Just saying...

PLEASE give my fellow canines a chance to have a  home.  There are so many of them waiting to inherit a loving family in a safe and forever home. Look at me--I could not ask for a better mama and dad.

Please know that any dog you think about rescuing is a 10-15 plus years’ commitment. Of course there are many older dogs that need homes too.  No pup wants to be returned to the shelter, so please give it lots of consideration before you visit a shelter and get a dog’s hope up. 

Here is a story that I overheard Mama telling the other day. She stopped to talk to an older man when she was out for her daily walk. (I wasn’t with her because of my situation with my sore paws so I had to stoop to eavesdropping.) The man was walking a beautiful champagne-color pit bull. Mama commented on how gorgeous his dog was. (I am sure she didn’t mean that dog was more gorgeous than me). Anyway, the man said he was caring for his daughter's dog while she worked in a vet's office. He said she actually saved the dog from death.

The dog’s owner brought the 3 year old to the office to be KILLED! Oh my God, can you imagine? The horrible owner said he purchased the dog during Covid so he wouldn't be alone while the world was on lockdown and now he didn’t want the dog anymore. (I can’t imagine anyone wanting this man!) The lady at the office couldn’t believe he would do such a thing. (Yikes, I can’t stop panting just recalling the story. What is wrong with some humans?) Let me get back on track…the kind women convinced the man to sign the dog over to her and that is how the champagne-color dog was rescued from death. What a wonderful women who not only saved a dog but opened her heart and home to the gorgeous dog.

I beg you to rescue, not purchase from a pet store. Whatever you do choose, please give it tons of thought and make sure you are ready for a long commitment. Once you agree to take a dog into your home you will not be disappointed and you are guaranteed not to be alone!

Woof, woof, till later,

Zoey Elizabeth

 

Another cousin

 Hi everyone, I have another cousin who lives in the same state as I do. Meet Tobi, who is a pretty rescue dog from the Popcorn Zoo in Forked River. Mama found her on FB and told Jim to check her out. He did and now Tobi has a very good home with Jim. She loves her comfy pillow and she has toys to play with when she feels like playing. Most importantly, she has Jim to love her. Welcome Tobi to the family!

Woof, woof, till later, 

Zoey Elizabeth

Checkout the Facebook page that is dedicated to promoting the animals available for adoption at AHS/Popcorn Park Zoo & Animal Shelter located in Forked River, NJ. They are part of Associated Humane Societies, which was founded in 1906 and is the largest animal rescue in NJ.
1 Humane Way, Forked River, NJ 08731
https://www.ahscares.org/Contentpage/169

Tattooed Humans

Moving Photos Of Rescued Dogs 

And Their Tattooed Humans 

Remind Us To Ditch Stereotypes

The Huffington Post / By Arin Greenwood

A couple of years ago, Nashville, Tennessee-based photographer Brian Batista started taking pictures of rescue dogs with tattooed humans -- and not just because they look decidedly awesome together.

He'd started "seeing the correlation" between how people treat homeless animals -- especially those whose heads have a certain kind of blocky shape -- and how they treat folks who sport a lot of ink.

"Some of the things people would say when they would see a heavily tattooed person walking with a pit bull for example were just absolutely ridiculous," says Batista. "They would have memorial tattoos of family members, art they loved, tattoos that tell stories of their lives and be walking with the happiest dogs you have ever seen. And people would yell at them saying 'That dog is a killer! Stay away from my family!'"

Batista, on the other hand, sees something different: He sees people who want to help these animals so much, they literally wear that love on their sleeve -- or sometimes on other parts of their bodies:

Richard Burgess with his foster puppy Major, who'd been badly injured in a dog attack. Major is now living in Alabama "with a pit bull brother and sister, and two human siblings, and he is a very happy dog," says Batista, who plans to take some updated pics of the pup with his family.

 Photo credit: Brian Batista

In the 2 1/2 years since the Tattoos & Rescues series got started, Batista -- who has a couple of rescue pups of his own but, a little ironically, no tattoos -- hasn't run out of dogs or humans to shoot. Goals for 2015 include putting out a book and expanding his model lineup to include cats, birds, reptiles and other non-canines.

His first shoot of the year, all that said, is of a gorgeous pit bull named Lilly, who was recently named the 2015 face of Pit Bull Advocates of the United States, with her adoptive dad Steve Lawrence.

Lilly's loving, inked humans became dog advocates soon after adopting Lilly and discovering the world of prejudice surrounding their wiggling, affectionate bundle of love. Lawrence's wife, Misty, tells The Huffington Post that the smack of this prejudice came along with some harsh criticism she'd already encountered as part of an interracial couple.

Misty says she loves the photos -- and only in part because they help make a statement against the various kinds of hostilities her family encounters.

"I feel like they really show the love between a man and his dog," she says.

Steve Lawrence with Lilly, who was adopted from Nashville's city shelter about a year after the shelter's ban on adopting out pits was lifted. Photo credit: Brian Batista

Lilly and her family, and the other dogs and families like them, were, and continue to be, Batista's inspiration.

"There are so many misunderstood breeds of dogs that are killed simply because of how they look, not how they act. That is wrong. It’s also wrong to judge a person or animal based on appearance alone. It’s bullying, plain and simple," says Batista. "I think that is the pure essence of what animals that need rescue are trying to say. If they could speak in any human language they would say 'Hey! What happens to us is not right!'

"But since they don’t have the ability to speak how we communicate then it’s up to us to listen to them, how they communicate."

"Jeremy tattooing my fiancee’s arm while Mathilda holds her hand is definitely a proud moment for me because Mathilda reached out to do that, sort of like she knew getting a tattoo made her nervous," says Batista. 

Photo credit: Brian Batista

Check out more of Brian Batista's Tattoos & Rescues photo series on his website, where you can also find information about buying prints of the pictures.

And get in touch at arin.greenwood@huffingtonpost.com if you have an animal story to share!

See more from the Tattoos & Rescues photo series on Brian Batista's website

http://www.brimanphoto.com/

Check out more of Brian Batista's Tattoos & Rescues photo series on his website, where you can also find information about buying prints of the pictures.