Hate Blogs

Until recently, I was unaware of some of the hate filled blogs which take up cyber space. Without trying to defend my own sources and position, I wrote an article which quoted neighbors of the Pacifica woman who was recently killed. Rather than attempt to find the sources I quoted, one of the bloggers lashed out with violent intensity at the quote.

For someone who is so against the bull breeds...as there is no actual pit bull breed...I was astounded by her absolute rage. This woman goes on to attack me personally and in a libelous sense, who calls me a 'pathological liar' and accuses me of suffering from 'dementia'. Wow. This person, so adverse to violent behavior in animals, is literally frothing at the mouth, much like the photoshopped images which populate her blogspot.

When she attacked me and my article much like a chained beast in heat, I was hard pressed to become angry. I see her as so consumed by her own fears, her own rage and so full of bad information gained from sensational and lurid top 40 radio talk shows that to be angry would be counterproductive.

My own practice has been to try and find solutions to problems, not to extinguish them. This practice has won its share of enemies, most of whom feed off the same propaganda as our blogger. The inclination is to snuff out the perpetrator, hence breed bans and hate blogs.

Why not search for a cure for the problem? That, to me, is a no brainer. Rather than kill every single pit bull, look for the panacea? When I personally experienced violent behavior in a bully girl, I embarked on a year long journey to find the answer.

In the past, when I'd encounter a dog with aggression issues, I would react as does most of the population. I would take the dog to training. Some of the dogs were able to be worked with, but others were beyond my help. Looking back, I see exactly what the problem had been. Each of these dogs had recently been vaccinated as are all dogs coming out of the shelter system.

This was long before I began to feed raw and study homeopathy and to learn about the ill effects of chemicals and metals on the body. Even though I fed the dogs and cats a raw diet, I was still vaccinating. Why? Because they told me to....because it was the law.

Then I met Raspberry. Raspberry was a little staffie bull who'd been found running stray. The finder had her for about three months and would let her free roam along with his own dog, took her to the dog park and virtually had no issues. She was a good natured wiggly butt. He and his girlfriend were scheduled to go on vacation and I offered to foster Raspberry in their absence.

She immediately went into heat and I scheduled her for a spay the next day. She was inoculated for rabies upon admittance. I picked up an entirely different dog that night than I had dropped off that morning.

Here is Raspberry's story:

http://www.thebodycodetohealth.info/Raspberry.html

What happened with Raspberry was important for me to share with others. Knowing that I'd put dogs to sleep for suffering from rabies vaccinosis was a hard truth to admit. Again, here was my opportunity to try and make things right by sharing Raspberry's story with other pet owners and animal lovers.

When I wrote the article about dog aggression and vaccinosis, our blogger reared her angry head. It was then I realized that some people do not want a solution. These people do not want an answer, the same who write hate blogs and form extremist groups.

These same people would have killed Raspberry. They would kill Tex, my deaf pittie who doesn't have a mean bone in his body. The blogger's hero, Kory "Cowboy" Nelson, got to live his dream when  3497 family pets were murdered in Denver. Once hate gets going, there just ain't no stopping it.

The kind of fear and hatred that fuel this person's blogs are terrifying and the same brand of hatred that spawned  'Mein Kampf'. I can't fight these zealots, nor do I wish to. I can only hope they find some peace and happiness in their lives. I can protect the animals in my own care and keep them safe from harm's way.

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What attracts us to rescue?

On nights like tonight, I wonder what ever compelled me to enter the world of rescuing animals. It certainly wasn't a conscious decision. I remember carrying home near dead pigeons as a child, praying over them as they passed away, begging God to breathe life back into them.

I grew up with a schnauzer, Schnuppy. She was my dog. She was by my side as Girl is today, as soulful as a soulmate could ever be. This was way back during the 60's. I knew nothing about animals other than my own instinct, perhaps knowing then more than I do now. Then I communicated with my simple child's mind with them, one on one.

It's sad for me to remember Schnuppy. I remember she was lost once, seemingly for about a month. I recall the day I found her. I could see her way down the street nearly two blocks away. I screeched her name as loud as I could and she beat a path to my arms faster than a lightning streak. I wish I could hold her right now. That was one of those best moments I ever experienced in my life. That was as good as it would ever get.

All that time, she'd only been a couple of blocks away and we had no idea. My mother was always drunk and/or on some sort of medication as fifties women were. My sister and I were left on our own most of the time. I was about fourteen during this period in my life. We moved away mid school year. I do not know what happened to Schnuppy. I blame myself for this. I do not know what happened to her.

Did my mother give her away? I pushed the feelings down and refused to think about it for a long long time. I only take out this memory on nights like this when I'm questioning why things happen to us and to the animals we love.

I don't even have a photograph of her. That is another story.

Willis

Willis is one of the rescue dogs. He came from Sonoma County. He is a beautiful chocolaty red boy. He was boarded with Cyndi where all the California dogs are. He had a good time there. She is all about the dogs, much more than I could ever be. She never meets a bad dog.

He was adopted to a young man in San Francisco. I happened to write the other day to check on Willis and received an email saying Willis had either run away or had been stolen. The guy didn't want to contact me, because he thought Willis might return.

I am terrified. So is Cyndi. We've had four animal communicators on it, two of which believe he is at a park and near water. The other two believe he is with some homeless people in an encampment. He's communicated most with Patti. She believes he is at Golden Gate Park. A Craigslist posting claimed to have seen a boy looking much like Willis at the park yesterday.

Cyndi drove all the way from Lodi in the middle of the night to look for him, but couldn't get him to wake up. We were all tired and Patti began to doubt herself. I could see it in her emails. Finally, Cyndi had to turn around and return home empty handed.

We are all sad. Mostly, we are so fearful of Willis winding up in the wrong hands. I've contacted every dogwalker I could find to be on the lookout, posted on Craigslist over and over, announced on every single Facebook page I can find...I just don't know what else to do to find Willis.

I can only hope and know there is a greater power than me at work here, a power that is responsible for the dogs and all animals everywhere. I can only hope and try to think positively.

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Letting go of the past and letting go of those we love

Day before yesterday, I got an email from Ken A. Ken was the third daddy of Angel Divine, the dog who started Reunion Rescue.

Angel came into my life in 1998. We were living in San Francisco. Scott found her wandering around and would let her play with our dogs, Mookie and Rebel. I'll admit, I didn't like it. I didn't like pit bulls. I believed everything the media reported about these dogs.

One day, Angel came up to my gate. She was covered in blood and limping. I put her inside the front garden and got her some water. I began to make some calls and got my own wake up call very quickly.

San Francisco didn't have a pit bull resource at the time. I had called the big fancy no kill SFSPCA to get a load of rhetoric to the effect they pulled dogs from SFACC. SFACC, the city animal control, had a 1994 adoption pact with SFSPCA providing the SFSPCA would take any and all adoptable animals. This was false then and has not changed to date.

SFACC picked up Angel and she was at the pound for two months. To her credit, Angel was such an exemplary dog, she made it over to the adoptables side...at the time, they had a pit bull room, and sat there waiting for someone to find her and save her.

Enter Marty. Marty had lost his rottie and was coming by SFACC to visit the dogs and perhaps adopt another pet. He met Angel and despite the fact that she was a pit bull, he fell in love. It was hard sell and took him about 6 weeks, but he realized he couldn't live without her and adopted her.

I continued to call the shelter throughout Angel's incarceration. There was even a note on her computer file reading, "a woman named Cindy keeps calling." When I found out she'd been adopted, I was ecstatic.

The full story of Angel and Reunion Rescue is told in Pit Bull Nation. I went on to volunteer at SFACC photographing the cats and dogs and writing bios for the website. Angel went on to become the Sweetheart of SOMA.

Marty passed away a few years ago and his partner, Russell moved with Angel to Phoenix. Angel and Russell found a new life and new love when they met Ken. Ken's first words when he met Angel were, "that is a pit bull!" However, as she'd done with me, with Marty, with Russell and with SFACC, Angel changed his mind.

We kept in touch over the years. I'd get the most adorable photos of Angel dressed for Halloween and on a kid's airplane ride at the carnival. When I was putting the finishing touches on Pit Bull Nation, I wrote to Russell several times to let him know about Angel's chapter with the wonderful photo with Marty included. I didn't receive an answer.

After the book was published, I got an email from Ken. Russell had passed away. Losing Russell had been devastating, but he told me Angel had helped pull him through the whole experience. She had been a rock for him to cling to when there seemed to be no reason to go on.

Day before yesterday, Ken had to put Angel down. She'd become incognizant and could no longer stand up. It was her time to go.

People who don't love animals do not understand the emptiness and despair one goes through when a companion dies. To me, the worst is carrying on through life's mundane chores when a memory of a smell or habit suddenly appears. It might be something which always seemed irritating at the time, but now that they're gone, horrible to endure remembering. Like a Nina Simone song.

Day before yesterday, we also lost Sweetheart. She was senior chow chow I pulled from the Big Bear shelter near Devore. She was incontinent at the shelter, but I just knew we could fix her with herbs and homeopathy.

Sweetheart at Cyndi's in Lodi

Once she got to Bakersfield, it took a week to get her to Lodi. After she reached Cyndi's in Lodi, she began to perk up. She became Spuds' seeing eye dog, as he is blind. Sweetheart was a senior girl whose entire life had been fraught with substandard diet and substandard care. She was estimated by the vet and shelter to be about 17 when we pulled her. Sweetheart enjoyed the sunshine and making friends with the other Reunion Rescue dogs at sanctuary. She passed away in her sleep.

It's so sad to lose a pet. I know if we could have gotten to Sweetheart earlier she could have enjoyed a longer life, but have to tell myself at least she died with dignity and painlessly while enjoying a good healthy raw meat diet and friendship with other beloved dogs in our care. Sometimes that is all you can do.

What I can do is concentrate on the others. There are so many. We have Hazel and Diesel, Spuds and Guido, Holly Berry, Pearlie Girl, Bliss, Dexter, William and all the others. We're full in boarding and empty at the bank. The shelters are overcrowded and people are still bringing dogs and cats in droves.

What I can do is work hard and raise the money to start Reunion Rescue's No-Kill Refuge. That's what Sweetheart would want and what Angel Divine would want. They and all the ones before them had a paw in the effort.

I am so grateful today for being blessed to have known Sweetheart and Angel and most honor their lives with positive effort and strength. Today, I will put one foot in front of the other one and trudge forth. There might not be a Reunion Rescue No-Kill Refuge today or tomorrow, but I can promise you, there will be one someday.

I lost my temper and don't mess with Texas

Polar was a beautiful deaf American Bulldog killed by ? in Virginia. Can't seem to get a clear answer from anyone. From the governor's office on down, every caller is told 'you'll have to speak to animal control.' And animal control ain't a talkin'. 

From what me and the other average citizens are able to put together from news reports, here is the official story. According to NBC 12, "After a thorough police investigation and consultation between the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and police, the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office has determined it will not seek charges in relation to the June 29 death of a 6-month-old male.

The Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed that the cause of the child's death is a cerebral edema due to a dog bite to the head.

The dog involved in the death of the child, an American Bulldog named Polar, has been euthanized."

Here's the main part of the problem, a thorough investigation? From and by whom? The same people who from the governor's office on down to the way down, animal control, refuse to answer any questions including how to spell their own names.

I know, because I made it my business to call every one of these offices today. I had one question...did the baby die of edema immediately in the home or later in a hospital? If so, I for one would like to see proof the bite was indeed inflicted by the dog Polar. That's all. 

This was the second round of calls I made in relation to this case. The last round was made on behalf of Reunion Rescue, my pit bull rescue, offering to take Polar into sanctuary for the length of her entire life, to live in respite and never to be adopted. I spoke with every office (each one hired by the good people of Virginia) and left my number and name along with my 501(c)(3) information. Nothing. I didn't even receive a return phone call from the paid media liason, Elizabeth Caroon....not sure of the spelling as none of the secretaries either could or would spell her name for me.

I left the liason another message today, however, moot since the dog has been slaughtered. Hope she's having a nice lunch or paid vacation.

Next I get ahold of Captain Brian Smith. He absolutely refuses to spell her name or even give me his name. I am only asking for information provided by the medical examiner report which, correct me if I'm wrong, but should be available for public consumption via the Sunshine Act..."The Government in the Sunshine Act is a US law passed in 1976 which affects the operations of the federal government, Congress, Federal Commissions, and other legally constituted federal bodies. It is one of a number of Freedom of Information Acts, intended to create greater transparency in government."

By this time, Cap'n Smiff done hung up on me. 

Like I tell folks, ain't no accident I rescue pit bulls. I'm just getting started. I call the governor's office and get ahold of Net.....who proudly served me a slice of attitude pie...which I promptly refused. 

I call the county attorney's office and get Susan and the same old story. "No comment." I am suggested to refer to animal control who ain't talking either, by the way. I'd like to know what animal control knows about edema? Do they have a forensic investigator on staff? 

Lastly, I get Ms. Jessica at Kozak the asst. county attorney's office and who's billed as handling animal control issues. Boy, did the fangs and claws come out with this one. Now, correct me again if I'm wrong, but are not these people paid and appointed employees? 

This dog was owned by the Commonwealth, the same entity that underwrites the motley crew I've had the pleasure of dealing with today. 

Now, I get about 2500 emails a day. I write articles and try to save as many as I can by crossposting, telling stories about and rescuing through my own organization. The entire time I'm speaking with these individuals, I'm personally diverted from helping other animals in need. 

The way I see it, every one of these people had a hand in killing Polar.  Additionally, every minute of my time wasted speaking to Jessica and Susan and Net was time that could have been toward helping an animal in need. 

When Jessica became condescending, I pretty much lost it. Better than most, I realize losing my temper is not going to save a life, much less a life they've already taken. But, sometimes, all the death and all the wrongness and the smugness are too much for even me to handle. In a case like that, I give myself a perk and let myself take the low road. Today, I took the low road and told Ms. Jessica where to stick it. 

I feel sorry for the dogs and animals in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It is a bad place. It is a place where due process is not served. It is a place where animals do not have rights. 

The couple whose baby died were not even in the same room. According to reports, the baby was supposed to have been confined in some sort of jumping chair alone with the dog. Every detail must be pieced together as the officials are keeping mum. Perhaps they have something to hide?

We who tried to save Polar will continue to seek the truth. There is a save Polar petition. I signed the petition after Polar was killed. I signed it for Polar. I signed it for Michael Vicks, a proud Virginia businessman who got a much better deal than Polar, right Nike? I signed it for Casey Anthony, who got a great deal for herself. Much better than Polar got. I signed it for all of the good people in Virginia who are being represented by foul and selfish officials. I signed for all of the dogs and animals we don't know who are being slaughtered with no voice in shelters across the United States. 

I ask that everyone who reads this take a minute to sign Polar's petition. Sign it for Polar who got a raw deal. This dog should not have been killed. 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/Help-save-Polar/

Please visit Polar's Facebook page. This is not over by a long shot and that is a promise.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Polar/223799790985693?ref=ts

Hey, Virginia...there ain't no Santy Claus in Virginia....not for Polar anyway.

Governor:

Robert F. McDonnell

804-786-2211

Fax: 804-371-6351

robert.f.mcdonnell@governor.virginia.gov

Lt. Governor:

William T. Bolling

804-786-2078

Fax: 786-7514

ltgov@ltgov.virginia.gov

Supervisor, Bermuda District

Dorothy Jaeckle

804-768-7398

Fax:

jaeckled@chesterfield.gov

Animal Control:

rosed@chesterfield.go

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The White Goddess

Today, I had the unique opportunity to meet yet another pit bull hater. She applied to adopt Mabel, one of the Animals First dogs, not a pit bull, but a shar pei. I mentioned that Mabel had been adopted, but we had several other wonderful dogs.

When she found out they were pit mixes, didn't matter that basset, ridgeback and cattle dog made up the rest. No pits, she said.

Well, I've matured...a little bit. But, today was a long day and I've been fighting the battle all day trying to save two dogs who've been butchered and were noosed to a chain link fence in the Houston heat. She came back at me a couple of times and finally told me she was going to report me to the 'site'. I answered back, 'please do!' That way you can get rid of all the people like me, then all the pit bulls can die and nice people will be safe again.

I'm so sick of the whole anti pit thing. Bottom line, it's the media. Even the Examiner which I'm lucky enough to write the American Pit Bull articles for has its share of pit haters.

Today, I ran across an article about rehabbed pit bulls killing children. There has not been one case of a former fighting dog killing a child. Period. I would have been the first to hear about it.

The White Goddess is a piece by Robert Graves. The book length essay draws on links between poetry, mythology and the worship of the Goddess. It's become a source of inspiration for other writers, poets, students to draw upon the body of his work. Rather than 'stealing', these writers more or less contributed to a process which I call the White Goddess.

It's my understanding that other writers such as Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes built their work in a sort of tribute. It was as if there was the White Goddess and the work of each poet, each writer adds to the greater work as if laying paint on a great tree in the forest.

That is what I'm doing with my pit bull articles. I cannot undo the horror committed against these dogs through the media. That would be quite impossible. What I can do is write an article or two each day and in my own method, create a new reality or restoration of these dogs to their deserved place on this earth.

For every bad and badly written article, such as the one about rehabbed dogs killing children, I can write about a wronged dog who ended up in a shelter. I can write about Lady, the beautiful red nose/cattle dog  boxer mix whose owner called animal control to pick up Lady and the two strays playing under her house. Lady was killed yesterday.

For every article I read about how horrible pit bulls are, oftentimes capitalized or written as one word, I can write a good article. Bottom line, there are hundreds of thousands of good stories to counter the bad ones. I will never run out of subject matter.

I'm not saying my writing is in the same league as Plath or Graves, but I am diligent. Ain't no accident I rescue pit bulls.

Someday, the odds will win out. If I keep writing my little articles, sooner or later others will become attracted and the tides might even turn. That is my thought and my hope, my White Goddess.

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This dang ol' blog

I sometimes wish I was a blogger rescue instead of a rescue rescue. I wish I had a big air conditioned facility to sit and blog from instead of seeing millions of dying pit bulls and other animals cross my screen every minute of every day.

I just wrote a check to cover the dogs in boarding and had two fixed last week. This pretty much bottomed out Reunion Rescue's financial standing. It's really hard to see the dogs' faces that I cannot help. I can and do write articles about the ones about to be euthanized, but there are so many. We are living in an insane time.

I get so overwhelmed as do others in rescue work. It certainly draws a line between those of us doing the work and those of us doing the 'educating'. Whenever I hear of a supposed pit bull rescue group who specializes in 'education' and 'outreach', I want to throw up. Everything I learned about pit bulls, I pretty much learned from the dogs. That is how you learn. You go to the shelter and you pull a dang dog. Period.

You don't learn from reading a blog or a magazine. It's nice that there are so many people writing about the dogs, but have they checked the shelters lately? The shelters are FULL of dogs waiting to die. Please, rescues and outreachers, pull some dang dogs.

When things get a little too depressing, I am lucky to be surrounded by healthy happy animals like Del.

Del taking a bath puts things into perspective and me back in a calmer happier frame of mind.

Sometimes we can't change the entire world, but we can change our own little world. Del was eleven when he came to live with us.

He was a purchased bird when a baby like so many. Del is a caique and the lady bought him for her daughter. Caiques are unusual birds, do not speak and not the pet one would first consider for a child.

Del bit the little girl and the lady took him to the pound.

He wound up with Mickaboo Rescue, a wonderful exotic bird rescue in northern California. He was adopted by a wonderful lady who had Del for a number of years and relocated in Texas. I got a call from Mickaboo about Del a few years ago. The lady had lost her home and her marriage was dissolving. She'd contacted Mickaboo about Del.

Mickaboo had transported a white parakeet to me from San Francisco a while back. That bird, Alamo, had wound up at San Francisco Animal Care and Control, a high kill shelter which caters to that affluent real estate. When Mickaboo retrieved Alamo, she weighed only 2 grams and was covered in scaly mites.

They remembered me and contacted me about Del. One thing led to another and Del came to live with us. He tolerates me, but loves Scott. He will let Scott do anything to him. Before we got him, Allison of Australia did an animal communication on Del and he was scared. He'd been let down so many times and was unsure about moving here with us. He was willing to give it a try.

I sent a You Tube of Tom Petty singing Running Down a Dream and we were off and running. When Del heard the song, he started singing and came alive. I believe he knew things were going to be alright. Like the song says,

"it was a beautiful day, sun beat down...

I had the radio on, I was drivin...

trees went by, me and Del were singing

little Runaway..I was flyin"

Allison's communication mentioned Del likes lots of fresh fruit. That was certainly true. Sometimes, I think Del would rather eat fruit than the homemade mash I serve the birds twice a day with organic fresh seeds, nuts, veggies and fruits along with homegrown sprouts and other goodies. Once, I tried to mix his fruit into the mash and he went on a hunger strike for a minute.

It makes me happy to try and make Del and the others happy. Like I said, I can't save the world, although for $16,000 I raised last year, I was able to save a lot. When I see the figures of some of these big shot rescues in the 6, 7 and 8 digits, I have to wonder where are the animals they are saving? You sure don't see their names in the daily multitudes of emails and Facebook posts for animals dying across the nation in shelters.

Just my two cents.

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Flying into Los Ange-lees

Me and Mr. Sweets in cargo

I haven't had a spare minute to blog in weeks. I am very happy today, though. Mr. Sweets flew into Austin this evening and I picked him up at the airport. We drove to Doug's and he is all situated in the most fun dog place on the planet.

Mr. Sweets met all the dogs in Doug's pack including Buddy and Lady, John Boy and Ringo, Raspberry and Squirt. The most heartwarming moment, though, is when he met Benny.

Mr. Sweets is all smiles

Benny was pulled from Turlock with horrible mange. Patti fostered him and created a wonderful blog for him. Mr. Sweets was pulled from Riverside around the same time and fostered by Raz and Rilee in Hollywood. Both dogs were completely treated with nutritious raw diet and homeopathy. Mr. Sweets has healed a lot more quickly as he is much younger and did not suffer the horrible abuse dealt Benny. Benny has a lot more to undo, but he will get completely well. Especially, since he's become a permanent member of Doug's pack.

It was funny to see Mr. Sweets immediately attach himself to Doug. He, like all the dogs, loved Doug instantly. What's not to love?

Benny and Mr. Sweets have side by side blogs and now get to romp and play and snooze side by side all day and night. That is what Reunion Rescue is all about.

Benny and Mr. Sweets

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