BAD RAP Blog

In case you didn't know, the BAD RAP Blog is about the pit bulls rescued from Michael Vick's dogfighting operation.  The contributers chronicle the dogs' recovery and adoption as well as general news on dogfighting and animal welfare.

The just recently had a very moving post about a California summer camp who incorporated the children's book Saving Audie into their activities.  After reading the book, a 12-year-old girl wrote the following essay (copied verbatim) from the dog's point of view.  It's one of the most moving pieces I've ever read:

    Bang. Loud rambicios roudy yells of the tall gangely men and and some stalky staring down at me there faces hard looking me agressively in the eye I backed against the side of the pen and a surging sting quivering through my body as I was shunted forward a single word forming on my owners lips on who broke me one who beat me all feeling pulsing in my head the wall of sound behind me "fight".
    He mouthed the dog opposite me head lolling in confusion but behined the bared teeth I saw a spark only for a split second it read a single word love. and behined the bared teeth I looked into the dogs sole it was there a kind loving other being. A dark shadow crossed his face a hurt tortured look. And the fight began. I closed my eyes.
    I woke up some time later how much time had passed I didn't know it could be weeks or months or years. But the pain was behined me of the fight. But it was still with me it had formed me in the deepest part of my broken heart. A worker dressed in a uniform passed by shooting me a sorrow filled glance and I flashed back in my mind to that terrible place.
    Pressing myself against the cinder block wall crumpling in a corner. I wanted to float away like a balloon drifting further and further awy from this place of misery and hurt. Then suddenly a heavy metal door opened and soft warm loving eyes met mine she didn't look at me like I was a monster or a terror and she opened her hands in a frindly gesture and suddenly the cinder block wall felt cold so on shaking quivering legs I got up and walked toward a new life.

Here's hoping some teacher or other adult is helping that girl in her writing...so that the insight and the talent she's shown here won't be wasted in the future.

Shelter Stories: Rudy

I’ve mentioned before I volunteer at a no-kill animal shelter about 20 miles from here.  It serves both as a last resort for local kill shelters (a lot of times we get dogs whose time has run out somewhere else) and as the place where city authorities send strays.

It’s an unfortunate location for such a wonderful place.  The shelter sits at the end of a long dirt road, through a trailer park and in between a waste water treatment plant and the city’s compost dump…there’s some kind of burning or churning going on pretty much all the time.

As a volunteer, my main job is to come in at least three mornings a week and walk as many dogs as I can.  Our dogs get at least one mile twice per day (morning and evening), depending on their size, health and the weather.  Short-haired dogs get shorter walks in winter; dogs with thick coats get shorter walks in the summer heat.

Since I don’t have a job or classes to get to, I also spend some time just hanging out with the dogs.  If they’re very active (maybe a hunting dog or a border collie) we’ll go out into the fenced run and play fetch.  If they’re sick (we have a lab mix recovering from heartworm treatment right now) we cuddle.  If they’re damaged and frightened (which happens too frequently) I’ll just sit with them in their pens, speaking softly and maybe tossing them treats.

Last summer we got a 5-year-old shepherd mix that’d been confiscated from his abusive owner.  We called him Rudy.  He spent the first two weeks completely still in the corner of his pen, curled as tightly as he could be.  It was as though he was deciding if he wanted to live or die.

He didn’t like to be touched but wasn’t aggressive, so we’d brush him and stroke him and spray him with fly ointment (they’re merciless in the summer months) every day.  Eventually he got used to our presence even if he didn’t want it.

Rudy got friendly with another dog at the shelter, a three-year-old yellow lab called Teddy.  Rudy hated to be leashed (every time he was put on a lead he’d immediately crawl into his doggie igloo and refuse to budge) but one of the staff found out he’d stay with Teddy while on a walk.  The first day I saw him out in the world with Teddy, romping and smiling a dog smile, I thought I’d cry.

As the months went by Rudy eventually got more confident.  He’s still very timid, but he actually gets excited to see some of the volunteers.  Yesterday we had a major breakthrough: he walked on a leash, by himself, with his favorite staffer!  The whole shelter was abuzz J

This means he’ll soon be available for a “special” adoption, one where the adopter is informed of the dog’s unique issues and extra care is taken with his placement.  Rudy will need a devoted, patient and gentle owner who will take the time to gain his trust and affection.

But until he meets that owner and heads off to his "furever" family, Rudy will have a loving home with us at the shelter.