Being There For Joey

I'm back from beautiful San Francisco and Los Angeles, where I traveled for a week for work. While in San Fran I had the pleasure of meeting a newly adopted female black and white pitbull, when I stopped in a pet store for a bone for Renaldo. A woman had adopted the pit from a shelter (and certain death) only five days before. What a sweetie! She was playing with toys in the store, picking out what Mommy was going to buy her. Pitbulls love squeak toys. I cautioned her not to put her dog with little dogs just yet, or even ever. I'm not a fan of pits with little dogs or kids, that is, unless they are raised together and the dog was a puppy or a very young one. I know a lot of pitbull fans probably will think that's an apostasy but 'thems the breaks.' It isn't that the dogs are bad (I love them, and leave in 45 minutes to go walk the babies at Yonkers Animal Shelter) but when they do bite, that bite is catastrophic. My personal feeling is that they are best suited (unless adopted young or as a puppy) by a single person, a couple, or a parent with an older kid. I say this while knowing of numerous families that have kids and pits, and I'm glad those work out. Were it my kid, I would not mix them. There are so many single people, so many childless couples that make suitable homes, and then get the love and companionship that comes from an extremely loyal and silly dog, that that seems the best route to me. They are wonderful animals, but one must exercise caution at all times when putting any dog with kids. Kids do kid things -- running, squeaking, shouting, sometimes crying, and some of these can be triggers for an already unsure dog, especially when left alone with a child.  And then there are the dogs that were never trained to not play-bite (something you can do with some dogs but should never consider doing with a pit!) and they don't know their own strength; this can escalate quickly into a bad situation. So the chance of catastrophy, while maybe not as likely as being in a car accident, is there and it normally ends badly for everyone involved.

While in San Fran, I spotted three other pits who were walking with cool looking people in the city. SF has a tendancy to be a politically correct (ha!) and folks there are pushing back against anti-pitbull forces. Good, they are beautiful and loving dogs and deserve homes.

Anyway, I scan the news for interesting stories all the time, and some I post here. This one happened back here in New York City, and I'm glad Joey is with a group that cares about him now. This kind of neglect is unnecessary, and cruel.  Mange can be treated easily enough; it's just a long treatment.

The heroes of this story are Picasso Veterinary Fund

and the

New York Police Department.

In case you don't know who Picasso Veterinary Fund is, here's a quote from their site:

Traditionally, animals with extreme medical needs who are taken in by animal control shelters are euthanized because the funds needed to pay for extensive surgeries and other expensive treatment just haven't been available. But many of these animals would make wonderful, loving pets if only they had access to the medical treatment they need. The Picasso Veterinary Fund was created to give these animals the second chances they deserve. By paying for medical treatment that otherwise would not be available to them, the Fund is saving lives that in the past would have been lost.

And this is the story about Joey, who is now doing well, also from their site:

When NYPD officers found Joey tied up to a bench at a beach in Far Rockaway on a cold February morning, he was more than a sight for sore eyes; he was the picture of the shameful result of neglect, to the point of abuse, that someone had perpetrated against this calm young dog.

Malnourished at 48 pounds and suffering from a horrific case of demodectic mange that had advanced to the point where it ruptured his hair follicles, the year-and-a-half old Pit mix also suffers from a bacterial skin infection secondary to the mange that involves three different types of bacteria. He also has a deep wound on his front left leg.

Here's the full story:

http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/picasso/scrapbook/joey.php

I would encourage support of this great group. Non profits are hard hit these days and even small gifts matter.

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xoxo (Thanks to Picasso Veterinary Fund and the New York Police Department -- truly NY's finest).