The recent Animal People News editorial, “More adoptions will not end shelter killing of pit bulls,” offers much food for thought for those facing the dilemma of so many unwanted pits. : http:// http://www.animalpeoplenews. org/anp/2011/11/19/editorial-the-shelter-killing-of-pit- bulls/

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A few days later my husband had to go out of town for a while. The nights turned off cold again, and I just could not let that dog stay outside, even though he had a warm house (one we had bought for an outside cat who adopted us.)

I opened the door and he eagerly trotted inside. My elderly cocker spaniel seemed to like him just fine and he recognized she was boss. And he didn’t chase our 2 inside cats, so all was good so far. He walked straight into the bedroom, jumped up on the bed, and made himself at home.

As I got into bed and turned out the light, I had one fleeting moment of thinking “OK well this could end badly. He could attack me or one of the animals during the night.” And then he did something which made me know it would be OK.

He put his head on my husband’s pillow, put his paw over on me, and let out a big sigh. And I knew. He was mine. Forever.

From Max I learned more about love and gratitude. He was simply the most loving animal I’ve ever had in my life. I was able to feel the love from him every single day he was with me, for over a decade.

I rescued a basset which I came to dearly love ans the day after Christmas he was ran over after being taken off by some neighborhood kids. He was taken to the local shelter and because of it being new years eve weekend they put him to sleep because he had a broke leg. To say the least me and my kids was crushed. Freckles was around a year or so old when he died.

So as any mom would do I went to find another one because my girls was crushed.
I looked all over could find one then I found a lady at the time that was a breeder well I didnt pay much attention to that because I at the time didnt know better .So I go look at the pups and out of 10 puppies she had one little red and white boy. She told me he wasn’t fosale and I offered her more money like a dummy. So finally after seeing me holding the pup with tears in my eyes she agreed and we left with our new dog.

I had just lost my job the best one I ever had due to illness and so I bonded with the new pup. He slept with me every night he was the best dog ever. I named this dog Babyboy
there is a reason behind the name that I have never told publicly but he was like my child..

We all grew to love this dog he was with me through my darkest time in life and words cant explain it but the bond will never be broke but on a beautiful summer day I was busy and I hear a nkock at my door .My neighbor and her mom had come to speak to me and they asked do you have a basset. I could tell something wasen’t right by the way they was looking at me and I said sure I do and I called my boy. Hear Babyboy and as I looked around my head flew back to look at their face and the woman said to me
your dog is hurt you need to come now.

I knew there was something she wanted to say but couldnt and later on I found out why.I rushed out my door in a panic my worst fear came true that day my baby has went out the door for the first time ever and I thought had been hit by a car.
I fell to the street and took him in my arms screaming to God “Why” why did you take him like he was a human had I lost my mind? No I was in shock ! So I looked over his lifeless body as a croud stood around me and I see no blood no injures I’m thinking what in the Hell is going on then I see a small hole in his back.

This is so hard to write but then I completely lose it screaming who did this I will kill you as the shooter stood before me and I never knew at that moment he did this. I was completely in shock.
I think at that very moment everything that had gone wrong in my life that I had bottled up finally hit me .

So they pick me up off the road and my husband made me get in the truck as he carried our dog to the tail gate. I was screaming call the police I know who did this ,I know who did this and hes going to jail now,

The gunman at first lied to police and hid all his guns finally a few days later he admitted he did it .

He was never charged in the shooting my guess was because I’m from a small town and he was kin to the chief.

A lawsuit was filed but eventually the case had to be settled and so with out naming names or why Ill leave it at that but I was so mad trust me at my attorney and the world my town and the chief.

After 2 long years of trying to get justice for babyboy I wanted to make a difference a impact to help homeless and abandoned animals so thats what I did .

I learned how to create memorials for animals that had passed you can view them here
http://www.facebook.com/MemorialAngelKeepsakePortraitsThis was a way to help other grieving pet owners heal from their loss.
Along with doing that I have been a advocate by posting for animals by making awareness videos .I also made a blog where I posted info to help others after their animal had been shot and killed like ours.

Today I’m healing but the pain of that day will haunt me until I die.

In 2010 I created a cause on facebook that today has over **********160,000 members *******”Its called Turn FB Purple For A Week To Raise Awareness Against Animal Abuse”
Link http://www.causes.com/causes/533852-turn-facebook-purple-for-1-week-to-raise-awareness-against-animal-abuse

At the beginning if this year I decided to use my cause to help other animals in a way to remember our dogs life.
So I came up with a idea to raise funds for hounds across America .As of the month of Jan. 2012 I raised over 950.00 for two rescues one in Tennessee and one in my state of Alabama. I also raised 360.00 over night because of a recent case where 200 animals had been left for dead.

I never in a million years would have thought my story would have effected so many for the good I just never dreamed it.

I’m sorry my story is long but there was no way just to tell you parts of it. Thank you and to all that may not think they can change anything if you just believe in your cause you can move many mountains.

In Memory Of a dog dearly loved
Babyboy

The roly poly little puppies slept soundly snuggled together against their mother’s warm side. Suddenly the cold light of dawn struck them as the door to the shed was opened. As the puppies blinked at the sudden disturbance, rough hands dragged them away from their mother and dropped them, crying, into a stinking sack, reeking with the odour of fear from previous occupants. The sack was then tossed into the back of a ramshackle three wheeled truck amidst the bags of potatoes, cabbages and other ‘produce’ for market. Then they were bounced from side to side, barely able to breathe in the stench of diesel as the truck drove to the village. When the bouncing stopped their sack was lifted out and the string untied as the same rough hands reached in and put them inside a small cage. There they sat, sad and scared, exposed to the beating sun and with a sign on their cage that read “Puppy meat for sale, soft and sweet” . From time to time customers would come and look closely at them; sometimes the rough hands would lift one out and allow a shopper to poke and prod to see how much fat was on them. Sometimes one of these people would give the farmer some money and take the puppy away in a bag until all but one of the puppies were gone, and he was really scared.

But then a different kind of person came who did not poke or prod but bent down and talked softly to the one remaining puppy who responded by edging closer to the bars of the cage and sticking out a tiny tongue to be touched by the kind person, who quickly gave the farmer money and took the puppy in her arms and held him so close he immediately felt warm and safe and that made him think of his mum, especially as he could detect the regular bump of a heartbeat beat against his cheek.

A few months after a difficult breakup, (the end result of which meant losing my two dogs, and finding myself in a new city for the first time ever), my heart was aching for that canine connection. As I’d walk down the street, I stared longingly at all the dogs and their people, so happy and active, bouncing through life together.

On one particular August day, my partner Joseph and I were walking down Queen Street, a flurry of activity going around us (kids covered in the sticky juice of melted popsicles, the smell of french fries and beer on a perfect patio day, you get the idea). And like most days, we were walking to the local alternative grocery store for some meal inspiration. While we both tended to remark at dogs in the street (the vegan version of ‘stopping and smelling the roses’), my eyes were in overdrive, feeling extremely lonely for my own dogs, seeing them in the faces and movements of every dog we passed.

How I missed seeing her, I don’t know, but Joseph suddenly turned, pointed across the street and said “Oh my god! Is that not the most beautiful dog you’ve ever seen?” As soon as I met her gaze, I was instantly under her spell. Tied by a little pink leash to one of the posts of a patio fence, staring at us with that look we’ve grown to love more than anything, was sweet, unsure, little Sophie.

Grocery shopping was a blur, as it became a mere technicality to get out of the way before we could cross the street and go pet her. Upon finishing, we ran across the road like two children, and immediately I fell to my knees to pet and nuzzle her. She leaned into me almost instantly, and despite her nervous eyes, I knew she could sense that I was not a threat to her, and she looked right at us, her expressive eyebrows telling us non-verbally that things were not all right. Just as I was accepting that we were likely making her human companions nervous with our intense attention, it hit me that I had no idea who or where they were, as no one seemed to notice our interactions. Before I could say anything to Joseph, a voice came from over the patio and said “Do you want her?”

Time stopped. It really did. At first I thought the woman (whom the voice belonged to) was joking. I stood up and smiled. But she asked us again. Turns out Sophie had been living informally at the doggy daycare where this woman worked for over half a year, that her former owner was on his way to jail, and that they were desperate to find a home for her. Out of desperation, employees of the kennel passed her around from home to home so she didn’t have to spend every night in the daycare alone (from 9PM to 8AM).

The short of it is though, we decided to go walk her a couple of times. While we admitted later that both of us had already committed to bringing her home in our hearts, for the purposes of being responsible, and to ensure to the other person that we weren’t impulsive when it came to adopting an animal, we had lengthy discussions about ‘getting to know her a bit’, and helping her find a home even if we determined we weren’t yet ready for the commitment.

Upon arriving at the daycare the next day, various employees warned us of how Sophie didn’t like walks, that she was even ‘impossible’ to walk on a leash and that she had spent the majority of her 4 years on Earth tied to her former companion’s front porch and thus could be nervous with strangers and certain dogs. I simply didn’t ‘see’ that when I looked at her. Instead I saw a beautiful sweetheart with a lifetime of reasons to not trust people, who, given the right opportunities and a lot of support, would become a happy dog.

I noted immediately that one of the women who knew the most about her history, when giving us a ‘tutorial’ in walking her, tugged at the leash, tried to drag her along the sidewalk, and was clearly not at all attuned to what would have been good for Sophie. Luckily for Sophie, I’d brought a harness, which I’ve had good success with before when walking dogs who are new to leashes. As soon as the woman left, we put it on her, and I was not at all surprised by the immediate transformation.

It turns out that Sophie loves to be walked. Lives for it, actually (go figure, a dog who loves a walk). These people had simply not given her the opportunity to walk in a way that didn’t terrify and upset her.
On this walk, we noticed that she looked like she had energy to burn! At just under 40 pounds, she had such a spring in her step and the sweetest little gait– but we wanted to see her run! Because it was late in the summer, schools were empty and by extension, so were the fenced-in play areas. We found one and once we secured the perimeter, we took off her leash and tried to toss a ball around. What she did was, and forever will be one, of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced.

Instead of chasing the ball, Sophie began running laps, frantically bouncing and springing through the air, almost like a deer. She was running full speed, barking excitedly, wagging her tail every time she’d stop on a dime for a split second. It is something I can only describe as pure joy and excitement. She was running as though she’d never ever run before. And the likelihood was that she hadn’t. Tied to a porch, with little to no walks, and then living in a kennel where no one walked her because she was ‘impossible’, it all indicated we were witnessing Sophie running freely, for maybe the very first time. By the time she stopped, which was only about a minute or two later since her lungs were pretty weak from lack of exercise, we had eyes absolutely full of tears.

Within days she was home to us, and we haven’t left her side since. Every day her and Joseph head down to the beach and she chases her ball, and plays with other dogs. And here is the most magical part of Sophie’s story– she is now by far the fastest dog on the beach. People constantly stop and remark at her speed. Every time someone comments, I want to tell them it’s that she had 4 years of pent up excitement and frustration and that she is letting it OUT! Watching her run is as cathartic as it is inspiring.

As for what Sophie taught me about me, the easiest way to explain it is that she showed me that our environment and our circumstance don’t have to be the way we define ourselves. The things that happen to you, aren’t you. I had a great many difficulties growing up, and watching Sophie run for the first time, and watching her (now) confident occupation of our couch, bed, and the heart of every person whose met her, reminds me that what happened to me isn’t me. I am, in my own way, doing my very own version of running joyously– I am a resilient animal who feels increasingly so each day. I am happy and well and in love with the work I commit myself to, and this truth proves wrong all the things people said would be “impossible” for me. They were wrong about me, just like they were wrong about Sophie.

We were mourning the loss of our magnificent Monster; a Blue and Gold Macaw. It was so intense and devastating, akin to when my husband died. There was so much pain in my heart. Every day was a struggle, and I really did not know how to cope with the loss of Monster.

One day I was on Craigslist, and saw and ad for a Pot-Bellied piglet. The person posting had gone to an Amish farm to buy a puppy ( ) and saw a boy walking with a shotgun. She inquired as to what he was doing. “Going to shoot a piglet.” he replied. It turns out that this tiny piglet was injured by her mother, and since they didn’t believe that they would make any money from her, they were going to end her life. The woman paid them 20.00 to spare the piglet’s life, and took her away from the farm. She knew she could not keep her, and placed the ad.

With the help of my son, we contacted her, and made plans to meet. I spoke with my boyfriend about it, and he agreed to see her, and evaluate how bad the injury was. We have never shared our home with a pig before, and had no idea how to care for one.

I think it was two or three days before the meeting, and I was anxious the entire time. I was afraid that she would change her mind, or that maybe the piglet was too badly injured to survive.

Finally-it was time to meet. We got to the meeting point early, and anxiously watched each car pull in, hoping it was her. After what seemed to be hours (and was, in fact, only about 15 minutes) a woman got out of a car with a tiny bundle wrapped in a blanket.

We walked over to her, and I could see the little nose disc, and hear little grunts. The woman asked if we wanted to see the injury, and we said no-we will take her home and take care of her.

When we got home, we unwrapped her and put her on the floor. She had a long scar, and missing hair above the base of her tail. She got along on three legs, but the back left was pulled up to her stomach. There was feeling in it, but she didn’t use it.

With lots of physical therapy, and playing with her best friend Puppa ( a JRT mix), Fern ( named after Fern from Charlotte’s Web) has 99% use of her leg, and is a happy, healthy, 100 pound pigaloo.

Fern has touched my heart in so many ways. Her intelligence, and sense of humor amazes me every day. Her motto of “I’m a pig, and I do what I want!” brings me joy. She has helped my heart heal, I I think most importantly, is that she has changed this life-long meat eater into a vegetarian, working on the ultimate goal of being vegan.

Although I have always said that I love animals, I still always ate them. If fern had not come into my life, I would still be doing the same. I’d ignore those videos of factory farming, I’d never have even heard of Toronto Pig Save, I’d never have even considered being the voice for pigs where I made my home now. In my 46 years, she has been the creature that has truly opened my eyes to the plight of not only pigs, but farm creatures everywhere, and I do believe Fernlet has made me a better person.

Here is my first blog post:
“Welcome to the ForFinnegan website. As the name implies, this site was inspired by and is dedicated to my wonderful, amazing dog – Finnegan Doodle. He is the most adorable 5-year old Goldendoodle who has more personality and life in him than I could ever put into words.

He has inspired me in many ways – to live in the moment, to love with enthusiasm, and to laugh and smile as often as possible. More importantly, however, Finney has inspired me to embrace and commit to living a life dedicated to supporting and advancing vegan ideals and principles. There are, of course, other motivations behind this life choice; but when I look at my puppy – who has not a ounce of anything but love and sweetness inside of him, who only wants to play, and cuddle, and behave ridiculously silly – I feel absolutely compelled to fight for the other innocent animals in this world, who are not so lucky as to lead a life of leisure and contentment like my Finnegan.

At this point, you are probably thinking I am some crazy person, completely obsessed with her dog (which is an assumption that I really cannot argue with), but hear me out. An initial love for my dog blossomed into a strong foundation upon which I can justify my vegan lifestyle, a foundation built not only on a sentimental love and empathy for all animals, but on years of dedicated, impartial research, an undergraduate degree in environmental ethics, and a vegan lifestyle that has allowed me to personally experience the internal and external health benefits of a vegan diet.

So while I may post a bunch of unbelievably cute pictures of my puppy (I mean really, can you believe how cute this dog is??), this website is not about Finnegan or my love for him; rather, it is about sharing some of the the knowledge I have gained along the way in my studies and that I continue to learn as I try to live each day as ethically and conscientiously as I possibly can.

This is a place to learn, contribute, and discuss. So welcome, I hope that we can all achieve these goals together.”

Hopefully that sums up what an extraordinary impact Finney has made on my life. While I became a vegan for many reasons, my pup is a daily reminder of the infinite goodness within ALL animals and serves as a constant impetus to get off my butt and do something – anything – to help animals.

In September 2011, I quit my job in finance in order to dedicate myself full time to just that. So thank you Finney, you are quite an inspiration

My first buddy was a beagle named Pal. My family had Pal from when I was 1 until I was 19. That dog was my best friend, my baby, my brother, my secret keeper, the shoulder I cried all my little kid & teenage angst tears on. When he passed away I felt like my world came crashing around me. I was away at college & no one in my family told me he was sick nor that he needed to be put down. When I came home to visit a few weeks later and asked where my favorite guy was the whole story came out. I felt broken & like a piece of my heart was missing. Pal taught me about unending love, friendship, and that animals feel & love just the same as we do. He taught me to love every creature, big or small, slobbery or not, furry or not. He will forever be my best pal.

The little guy that helped ease the pain of losing Pal was a little beagle boy that we named Petey. He was the runt of his litter, scared, chewed up by his big brothers & sisters. He hid behind the couch in my parent’s living room when they brought him home. My baby brother & I laid on the floor for 3 hours with our arms stretched out under that couch so he could smell us & get used to us & learn that we would be patient & kind. He only trusted us 2 for the first few weeks. He taught me love is patient. That everyone deserves a chance. That fear from bullying is not okay, that only love & kindness can help erase those hurts. And that with patience you can earn a true & devoted friend. I live 3000 miles away from Petey now but every time I come back to visit home he is the most excited to see me & snuggles me extra hard. He is still one of my best buddies.

My final pup is my little bear Colonel Mustard. My fiancee & I rescued Colonel 1.5 years ago. He was to be euthanized at one of the county’s animal control facilities here in LA. I knew I was ready to be a mama (to a puppy at least!) & I thought that sticking with beagles (as I knew how to care for them) would be the best way I could help give a dog who needed it a good life. This little guy was underweight & quite sick. I took one look at him, called out Colonel, & he walked over to me-I knew that minute that he was mine & I was his. I ran to the office & let them know that I was taking that little man home with me. We got him healthy & full of food & snuggles! Along the way he really has taught me how to be a mama. He has re-taught me patience (beagle-terrier mixes can sure test that!). He has reminded me to laugh & play & snuggle & pounce & love a little more each day. He has taught me how fiercely protective I am. He has taught me how much I want to share my home & heart with any animal that needs a forever home.

These 3 guys have made me the woman I am today. They have helped me realize how connected all creatures on this planet are. They have made me switch to a kinder & friendlier way of thinking, eating, & living.I am happy to be a green, organic, & vegan gal (what my brothers affectionately have referred to as my hippie-fication). These pups have have shown me trust, loss, friendship, frustration, pride, and most importantly love. To these 3 I am forever indebted & I cannot imagine my life without all of them. My utmost gratitude to them for all their lessons in the past, the present, and the future.

Nearly ten years ago I was in Kenya for work. We were in a small village in the Rift Valley. There was a celebration held for an auspicious occasion and my colleagues and I were guests of honor. Early in the day an elder from the community brought a goat to the site of the celebration – a true demonstration of generosity. The goat was presented and subsequently killed and boiled. That evening, we were offered the goat for dinner. To refuse it would have been an affront (or so I told myself?) Essentially I met a goat, shook his hand then ate him. I became a vegetarian the next day.

Eight years later I became a dietary vegan. One year later, while skimming the webpage of WFAS I clicked “goats” and met Clover through a charming video. I immediately clicked “donate” and I am now a monthly sponsor of Clover.

And what clicked for me? I’m no longer a dietary vegan. I became vegetarian because of a goat. I remain vegan because of a goat.