Guest Blogger, Kelli, tells us why she is so passionate about one of the most misunderstood breed of dogs:
My best friend died August 7, 2012. Her name was Angel. She was a 15 year old pitbull that stood by my side through thick and thin since she was 3 months old. To honor Angel, I became an advocate for Pinups for Pitbulls and heavily involved dog rescue. Angel changed my life in so many ways mostly by teaching me unconditional love, to stand your ground and to just keep pushing through. If I can change one animal’s life or one person’s view of the pitbull terrier, I feel like I will have made Angel proud.
Perhaps the best rescue I have become involved with is Pick Your Paw. Pick Your Paw Animal Rescue is a small, grassroots network of 10 to 12 animal lovers working together to rehabilitate 6 to 10 rescued dogs at a time. We pull dogs from both local kill-shelters, the New York City Animal Care and Control’s nightly “To Be Destroyed” List, and Miami-Dade Animal Services “To Be Destroyed” List. We are committed to providing spay/neuter, all appropriate medical treatment, foster homes/kenneling, training, socializing for every dog who enters Pick Your Paw Animal Rescue.
Pick Your Paw makes a lifetime commitment to each dog. Education of the adopter and general public are vital components of our program as we work to end the ease with which people give up on, and ‘throw away’ their family pets. Each dog that exits a shelter, a surrendering home, or a transport vehicle, hears the same whispered words, “You are safe. You will not be hurt again. We will find your home, I promise you.”
We are volunteers, ages 18 to 50, with families, children, jobs, pets of our own, college coursework and crushing demands on our time, who CHOOSE to spend our time in the company of “thrown away” dogs to fulfill our promise to them. We are really, really tired, and our houses are a little chewed. But it’s okay. We are sleepless with worry over the abused pit bull, an exhausted foster, or a deaf dog that can’t seem to find his place in the world. We are walking and feeding in awful weather, early on Sunday morning while you sleep. We are the people who struggle to maintain our poise when someone tells us they have purchased a pet store puppy. Then, we are the people who try to explain why. We are those who call each other to share our amazing pride when a NYC basement puppy shows signs of understanding how to live in a family, or when a starved dog finally accepts food from a hand, or when our children say they want to be rescuers too. We are hopeful that the next generation will be kinder to animals than our own, and we are raising compassionate children who understand that there is a “line” of puppies waiting for their family to find them, and that the line is too long. They are willing to share their Mom’s time with strangers and their homes with pitbulls that need to “feel love” because life has been more than unkind to them.
3 MILLION dogs are put to sleep every year. Adopt, don’t shop. If you can’t adopt, foster. If you can’t foster, donate. If you can’t donate, volunteer. If you can’t volunteer, educate. You will never regret it.
Please visit http://www.pinupsforpitbulls.org and http://www.pickyourpaw.org to see how you can help!
I am hosting a PYP Fundraiser this FRIDAY November 21st at The Theatre Bar in Asbury Park. $10 ticket gets you a full buffet! Cash bar, Chinese auction with so many prizes I could not list them all as well as a 50/50. Come out for a great time and let’s save some lives!
kristicoronato.com 