Canine-Equine Solutions. The site promotes "connecting people with their animal loved ones for 27 years," but that promise didn't come true for Reunion Rescue's Stella.

Although told that Stella had 'been adopted to a wonderful woman in Dallas,' Reunion Rescue asked repeatedly for contact information for the 'wonderful woman in Dallas.' Each day, Leah Purcell had a new reason for being unable to furnish the information. Her computer was broken, misplaced the application and a million other excuses, all of them lies. Although Reunion Rescue has an especially strict foster to adopt program, Purcell found a way to navigate as only a slick criminal and con-artist can do.

The failing Reunion Rescue had as did hundreds, if not thousands, of others was to believe the garbage printed about the place.....all lies. For years, Leah Purcell fooled a lot of us. She fooled Best Friends, Montgomery County Shelter, courts of law where Purcell was called to testify as an expert witness. For years, Leah Purcell and Spindletop were considered the end-all be-all of animal rescue and rehabilitation. My crime was in wanting to believe she cared as much about the dogs as I did. I believe others fell under the same spell of this witch as I did, hoping there was a fairy tale future for the many innocent dogs we placed in her care.

With a slick South Texas law school lawyer, Zandra Anderson, who bills herself as 'Texas Dog Lawyer' to run interference, Leah Purcell never did a day of time for her criminal activity. Anderson has led trusting parties to believe she had knowledge of their dogs.

Zandra Anderson's voluminous lists of falsified claims in an effort to have me fired from the Examiner:

http://freepdfhosting.com/95ca1a0cbe.pdf


http://freepdfhosting.com/6766727fe4.pdf 

"Since Zandra was the only positive hope we had been given, we were terribly afraid to offend her, for fear that she would retaliate by having -------- killed.  Yes, after what Leah had done with Zandra's knowledge, we had no confidence that Zandra would act with good conscience toward us or toward any of the dogs.  Our preference would have been to tread very softly until we could return again to Conroe and to the Spindletop facility at Willis to have another and closer look to search for our Scarlett.

Of course, we subsequently made two such additional trips, without success.  And finally Zandra refused to correspond with us any further."

Many others have stepped forward on the Facebook page Spindletop Missing and Dead Dogs with their own recollections in trying to find out what happened to pets boarded at Spindletop. Many had been told, as Reunion Rescue had, that their dogs 'had been adopted by a wonderful family right down the road.' As more and more people began to share their stories, one got the feeling Wendy Torrance had when she first got her hands on Jack Nicholson's work-in-progress and realized she was dealing with a homicidal maniac. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," written over and over hundreds of times in his manuscript. In our case, the story 'your dog was adopted by a lovely couple down the road' was the story so many of us were fed. 

Reunion Rescue's Stella who was killed at Spindletop

Zandra Anderson has issued multiple falsified documents to the Examiner in an effort to stop me from telling people what happened at Spindletop. I published these complaints in an effort to inform the public so other innocent dogs do not suffer at whatever Spindletop is being called now, Texas Equine Canine Solutions where a recent tour of the grounds revealed dogs in crates on dirt floors to one unsuspecting potential customer. 

A former worker has contacted me about Stella. It seems Zandra was actually telling the truth about one small thing. Stella was not killed in the Morgan Building. Instead, "I know for a fact that Stella WAS NOT in the Morgan Building the day the ac quit working, because she was housed in the very back of the property in the largest building which I worked every day."

"I am sorry to be the one to have to tell you this , but Stella did pass away about a month before the raid took place .. I began to notice Stella loosing weight at a very high rate and was reporting to Louise Purcell daily that she needed to have proper medical attention . She never was looked at by a professional, and passed away about three week's after first sign's of her issues."

Visored Anderson stoutly negotiates with officials during the raid

According to Zandra Anderson's sworn and published 'statement, 'FALSE. Marabito alleges that Zandra Anderson 'stood on the grounds where our dogs like Reunion Rescue's Stella were buried." Not only is this false, Marabito has been told that this dog was not involved in any such incident, and this dog did not belong to Reunion Rescue as suggested.'

This statement among some 40 to 50 other false claims by Anderson in trying to clear her client of animal abuse and killing by having me fired from the Examiner. In her claims, Zandra Anderson accuses me of being 'dangerous,' 'vulgar,' 'obscene,' besides accusing me of making up the Spindletop story as 'you know or have reason to know is false, misleading or fraudulent.' My question is this. What could be more fraudulent or obscene than killing and hurting innocent animals one has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect and lying about it? Even going so far as to lead caring people on by dangling notions of their abused and killed dogs before them like a deranged kook might tease a starving dog with a morsel of food.

Spindletop Missing and Dead Dogs Facebook page is filled with stories about animals taken to Spindletop and entrusted to these monsters. If these had been children instead of dogs cast off by society, would Montgomery County allow Leah Purcell to continue her business on Calvary Road? Rumors have recently surfaced about Purcell moving to 'Marble Falls with her boyfriend' to start up a new facility.

Craig Malisow's excellent piece "No Sanctuary at Spindletop," frightening tales of animal abuse, burning dogs alive and beating animals with hammers by sex offenders ends with a dark promise by Purcell. "Purcell, he said, chalked it up to a simple "misunderstanding." He said Purcell told him something even stranger: I'll get my dogs back."

The former worker who has stepped forward recalls, "One day out of the blue about a month before the raid a guy showed up on the property driving a very large U-haul truck . He was a very odd individual and when I first met him I asked so will you be working the dogs with us? And he replied that he could not divulge the reason for his being there." 

"I noticed that the back of the truck he drove was lock with a padlock. I wanted to see what was in the back. Him, April, and the Purcells were up to something very secretive and only moved and did whatever it was they were doing at nighttime." 

Suspicion of a 'strange man from Louisiana' hauling off 'truckloads of dogs to be shot' have been voiced by more than one party. Was this 'U-haul' man the same character? There are so many questions left unanswered. Where are the dogs in the Spindletop Missing and Dead Dogs photo album? The ones not accounted for by Montgomery County and the Humane Society? 

Why is the IRS so lenient about the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of dollars paid to James Brewer by myself and other animal rescuers who sent dogs to be boarded at Spindletop? Was that money taxed? Zandra Anderson runs her own 'charity' promising to 

Anderson in her many untruthful claims, states, "the refuge took in dogs that were owned, then the owner relinquished any ownership rights in the placement." Does this statement account for the many suspected of being loaded up on a strange man's U-haul with a padlock at night, never to be seen again? 

We'll probably never know the answer to these questions as only 'April and the Purcells' were involved in the dirty dealings. Until we have answers, the Facebook page Spindletop Missing and Dead Dogs will go on searching. Stella's photograph will remain forever on Reunion Rescue's website as a tribute and a memory. Zandra Anderson's falsified statement to the Examiner that Stella is claimed to be in Austin and 'begging for donations on a dog she contends is dead.' The great crime for any human is to hurt the animals that were placed in their care.

Zandra Anderson knows a thing or two about fundraising as she raises donations without benefit of a non profit for an outfit called 'Texas Dog Commission,' which promises to 'defeat bsl in Texas.' The emblem above Anderson's Paypal donation button reads 'the advocate for dogs & their owners.' How much of a donation would it take for us to find out where all the missing dogs went on those late night U-haul rides?

One thing is for sure. I, for one, will continue to write about and search for answers surrounding the abused and killed animals at Spindletop. Those who had a hand in hurting Stella and the other many animals at Spindletop might be going on with their lives, but I am going to be watching and waiting, even if it takes forever. That is a promise.

Rescue Magic: Carmine's Rescue Story

Back in 2009, a last minute emergency notice came out from West LA shelter. A senior dog called Gio had been redlined and was about to be put down. Besides his age, Gio was sick and blind.

He'd been discovered walking down Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles. Most who walk down this street are shopping for a big Hollywood break, but all Gio got was a temporary cell unit at the shelter.

 

Several wonderful volunteers put together a video for Gio. He had a lot of people pulling for him, but Gio had run out of luck...and time. Reunion Rescue was full and broke, but what's new? Something about Gio just wouldn't let us hit the delete button, so we started looking for an opportunity.

A notice was put out on Streets of Bakersfield, our volunteer group which transports high risk dogs in California to safe refuge. Angel from Big Dogs Rescue did the first leg and met John McCaulay who carried many, many dogs to safety over the years. We lost John last Memorial Day when he passed away in his home.

A nice couple offered to foster Gio and he was transported safely to their home outside Santa Cruz.....with the Eddie Vedder song ...... I got the feeling that I just can't lose...pulling into Santa Cruz.....

It was a great day....I pictured Gio pulling into Santa Cruz...the ocean breezes blowing on his beautiful face. He was a symbol for those of us in rescue. We can't save them all, but sometimes we go out on a limb, take a chance, step off the ledge and the universe is there to catch you.

It was rocky at Gio's new foster home. He was there for a few months. They changed his name to Jack and we got him into an opthamology vet who prescribed eye drops and meds that would relieve some of the horrible pain poor Jack had suffered his whole life.

The resident dog, a cattle dog, never liked Gio-Jack and picked a bunch of fights with him. We had nowhere else for him to go and the dogs had to be separated. Amazingly, our Jack never responded to the attacks. He just wanted to be friends with everyone and everything.

Two very nice people, Marisa and Mike, contacted us about Jack. Marisa's dog, Fiona, was very dog selective, but they'd seen Jack and wanted to take a chance. Fiona was all for it and it was instant love. Marisa and Mike fed Fiona a vegan diet and she obviously thrived on it....and so did Jack.

Jack was renamed Carmine and found himself in a very loving home. He got around by following the jingle of Fiona's collar. Marisa, Mike, Carmine and Fiona relocated back east to Connecticut and for the first time, this Southern California boy enjoyed snow and cozy winter life.

Life gets away from you in rescue. There are so many who need us to help them and not enough of us to help.

Carmine enjoyed a loving life, even though he had to wait so long to find his forever home. This year, Carmine passed away in his loving family's arms. He was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor which began to cause him much anxiety and great pain.

He is remembered as an extraordinary dog who brought many people together. He went from being red-lined in LA to the lovely beaches of Santa Cruz and then all the way to the east coast. Everywhere he went, Carmine taught everyone he encountered to enjoy the moment and live each day as if it were our last.

Goodbye, Carmine. I never got to meet you face to fact, but I will someday. I know you are there with my Girl, with Rebel and Junior, Mookie and Madeline, with Hope and Frenchie and all the other Reunion Rescue dogs saving me a place.....pulling into Santa Cruz..... I need the beach to set me free...I need the wind to let me breathe.  I need the water to wash my soul...I need my loved ones to let me go...