Barbados

In October of 2012, a large white and spotted Mastiff by the name of Barbados was put into the Miami shelter (MDAS) . He was a big dog- 113 pounds and a stray. Like so many dogs and cats found as strays, his owners never came for him and he was available for adoption. Barbados was pulled under a rescue - to the best of my knowledge, that rescue is called SOS4Paws... in the event that is not true, it would be one of the other approved rescues who are allowed to pull dogs out of the shelter. The approved rescue did not appear to be a part of the placing of this dog.  Only approved rescues may pull dogs out of MDAS and many shelters operate the same way. In the case of Barbados, he was taken in by some independent rescuers who have pulled many dogs out of MDAS using an approved rescue's status. The group included a woman named Sarah Leddick who has pulled many dogs- and who has helped find homes for dogs as well as a woman named Juliana Venturini Coimbra. If you read my blog much, you will probably already be familiar with the second name as she has done multiple chip ins on dogs- and some of the dogs who had been in trouble - ones I wrote about- had her do the chip ins on them.

When he was pulled this was the comment made:

Sarah Leddick We are saving Barbados today. He is not well even though he looks handsome in the pic. He is emaciated, suffering from URI, has tumor on one hip and a gash on the other. He needs to go to the vet ASAP!! Please prepare to donate to his chipin. He isn't going to be cheap!! Then he gets transported to Maine to Janet Scott, where he will fit in nicely!!! If you want to donate today before I can set up his chipin and get it approved by UDOM, you can call Ray Carman at Animal Kingdom where he will be convalescing @772 528-9082. Thanks ahead of time!!
October 23, 2012 at 2:44pm · Edited · Like

Their plan was to take him out of the shelter, place him into boarding and send him off to a person in Maine who had come on the Facebook thread saying that she wanted him. She - being in another state- had not met him and was relying on any and all info on the Facebook thread and those involved in pulling him from the shelter. The shelter does no formal testing of dogs to check their temperament. There had been people on the thread asking how he was with other dogs etc. Since the people involved have been banned from the Urgent Dogs of Miami page (UDOM), it is hard to know what their responses were in regards to the temperament of the dog. Had the rescue taken the time to test him with people, other dogs, and cats prior to pulling him to ship him out of state?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=476713759029699&set=a.484690071565401.117792.191859757515102&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=480336715334070&set=a.484690071565401.117792.191859757515102&type=3&permPage=1

On October 23rd 2012, it was stated on the UDOM thread that he was rescued. Many people had been interested in seeing him safely saved and many had pledged money to help in the process. (since not all donations are made on the chip in page- it is not possible for me to say how much money was or was not given as there have been many different places that donors were told they could give money to.) He was pulled out of the shelter on the 23rd and sent to a boarding kennel in Port St. Lucie run by a man named Ray. Ray runs a boarding kennel (the same one that the dog Niky was in that I wrote about in a past blog). Right after he arrived, there was a terrible accident. The kennel owner was severely injured when - based upon the story told- he got between the dog and cat.

It was a horrible injury and I was very upset to see it. No one ever wants someone to be hurt- and no one ever wants a rescue dog to be involved with something like that. After the attack, Barbados was not sent up to Maine. He was placed into the Dog House boarding kennel. Things were quiet for a long time. It was not until the end of December that I saw a thread pop up regarding Barbados and what their plans were for him.

So it appeared that they had found a rescue willing to take on a dog who had a bite history. I wanted to know more. This picture above was taken at the Dog House. He looked to be very thin and had a sore on his muzzle. I wonder how much he weighed at this point?

These threads show what was being said at the time. I was highly concerned about the claims being made - as well as the fact that it stated the Dog House had not only worked with the rescue before...  but planned on sending multiple dogs to them.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151588026228012&set=pb.694188011.-2207520000.1366905023.&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/sarah.leddick.1/posts/145009878983146?comment_id=326382&notif_t=like

I thought some of the claims being made about the rescue he was being sent to - were very over the top and so I- and others who noticed it all- began to ask questions. You can follow it all on the above links- but, here are a few highlights -

** Please note that any comments from Juliana are missing - since she had just suddenly seemed to have removed her Facebook account.

As you can clearly see, the receiving rescue came onto the thread and made a comment. They did not dispute any of the claims being made at the time. Now.. let me break down some of the claims being made about that rescue that the Florida people were sending Barbados  to ...  and who the Dog House had plans to send a few dogs to.

Claims made on Facebook regarding the Bowman's rescue -

1. They train dogs for the presidents.
    - Google it... I will bet you will not find anything on that- I know I did not.

2. They are run by a group of veterinarians.
    - When I checked with the state licensing board- I found nothing.

3. They are a very reputable rescue in VA.
    - They are not in VA- they are in WV. And I - and many others who were researching the claims-     found no one who had heard of them. In fact, I contacted their local Humane Society and they had not heard of them - they did send someone out to check it out. In my opinion, a reputable rescue would be known by those in the area. Also they do not appear to be registered with the state as a non profit and there is no 501c3. There was also at least one photo on their Facebook page of a dog that was not even theirs - it was pulled from the site of the national breed rescue for Saint Bernards- who also, had not heard of them. In fact, I was told by the national group that there is no breed rescue representing in that area and they have had to send dogs in need there to out of state rescues. Breed rescues generally are aware of others who save the same breed.

4.  They have an amazing compound and have either 900 acres, 1,250 acres, or 350 acres depending on who they talked to. Also, that there is a varying number of kennels as well as dogs.
    - When their local Humane Society visited them, they visited a house. They said the house was nice and the two dogs in their care looked good. They made no visit to a large facility with a number of kennels and not an acreage. There were claims made that the land could possibly be in a neighboring county.. and if so.. please know that in that county there is no animal control. I did check with the county records of the neighboring areas and was unable to find any land belonging to that rescue. It is possible there is something- but, the home check was NOT done on that property and there are NO pictures on the rescue's page indicating ANY large facility. Another rescue  I talked to via email had seen them working to get another dog out of CA at the time this was all being posted, they said that they were told that they had 60 dogs and a kennel area for 100. The animal control officer in WV never saw 60 dogs.

5. There had been a visit to the place by a woman from Orlando. She claimed it was amazing and it was stated that she had been there personally and was thinking of actually moving there in the Spring.
   - According to the Humane Society who DID visit them, the Bowmans claimed no one from FL had ever visited them and they had only been contacted a couple of times by people in Florida. Furthermore, the woman claiming to be moving there- appeared to be living in a motel at the time and later in the woods- until people did online fundraising to move her out of the area. (most recently she has been asking for money for cigarets on Facebook) She also has a record including issues regarding abuse of a child and at least one involved in the rescue situation was aware of that. Why would the Bowmans lie to the Humane Society about no one from Florida visiting? Or why would a woman with a record - who was living in a motel asking for donations for herself - lie about visiting them? Most importantly- why would those directly involved with the care and well being of Barbados take the word of someone who has a record over those of questioning the situation.. who have no records?

6. According to the Animal Control officer who visited them, the Bowmans were unaware of the claims being made.
   - As you can see... they actually were on the very thread where the claims were made and made no attempt to correct them.

At this time, I need to point out a couple of other things. Above, you have seen the bite that occurred, yet they seemed to indicate to the animal control officer who did their home check that they knew nothing of a bite history of the dog who was being sent to them. They also said they were only taking in one dog. According to one of the threads, it was stated that they had worked with Jim (the Dog House) before and had another dog pulled who was recovering from being hit by a car. So they expected that dog? And what about the other dog that they took in from the Miami area- a husky? Why would they say they were only expecting one dog when it is clear that there were more than one ... and those are the only two I have linked to them, but it appeared there may have been others.

• Sarah Leddick Jim says that he is organizing a big group of dogs to go to this rescue in Va. He is shooting for after the first which will be next week. I will breathe a big sigh of relief for Barbados once he has arrived since his life has been such hell over the past six months, if not his entire life. He deserves all the training and exercise that he will get once at the rescue! Jim says that they have an amazing compound.

  December 28, 2012 at 1:57pm · Like · 1
• 

I know this blog is getting long- but, I just need to be very clear about all of the information regarding this situation. Barbados was sent to the rescue even though I - and others pointed out many red flags. I know of another dog- a husky named Marty that was also sent. When asked about how Barbados was doing- and in response to people bringing up the subject post his being shipped off-  this was the response. Please note the screen shots are of some posts- not all. The entire threads are posted below.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/338071579626283/permalink/339379189495522/?comment_id=339380402828734&offset=0&total_comments=105

https://www.facebook.com/groups/338071579626283/permalink/345443052222469/

Those of us who had been questioning the situation were attacked- called many things- referred as Nazis, told we were causing drama, called trolls, told to pay up or shut up in regards to Barbados, I believe there was a time we were told blood was on our hands-- and as you can see- at least one concerned individual was told to apologize to the rescuers who shipped off Barbados. Now, if we had just been attacking people with no research on our part- with no concern for the dog- that would have been bad-- but, that was not the case. I also find it very interesting how those involved said they were in constant contact with the Bowmans and had pictures - yet, no pictures were ever posted to show him living the life of luxury- sleeping in their home at night- running through the woods. If they had the photos- wouldn't it have made sense to just post them if they wanted us all to be quiet?

Now one more thing I want to point out-- before I have to tell you something very very sad...

Now the irony of this is that he made this comment about me 'assuming the worst' in regards to him being too thin on February 19th. Only a few days ago, I was told through an anonymous source that Barbados is back in FL. He was found about 2 weeks ago in WV and was covered in wounds and emaciated... dumped in the woods.  I did, once again, contact the Humane Society in WV to confirm this and was told that on a body scale of 1-5 he was about a 1.5 . I - and others- have taken a lot of garbage over this. We have been ignored and called all kinds of horrible things.. and yet, we were right to have the concerns that we had. I have no idea, at this point, if Barbados is even alive. He was returned to the Florida rescue who was in WV to deliver MORE dogs to that very same rescue. The Humane Society was told they returned to FL with those dogs- and I hope to God that is true. I saw in March the transporter had made another trip to WV.

If other dogs were sent at that time, I do not know which ones and if they are safe. I am writing this now- knowing that those involved with Barbados have known what happened.. They have not said a thing about doing a DNR on the rescue and I find that APPALLING at best. I cannot truly put into words how upset I was when my fears about this situation were confirmed. This is disgusting. Red flags everywhere and ALL ignored. ALL. And Barbados suffered because of it . Let me repeat- on body scale of 1-5 he was only at a about a 1.5 when he was found. He was starved... he was emaciated.. he was covered in open wounds.

"Hi Mary,

Our sheriff's department found Barbados not too far outside of town on Rte. 50.  He was brought here and was extremely thin, prob 1.5 out of 5 on the weight scale.  He was also full of open sores.  When we scanned him, the chip came up for a rescue in FL and that's how we figured out who it was..." 

This was part of the confirmation email from the Humane Society in Parkersburg, WV.. from the director. These are also the words from the director....

"It was only about 2 weeks ago and the rescue came and got him.  They also did not drop off the dogs that they had on board for Bowman's.  So lesson learned I believe.  I know how it feels to hope, especially when you're in rescue, and I know how it feels to think with your heart.  However, it has to be balanced with head and ensuring that all is well with where you're sending the dogs.  If something sounds too good, it usually is!"

And the sad thing is - the truly sad thing is that ALL of the people involved in sending him were pointed out to MANY very OBVIOUS red flags- many lies.. and they sent. him. anyway. 

This is just part one of this story- I am working on a part two... and I can tell you things are about to get VERY interesting... if you think I have not done my own research you are in for a big surprise. But, now.. before I go on.. I want to know- where is he? Where is Barbados? Is he alive? Is he being taken care of by decent people? If he is alive .... will his next stop be in a SAFE environment this time? WHERE IS BARBADOS AND IS HE ALIVE??

Remember Your Loyalties is a series inspired by the previous post. This is - well was- Molly.

Pepe's Mortgage

At the very end of January 2012,  a small dog named Pepe entered Miami Dade Animal Services (MDAS) . His image was posted online with the group Urgent Dogs Of Miami (UDOM) who post on Facebook the thousands of dogs that find themselves in MDAS yearly. Before long, out of state rescues became interested in him and - even though it was noted that he was aggressive - he was pulled out of the shelter. A chip in was created to raise money for his boarding and journey to the rescue - stating that the out of area rescue was in NC.

"He has no voice but I'm sure he would be begging for "HELP" right now... let's get him out of that place!!" Is what it said on Pepe's initial Chip In. People gave ...believing that they were saving his life. That Chip In was dated February 6th.


On February 12th, a new Chip In came across my feed on Facebook. It was one I had not expected to see. Pepe never made it to the out of state rescue. Pepe had been left in a boarding kennel where they said he was too aggressive to handle him. While there, he was eaten alive by maggots and died after days of sitting in the kennel. Right before transport, he was finally picked up by one of the workers to be groomed and upon finding him with maggots coming out of wounds and his eyes he was finally taken to the vet. He died at the vet.

 "..His aggression was clearly documented in his file at MDAS. So much so that they were unable to vaccinate him or do a proper exam of him. If they had, they would have discovered the open wounds and treated them. He came here and was placed in a run for qt boarding while waiting for transport to his rescue in Ohio. The staff was ordered to not handle him and not go in with him as is done with all aggressive dogs for safety reasons. Pepe would not allow anyone in his run. He would charge at anyone that opened the gate. When the transporter came to pick up Pepe I took him out and with the assistance of 2 others we were giving him a bath and we discovered that he in fact had open wounds with maggots. The wounds were not noticeable because of his long matted hair...' Dog House Pompano - from this Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/338071579626283/permalink/343344972432277/

I asked MDAS about this and was told that the rescue was given full disclosure on Pepe and that he did not leave the shelter in the condition  (the maggoty condition that is).... It is also evident from his intake photo that he was in great need of basic grooming... and he was less than 20 pounds.

So the for profit took in a dog for quarantine for transport, but the dog had no shots. So how does one properly quarantine a dog with no shots? They noted that the dog had long matted hair, and said that they were able to bath him- yet, did not do so until the last day. Was the dog less aggressive on that day? Why was he bathed when the transporter arrived? Is it customary for the transporters to wait for the entire grooming process on dogs they are transporting? Why was such an aggressive dog set to be sent on a transport anyway? Why were they sending him to Ohio when the Chip In clearly stated NC? In looking up the out of state rescues mentioned in the UDOM thread and the Chip In, it looked as if he was, in fact, going to a rescue in either DC or NY. Who truly was looking after the care of Pepe? Why did the Chip Ins not even mention the local rescue and had all the donations sent to an individual in Orlando?

As you can see... this did not all set right with me. But, what upset me more about all of this is the fact that, while people were yelling about the care of animals in MDAS, they failed to say a thing about the care of Pepe. People have created online pages dedicated to outing the problems with MDAS, yet no mention of Pepe. Protests were planned against the shelter- yet, none for Pepe. Why were people so against the shelter - yet, so silent on Pepe? If Pepe had died in the shelter- certain people would call the shelter workers murders - yet, Pepe died outside of the shelter- and no one was called a murderer. For the longest time I wondered why people were so quiet on Pepe... and others.....

Like Molly .... a man in the Midwest wanted to adopt so he went on Facebook and asked for the dog. She was sent to the boarding kennel and while there, he asked on Facebook pages for pictures of her- yet, his requests were seemingly ignored. Right before she was set to be transported to him, she died. She got ahold of a buffo toad is what they said. Tragic, yet again.. no one said a thing. Had this happened in MDAS there would have been an uproar.. if for no reason other than not a single picture of her 'safe' appeared to be shared in a month according to the out of state adopter's publicly posts-  yet, no uproar- and too few people spoke up... Molly was forgotten....

No protests erupted over Molly and the lack of photos. As you can see, he appeared to be asking for a 
month. Why did no one speak out about Molly and Pepe? Why only when things happen at MDAS? But, Pepe and Molly were not the only ones.... 

Muttsie was yet another dog taken out of the shelter and placed into boarding. He sat in a kennel for days - he had a broken pelvis and later died. The rescue who allowed those with the kennel to pull him never seemed to appear. Someone had come on a Facebook thread and offered to foster while he was in MDAS- yet- it was very obvious that there were potential issues with the foster- mainly a weight limit with their HOA. He was still pulled and put into boarding and needed medical care immediately- and did not get it. As with the others, it appears the rescue was MIA. People seemed to be paying directly to the for profit kennel- or to some woman in Orlando for some the dogs like Pepe- but, why? If a rescue was involved in each case- they would have been a non profit- most likely a 501c3- a tax deduction to a donor.. but, the money was not being sent to a non profit in each case.. it was sent to a for profit kennel or an individual. There also appeared to be no adoption papers filled out for each.  

Of course, I would be remiss if I were to fail to mention the many dogs stuck in boarding - like Max. Max, I have been told, has been at the kennel for a year or more. In a kennel that whole time. I do not even have a clue as to what rescue he is under... he just sits everyday waiting to be saved.. being warehoused. 

The above screenshot is from the page Help Diddy and Max get out of boarding https://www.facebook.com/groups/355324047906479/ 

If you have read my blog, you would see past stories with dogs pulled and placed into the kennel that ended up stuck or in difficult situations due to people just pulling them and boarding them without truly checking who they were going to. I even found dogs sent through this kennel rescue method that were sent to a woman named Shirley Barnes. She was in trouble for her dog attacking a toddler- and ordered to have no dogs in her county. Yet, Miami dogs were pulled- put into the same boarding kennel that Pepe had been in - and sent to her. I verified that she still has one when I asked her recently... other dogs were sent to a place called Critter Cover and ended up needing to be re saved- and, I was told, at least one was dumped in another shelter and killed. Many times I have seen a rescue being played out online using the same kennel "call the Dog House" people would be told.. and too many times- when I looked up the rescue- there was often times no real record of one. Often times nothing listed with the state they said they were in- no listings on reputable adoption promotion sites. Anyway.. I could go on.. the problem is that bad rescue is happening- dogs are repeatedly put into the kennel- and situations like what happened to Pepe and Max are occurring.. yet, no one is screaming about it- like they would be if it were a public shelter.. there may be a reason.  

Not too long ago, I was told something very interesting. I was told to look into the public records on the kennel in Broward County. What I found was that in 2011 a non profit called No Kill Nation loaned the kennel the amount of $254,146.75. It is in the public records as it is set up as a mortgage.

https://officialrecords.broward.org/oncoreV2/showdetails.aspx?id=50731749&rn=2&pi=0&ref=search 



Now, in case you do not know, No Kill Nation is a an advocacy group that exists to change shelters to 'no kill' shelters. They often post many anti HSUS, PETA, and ASPCA things on their Facebook page and believe that the number of animals dying in shelters rests solely on the shoulders of the shelters alone. They do not believe in overpopulation and seem to have a hard time with the idea of an irresponsible public when it comes to animals. 


In 2012 they worked to pass a bill called the Florida Animal Rescue Act. Basically, the bill stated that it "would make it illegal for a shelter to kill an animal when a qualified non-profit rescue organization is willing to save that animal."That seems like a totally wonderful thing- until you think about Pepe .. and the mortgage. See Pepe was taken out by a qualified rescue- the fundraising was done by an individual in Orlando - the funds going to her personal paypal account- according to the chip in Pepe was to be sent to a rescue in NC- however, the woman linked to NC was someone who ran a boarding kennel for dogs out of shelters that were to be sent to rescues in her area- and remember, the dog house thought the dog was going to Ohio. On top of that, the rescue named on the second chip in was Rural Dog Rescue which looks to be in DC- and in the initial UDOM thread there was also a mention of a rescue involved that is in NY. So if FARA HAD passed any dog would have to legally be handed over to the 'qualified' rescue and then what? Currently there are little to no regulations regarding rescues. Shelters keep track of intake and euthanasia/ adoptions/ etc. Yet, rescues have no real legal obligation to do so. FARA would have required shelters to hand dogs and cats over to them with no provision to increase funding for a department to oversea and regulate rescues. Since there is no real regulation, most anyone can open a Facebook page and declare themselves a rescue - and if FARA had passed- like NKN wanted- the shelters would have to hand the animals over.. and .. as is show above... this is not always in the animal's best interest. If those behind FARA truly wanted to help the animals- they would have written a better proposal... thinking harm only occurs behind the walls of a shelter is highly short sighted. 

What is even more interesting is that the group No Kill Nation spends a large amount of time working to bring down the big advocacy groups like the ASPCA. Often times citing their large intake in donations and how they are not supporting local rescues. Yet, No Kill Nation decided not to help out local rescues to the tune of 250k plus.. they loaned it to a for profit kennel. That amount could have funded Austin's Pets Alive bottle program for a year- it would have covered the pull fees for well over 8,000 animals from MDAS for rescues - it could have helped spay and neuter thousands of dogs and cats in Broward County's Spot Spay and Neuter program - or paid for more than half a years cost to run the Delaware spay and neuter program - over 8,000 bags of food could have been bought to help rescues or people who leave their animals at shelters due to an inability to feed them.. it could have been used for things like that- but, it was not. 

Now.. one could argue that No Kill Nation was not privy to the irresponsible rescue that has been occurring by way of the for profit boarding kennel. However, once I posted the mortgage on Facebook the president of No Kill Nation- Debi Day-  posted on her own page - publicly- that she loaned the money to the kennel due to 90 plus dogs that were in trouble in the place. 90 plus dogs that - many- had been abandoned by their rescue. Now... here brings up another issue.. No Kill Nation firmly believes that there is no overpopulation problem and that there is a home for every animal- that the shelters are failures for not finding those homes. Yet, the non profit had to used over $250k to help keep 90 plus dogs from going back to the shelter- yet, if there truly is a home for every dog- then why were 90 plus dogs even stuck in a kennel? And- since she claims she is against long term boarding then why not speak up to the kennel to get it stopped? Why not speak out publicly about the situation - it was happening very clearly on Facebook- anyone could see it- it did NOT stop with that group of dogs. She helped loan them a large sum of money- one would think that they would listen to her. If her claim is correct that she does not like irresponsible rescue- then why attack shelters - yet silence on Pepe.. and Molly.. and Muttsie? And furthermore, another woman who runs No Kill Nation is also running a rescue - why did that rescue not take over? Is it because they also have dogs who have been warehoused for extended periods of time? Does this all indicate a crack in their theory that there is home for every animal and overpopulation does not exist? 

Another strange thing that popped up when I posted the mortgage connection was that this ....

So that just leaves me wondering- if Debi truly DOES fund the non profit 98% - then why did she loan the money to the for profit kennel through the non profit and not a personal loan by herself? Why allow the non profit to take the risk? Does this also help explain why NKN is so often attacking large groups like the HSUS and telling people not to donate? Because they cannot get many true donations themselves? Of course no one wants animals being killed in shelters- I sure as shit do not- but, if it is true that one person is having to fund the majority of the non profit- does that not indicate that money is a problem when it comes to truly saving lives? It takes a lot of money- people want animals safe- but, to what extent will they go to fund it all - safely? 

But, what was really eye opening to me was what else was posted when I revealed the mortgage connection. It made me realize why people knew about the connection yet were afraid to speak up. It made me understand why I had been told by people about a dogs stuck in boarding from time to time and how they didn't really want their name out as being someone who spoke up. I understand now. People may have not wanted an issue such as Pepe coming to light- the connection to NKN to be seen- especially when something like FARA was trying to work itself into law. What happens when someone speaks up is this... 

This was posted set to public- remember- this is the head of No Kill Nation- her page. So, I now understand why some people may not have wanted to speak up about things- how they didn't want to make a big deal about Pepe.. how they did not want the mortgage connection to be known... because, this is the result. She has made it very clear about what happens to those who speak up. 

For the record, I do have ripped clothing- jeans. I bought them that way.. I never said I was a fashionista. But, the crazy thing about them trying to make me feel bad about ripped clothing is this- I was wearing those jeans on one of my last trips to MDAS. I was there to save a life- a very special life.. I will write about that one soon.. but, I was there saving a life- and they were there taking note of what I wore. In addition, when their tirade was posted, I could not respond 1. because I am blocked by Debi- even though it is set to public, I could not even see this to defend myself. I was given the screen shots by multiple people who saw it. 2. If I had been able to see it- I could not have responded anyway.. see, while they were attacking me in the style of an angry junior high girl, I was helping save lives. I was doing a transport that day.. and one of the dogs.. I walked him out of the Broward County shelter that day.. he clung to my legs as I walked- terrified. He is now safe.. from a shelter in the county that NKN resides in .. that has many animals euthanized. I helped save one life that day in the county of NKN- while the head of NKN went on Facebook and called me a pea brain. 

But, before I forget.. I am artist.. this is all about art to me- that is why the blog exists. Pepe is the first in my new series called Remember Your Loyalties. It is about the complex world of animal welfare and rescue.. and is about those who lose sight- of what we should all be concerned with.. that is of not just getting dogs and cats out of shelters- but, getting them to safety- true safety.... art is not always meant to be pretty.. but, I honestly never thought.. when I began this project.. that those who I thought were the heros would, at times, be the biggest failures... I will keep doing what I do.. call me all the names you want.. I have not forgotten my loyalties.. I am just sorry.. that .. so many have. 

Just a couple of great dogs I met at the shelter on my last visit. The digital pieces that I post take so much longer to do than straight photos- so I am not able to make work for all the animals I meet- and that stinks. This time was especially hard since my laptop is sick and I have had a hard time working on them. Hopefully, I can get some more done soon though. The two above- GREAT dogs! Both are overlooked and under appreciated for how awesome they are. I will offer prints to the adopters who adopt them right out of the Collier shelter (now wording on the print)

Grief

When I first saw the news about the school shooting in CT, I was sitting in the courtyard at the public library watching children play around a fountain. The weather was perfect. I had checked CNN as I always do - I obsessively check the news when I am online. They said there was a shooting and I was upset reading that. I hoped that it was just some idiot who shot himself.. I hoped that if anyone else was shot that they would be ok. But, as we all know that was not the case.

I have taught art to elementary students before .. and I really enjoyed it. The kids were so amazing- so full of the belief that life is something to be enjoyed. Sometimes they ate crayons and there was some nose picking.. but, for the most part.. they were the coolest people I knew. I remember one day a young student ran up to me "Miss Mary! Miss Mary! I need to tell you something." He had to tell me about a song he had just learned  - a new song that he was sure that I had never heard before and that had my name in it called Miss Mary Mack.. and of course, I pretended it was the first time I had ever heard it. One time I talked to the kindergarteners about Da Vinci and how he was not only an artist, but also an inventor. I had them draw inventions .. some drew rainbow machines... one made a homework doing machine .. and there were a few magical pets and flying cars. One child drew a whole bunch of faces- each one the same and they all had glasses on. I asked him to tell me about the invention he was drawing and I was told they were magic glasses and the reason there were so many drawings is that there were so many types of magic in the glasses.

After watching the non stop news coverage of the shooting I just kept thinking back to the students that I taught.. and I could not fathom an entire class being murdered ... or even one. I cannot wrap my head around the kind of monster that would do what that monster did.

Today I was once again checking the news.. sitting in the same courtyard I sat in when I first heard the news..  and I came across one obituary. I want to share this one, because if you read this blog you most likely have interest and love animals... and you have something in common with a little 6 year old named Catherine Violet Hubbard.

"Catherine Violet Hubbard Catherine Violet Hubbard, 6, born June 8, 2006, died December 14, during the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Her older brother, Frederick William; her parents Matthew and Jennifer; her grandparents Susan and Leo Sullivan and her great-grandmother Geraldine Russell Holden, all of West Chester, Penn.; Nancy and Earl Hubbard of Chatham, Mass.; and four uncles, four aunts, and nine cousins survive Catherine. She will be remembered for her passion of animals and constant smile. Her family prays that she, all the students of Sandy Hook Elementary, and all those affected by this brutal event find peace in their hearts. A wake is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19, from 4 to 7 pm, at St. Rose of Lima Church, 46 Church Hill Road, Newtown. A funeral Mass is scheduled for Thursday, December 20, at 10 am, at St Rose. Interment will follow the Mass, in St Rose Cemetery, Cherry Street, Sandy Hook. In lieu of flowers the family is requesting donations be made to the Newtown Animal Center, PO Box 475, Newtown CT 06470. The Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown, is in care of arrangements. The Newtown Bee                 Posted December 16, 2012"

The above is taken from the local paper the Newtown Bee their local paper. If you want a way to honor her you can give a donation in her name to the animal group in Newtown. It appears that it is a small volunteer group who works with fosters and has no physical shelter. I am sure that they can use any help that can be given to them to continue their work.. and I know that the family will appreciate anyone giving in the honor of their lost daughter.

 http://www.theanimalcenter.org/

"She had a passion for animals and a constant smile." 

Bianca - the tale of a dog no one wants

Bianca had been to the shelter before. When I saw her post on the Urgent Dogs of Miami's (UDOM) Facebook page, it was in April and on the thread it was stated that she had already been at Miami Dade Animal Services (MDAS) 7 times before. In April she was adopted and in July she was already back at the shelter. Many dogs have the unfortunate experience of being returned to the shelter or of escaping and never being picked up by their owners. My own dog Beula Jenkins is a return and I know that the shelter is seeking ways to help alleviate their return rate. However, Bianca is a fairly unusual case in the high number of times that she has found herself back in the kennels of MDAS. Bianca was once again taken from the shelter in July- this time by a rescue, yet her life is not truly safe. Months after her rescue, Bianca is in limbo and needing help finding a quality rescue or adopter who can properly care for her. 

In the UDOM thread in July it was stated by an individual in PA that she wanted Bianca. The woman wanting her was several states away and saw the dog posted online and wanted to help her. She did this based solely on a picture. Another individual, also in another state (NC), was working to help get Bianca out of the shelter and transported to the adopted in PA. Neither of the women involved had met Bianca in person - they wanted to help her and were doing so based only on seeing her picture online and reading her story on social media. They were moved by her plight and wanted to do something to save her. 

Bianca's intake photo as taken from a screen shot on the posting site. You can see the original link by posting here. 

Bianca was pulled from the shelter by an approved rescue. An approved rescue is one who has met certain guidelines set forth by the shelter in order to take dogs from the MDAS and into their rescue. Rescues are able to take dogs at a discounted rate and the dogs and cats are given their shots, micro chipped and spayed or neutered. Bianca was rescued by one of the rescue groups and sent to a boarding kennel. I do not know if the rescue ever did any checking on the adopter of Bianca. I have no idea if there was ever an application done or a reference or home check done. What I do know is that the person in PA who initially wanted Bianca changed her mind and months later, Bianca was still in boarding. On September 3rd, I wrote about dogs in boarding and included Bianca's link to UDOM along with several other dogs left in boarding for extended periods of time. Not too long after that, she was sent to an adopter who did not want her because someone had told her Dogos are hypoallergenic (and they are not). She was then flown up to the woman in NC who had initially been helping the PA adopter. The NC individual was working as a foster- but, it has not worked out and Bianca needs help again.

An email first fell into my mailbox saying that Bianca was in need of a real rescue or would be taken to a shelter weeks after her being sent to NC - and later on other messages stated that her life was in danger. I decided then that I should give her some attention on here to tell her story.. and in doing so.. I reached out to the foster in NC. She referred me to her boyfriend, Jeff, and the following information I have been given is from him. Also please note- all photos from this point have been provided to me from the foster. All rights to them remain the property of the fosters. 

According to Jeff, Bianca was in boarding for nine weeks after being pulled from MDAS in July. There had been a flight to send her to the woman in PA early on, but it was cancelled and before a new flight was set to go she changed her mind about wanting Bianca. During the nine week stay in boarding, Jeff and his girlfriend Jill had a contact in Miami who was to go to help walk and care for Bianca. I was also told that when Bianca was taken into the boarding kennel she weighed about 75 pounds and for some reason there was a possible spay surgery on her- that simply showed that she was already spayed. (This concerns me since anyone working with the shelter would have known she was already spayed- but, I do not know all of the details on this)  Finally, an adopter was found to take her. The adopter was in Ocala- a few hours away- and she took her in on a Tuesday - that following Saturday Bianca was being sent on a flight with Pilots N Paws to NC. The Ocala adopter has allergies and was under the mistaken belief that Dogos are hypoallergenic - they are not… and Bianca may be part Dogo, but is not a full breed.

In September, Bianca finally reached NC to the home of the woman Jill (who had initially seen her online and wanted to help) and her boyfriend.  They happily took her into their home. After 9 weeks in boarding, it appeared that she had lost weight- about 12 pounds. She also arrived with urine stains on her rear end and at least one tick was discovered on her by the pilot who flew her in. As mentioned previously, it was stated to me that they had contact with someone in the Miami area to check on her while in boarding.. so I am unclear as to why the local helper did not do more to address the weight and cleanliness issue.. I have no idea who the person was.. and if they did bring it up to the boarding kennel - why it was not addressed and if so what if anything was done about it. That being said the doctor who gave the evaluation for her to travel gave her a perfect score of 5 on her body score prior to her leaving. The photo below does not appear to show her with ribs protruding, so I am not certain about what her body score would have been given had another vet asses her right upon arrival. You can see yellowing on her back legs and tail. 

Bianca arriving in NC after her flight. 

The couple has a basset hound named Melody and they appeared to get along the beginning. Bianca is a person loving dog more than a dog loving dog. They had taken her to the dog park and tried her there, but when surrounded by a large number of dogs she growled and the other dog owners did not want to see her back at the park. However, with her foster family she has been very eager to please. She needed some extra work with house training, but the foster understood since Bianca had spent so much time in kennels. At first she would actually go on the cement sidewalks instead of the grass since she was not used to going outside in the grass at all. She was not even used to sleeping in a bed and would sleep on the hardwood for the first few nights instead of the comfy dog bed they had gotten for her since she was not used to comfort. 

Bianca got along fine with Melody the fosters' basset hound at first. 

Initially, there appeared to be no dog aggression. 

Bianca and the fosters' dog Melody. 

I was told she knows basic commands and sill sit and has very good eye contact. Her foster says that she is good at the table and does not beg or whine. They say she has no food aggression and loves to be touched, takes treat gently, does well in the car, is crate trained at night, is not a barker and will sit patiently to be leashed and does not pull when walked. She also loves to run and I was told "My God, can she run! She gallops like a horse."

Bianca showing how well she knows 'sit" with her foster parent. 

She had arrived in NC from Florida in September and in October there were a few possible adopters. One of the potential adopters sounded great, but would not submit to a home visit or give the name of their vet. Another did not get a good reference from their vet and the rest fell apart for one reason or another. Finally, they were put in touch with a rescue out of state in Colorado who was going to be able to help take Bianca. As they were setting up the legs of her transport across the country, some very unfortunate incidents occurred and the offer from the rescue was removed.

Bianca enjoying a car ride. I have been told she does very well in the car. 

Bianca began to have issues with other dogs. The first incident was involving an unleashed dog who came running to her and that dog was bitten requiring a trip to the dog ER. After that, there were three incidents involving the fosters’ own dog Melody one of which required stitches for the basset.

Unable to keep Bianca in their home due to the issues with their own dog, they turned to a trainer who took her into a training facility where she is currently in Sanford, NC. The program is a 5 week program and ends this coming Friday 12-14. Once the program is up, there is nowhere for her to go. She cannot go into the home and there have been attempts to place her in rescues that the fosters are familiar with, but due to the dog aggression they have not been successful in finding one to take her.

The foster has told me she is very people oriented- she just needs to be the only dog. 

The foster tells me she is very affectionate and eager to please her people. 

Bianca thinks she is a lap dog. 

Bianca needs help – she needs a home with NO dogs or other pets and one that will know to keep her away from other animals. She is very people motivated and has appeared to do well in training. The foster said she has not shown any issues with children, but feels with her size and dog issues, it would be best to place her into a home with none. Bianca is loving and playful with people and needs a home that can give her a safe environment to live. She is only about 2 years old. Keep in mind, in her short life she has had very little stability.

Bianca relaxing in the home of her foster. She just needs someone who can give her a stable life for once- one where she is the only dog and one where her people will commit to her for life. Most of her life has been spent living in kennels- sleeping on cement floors with no or little bedding. It would be a wonderful thing to see her have her own chair one day in a safe and solid home. 

As of now, I was told by the foster that they have spent a massive amount of money on her between boarding, training, vet work and transporting. They just cannot do it any longer. They have tried – but, without being able to take her back into their home they are asking for a rescue to come forward or an adopter to take her. If she does not find a home, the outcome will not be good. If you can help please contact the fosters at If anyone out there has any leads/ideas for Bianca, please contact either Jill Fuller at jmflu@nc.rr.com (919-559-3352) or Jeff at jeffhmiller@nc.rr.com (919-607-2782). They are in Cary, NC.

Please keep in mind that when working to help dogs/cats using social media that it is imperative to work with a quality rescue. It is also very important to remember that a picture can only tell so much. I know this 100% - since I take pictures of shelter animals. A picture will NEVER tell you if the dog or cat will be a good fit- you must either go and meet them or have a quality rescue do a proper assessment. I have many fantastic pictures that I have taken of dogs in the shelters.. and I never posted them due to the dog having known issues.. because, I was afraid of this type of situation. A big heart can only go so far. A big heart can easily lead to an empty bank account without a proper rescue to support a foster. 

If you can help Bianca, please contact the foster family.. they need help NOW- Bianca needs help NOW.