Skiing and Coffee and Animals, Oh My!

Well, it's no secret that I'm not the biggest fan of skiing, 4.5 years of staring at fungal toenails in a ski boot shop and the person attached telling you what a big deal they are will do that to you. However, I am an athlete, and as such, I can certainly appreciate the coolness of the sport at the Olympic level. I for one have watched just about every Olympic sport playing on my new flat screen 42" high def TV nightly from Vancouver. I'm hooked.

Of all things, I think I enjoyed the mogul skiing almost the best. I was blown away at the springy-ness of the competitors legs and the cool tricks they throw down in the middle of their ski run. Wow. And, I was super psyched for the genuine good energy that Shannon Bahrke had after her bronze medal win. I loved her free spirit, her pink hair, and her family cheering her on. Then I found out she is living here in Salt Lake City. How cool is that?! Then, on top of all of that, I learned that Shannon is a huge supporter of Best Friends! Not only that, but she has her own coffee company- AND, that she has several bags of Best Friends Blend. With each bag, Shannon donates $5 to the Sanctuary. A rippin' skier, a coffee connoisseur, and an animal lover and philanthropist? That's my kinda girl.

Shannon also supports other athletes by having different Athlete Blends that feature the them and they all designate their favorite charities. Shannon then donates $1 to their charity of choice, then a dollar goes towards helping the athletes fund their Olympic dreams. Rad sauce.

Thank you Shannon for supporting the animals and your community!

Updates

Wow, I have been really busy, which means blogging is suffering. My trip to Kanab was productive yet brief. I enjoyed three wonderful nights with my Tina Louise(y) Wheezy, and met a ton of my new coworkers. The one thing I can say about working for Best Friends is that everyone is so passionate, and loves what they do, including me. Everyone works so hard, and it's evident in the creativity and programs that we have. It's very inspiring.

I wasn't in Kanab but two days, when I was called to help with a heartbreaking rescue project out of state. I'm still really not at liberty to discuss the details of this rescue. I can say that Arkansas, and Missouri (well, and a lot of places), have notoriously weak animal cruelty laws. I will enlighten my faithful readers more when the details of this rescue come out for the public. I learned alot, I was glad to go, I would go again, though the outcomes were disappointing. It strengthens our resolve to do more and get tougher laws to protect animals from abuse and neglect. We had a very good team and a wonderful volunteer network in place and seeing that come together was very inspiring.

In other news, Honey started her hydrotherapy. It was so cool, and she loved her hydro tech Wilma. We will go weekly and I think this will help Honey's recovery tremendously.

For my out of state readers, have you heard that Salt Lake City is the most polluted in the nation right now? We have all been breathing a brown soupy cloud for weeks now. Nothing was more evident that flying through the brown cloud on my way home last week. Inversion sucks! There will be a critical mass transit this week in the City to protest our terrible air quality. Uck.

Hope you are all well.

A New Chapter

Well, this morning I leave for Kanab to start the training for my new job with Best Friends, I'm really excited and nervous all at once. Good thing I'll have the best cuddle bug ever (Tina Louise) to help me relax tonight:

I've been putting all of my energy into getting my workspace ready, and I love the finished product. We sold our futon to make way, now the (WO)man room will be relocated downstairs. This is cool because we'll get a REAL couch and a TV! I've sworn off TV for the last 10-15 years, but screw it. I want a flat screen with Bose surround, High Def, and cable! I'm getting old and I want some serious American excess. Haha!

Here's the couch options, what do you all think?

Pits and Perception Art Show

Please join one of Best Friend's founding members and wonderful artist, Cyrus Mejia for a reception and art show entitled Pits and Perceptions running from 12/18-1/30/10.

This is an incredible collection of paintings featuring some of the Vic(k)tory Dogs and other pitties from the Sanctuary. You can visit Cyrus' website here:

http://cyrusmejia.com/art/pits-and-perception

This show has traveled the country and is finally stopping in Salt Lake! Please come to the reception and be sure to stop by while the exhibit is up!

I am truly honored to have a digital display of my photography featuring some of my favorite dogs at the Sanctuary that will be up during the exhibit. Please come to the opening and support the show, the dogs, and me!

Pinups for Pups Event

This is going to be sooo cool and really fun! Pinups for Pups is a great group that does all kinds of unique fundraisers to help animals in need. Details to come, but please save the date for October 27th at Club Bliss in Salt Lake City. Please, put this on your Facebook or other social media outlets to help promote attendance! I will be there representing the Salt Lake County Pit Crew and Best Friends Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will hopefully even have a few adoptable ambassadogs there for foster and adoption!


Halloween themed event--Oct 27th

6 :00 Doors open.
6:30 Fashion Show with Models from the “Voodoo Darling’s” local talent and adoptable dogs .
6:45 Interlude & Music setup -“Best Friend’s “animal sanctuary and Local Rescue Groups speak.
7:00 Singer/Songwriter: Nicole “kole”
7:30 Singer/Songwriter : “Melody with Tyler Forsberg
8:00 Singer /Songwriter : Ashlee Dickson
8:30 Singer/Songwriter : “Alicia Mcgovern



Music will finish by 9:30-10 p.m. thereafter, participants can mingle and pose for photographers until 11 p.m at culmination.

“The Depot” will be promoted as the major sponsor of this event with: “Pinup’s for Pups”

The participants are volunteer’s and the proceeds will be donated to local animal rescue’s in partnership with Best Friends Animal Society. The aim is to create an environment to educate and unify the community in support of local animal groups . We promote awareness; people want to be involved, many just don’t know how.

A table will be set up to dispense materials to attendees on fostering programs, adoption and how each person can make a difference. There will not be a fee to attend the event in hopes of encouraging more to come out. This is a method we have found successful in other markets to get people in the door. At the event we have girls walking around encouraging donations throughout the evening.

Sondra Shannon (Pinups for Pups ) has arranged ‘star clad’ fashion events in Los Angeles , Nicole Christensen (Summer Jam West) event promotion and planning , Deena Marie (women of a thousand faces) in media, and Jennifer Tarasevich (voodoo box, and the voodoo darlings) production. All these reputable ladies have joined in support of this great cause with confidence of it’s success and passion for the cause.

Thank you for your support, this will be fun!

Super Adoption Success

These are some pics from the Fall Super Adoption, and our first annual Salt Lake County Pit Crew Tent. This is an exciting collaboration between Salt Lake County shelter and Best Friends Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog Campaign. During the three day event we adopted out about 45 animals, about 10 of which were pit bulls! In total, I believe close to 400 animals were adopted out between all of the shelters and rescues that attended the event.

Special thanks to No More Homeless Pets in Utah for organizing and hosting this wonderful event twice a year, it's a tremendous effort and none of this would be possible without them. Thank you NMHP!!

Salt Lake County Animal Shelter Unveils New Bully Program

Meet some of the new adoptables in the progressive new Bully Program over at SLCO. This program offers the opportunity for volunteers to pair with an adoptable pittie or pittie mix to obtain the AKC Canine Good Citizen Certificate. Additionally, it provides FREE spay and neuters to pitties and pittie mixes in the County, as well as low cost Canine Good Citizen training for all pitties and mixes in the County. The goal of this program is to address the disproportionate numbers of pitties in the shelters which would also reduce the disproportionately high euthanasia rates for pitties.

Best Friends will be supporting and collaborating on the program with it's Pit Bulls: Saving America's Dog campaign. I will be a volunteer extrordinaire and photog, and am hoping this program is a huge success. As always, these programs rely on YOU, faithful readers to volunteer, donate, foster, whatever you can do!

 

 

 

 

Meet from the top: Ziggy, Zip, Lewis, Lilly- ALL ADOPTABLE

Photos by Yours Truly

Michael Vick is Released from Prison

Yesterday, disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick left prison after serving 19 months for dogfighting. He will serve two more months at home, and has apparently offered to work with youth through the Humane Society to educate others about dog fighting. Hmmm...the irony there being that the HSUS wanted to euthanize all of the dogs that were seized.

Well, as you all can imagine, I'm not in the group of people that feel MV deserves a second chance.

The silver lining is that many of the wonderful dogs that were taken from his hellhole, were given a second chance, and they are thriving. Several have become therapy dogs, been adopted to good homes, are in foster care, or are living their days at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab.

I'd love to hear from you, I have posted a poll on the right sidebar. Vote, and tell me why you chose your answer here in the comments.

Saving America's Dog

This video that just posted by Best Friends is simply beautiful. It's only about 2 minutes, please watch it if you have two minutes to spare.

The True Story of a Beautiful Spotted Princess- Best Friends Blog Part 2

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess dog named China who lived in an amazing place called Best Friends where all princess dogs are given an unlimited amount of love and care. When China was a young puppy, she found herself in the middle of a big hurricane in Louisiana, like many other dogs who live at Best Friends. It was a very scary time, but China never dwells on this experience, it is after all, what brought her to the magical place called Best Friends.








I first laid eyes on China on the world wide web, and when I saw her beautiful, majestic white body and her perfect right eye patch, I knew that I must meet her when I came to Best Friends. In the weeks leading up to my visit, I got some phone calls that there was going to be a big, very important meeting, and all of the people who work at Best Friends were going to be gone the afternoon of my arrival. They told me that I wouldn't be able to volunteer after all that day, and that I also probably wouldn't be able to take a special dog on an outing or sleepover. I was soooo disappointed, but then a guardian angel named Fredi who works in the volunteer office pulled some strings, and I got permission to pick up a very deserving doggie for an extended outing and sleepover. They asked me who I would like to take. Now, there is no shortage of beautiful princess dogs at Best Friends, but the sweet China was beckoning me, and she was a bit of an enigma, for no one could stop her from moving so fast long enough to take more pictures of her that didn't look like a white streaky blurr.






So, China it was, and my husband and I set off to Amra's to meet this mysterious girl. Along the way, I met two other very special people that I have as my pen pals on the world wide web, McKenzie and Kathy. They, along with Amy, take very special care of all the prince and princess dogs at Amra's.

When we picked China up, I was immediately smitten. For she was so beautiful in person. She looked like the kind of princess doggies that are in movies, and on greeting cards. And, she was so happy to meet us too! It seems that China has a few quirks, shall we say, like ocasionally having an accident in the car, or nibbling on some magical brown pellets on the ground, but she didn't want her outing to be anything less than perfect, so a perfect angel she was.

First we went into town and walked down the main street. There were so many interesting things to see there, you could tell that it was all very unfamiliar. We even saw a mailbox, and for some reason, China was a little nervous. But, China is such a strong girl, and she really trusts her people, because she looked to us for confidence, and we just kept on moving. She showed that mailbox who was boss. We stopped for a smoothie, and all of the people said, 'Wow, what a beautiful girl,' and they stopped to pet her. She really loved all of the attention, and wanted to meet new people.



Then we went hiking to the Great Sand Dunes, where China showed us her Olympic running and jumping skills. She would love so much to have a person that would do more agility and hiking with her! She also has an amazing gift for catching flying snowballs, and then we would sit in the sand, and she would come over and bestow some magical princess doggie kisses on our cheeks. We had the whole place to ouselves, it was a serene, bluebird, beautiful day. China also wanted to show us how she can hurdle the little cattle fences, she leaped up like a gazelle and gracefully landed on the other side.



Later we stopped at a scenic view for more pictures and we all enjoyed the view. China saw a little boy, and she was so very interested in this new creature. We didn't stop to say 'hi' though because China is a very strong princess doggie, and she didn't want to accidentally knock him over when she really just meant to give a hug and kiss.



We picked up dinner in town, and went back to the room. China was pretty tired and very relaxed at this point. She even slept in the car the whole way back! When we arrived, she headed right for the big fluffy bed so she could relax with a nice belly rub and some squeaky toys. We worked on taking toys gently, and she aced this little training with ease. We even worked on her 'leave it' with treats, because her caregivers have really been working on this. She was a perfect A+++ student! She was so mellow and just kind of relaxed and kicked back with her toys. She loved it when we laid with her, and we rubbed her belly, ears, and back, while she just lavished it all. Every know and then, she would gaze up and give us a loving round of kisses. I gave China a pretty pink bandana, and you can tell, she knows she looks beautiful. Everyone who sees her with her new outfit can't help but say how pretty she looks.



I was sad to say goodbye to China that morning, but on Sunday, I went back to her run and Kathy, Adam and I took her into the exercise run so we could play one last time. She is a perfect princess girl, who is so ready for a loving home. I absolutely love and adore her, and I will be thinking of her everyday until I can see her again.

China was a beautiful, mellow girl. She slept all night, very content, and in the morning, she didn't want to wake up. We spent an hour just cuddling and snuggling, and she seemed like there was no place on earth she would rather be. And at that moment, there was no other place on Earth that we wanted to be either.



For many more pictures of China, and the rest of the beautiful dogs of Best Friends, go here:

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Another Great Weekend at Best Friends and the Story of Tina Louise

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful striped pit bull named Tina Louise. She found herself in the midst of a hurricane down in Louisiana when she was just two years old. Some people tried to help her, so they brought her all the way to Santa Cruz, California to the SPCA. The nice people there said that she was a very sweet girl, but she was having big problems with other dogs. So they called a place named Best Friends, and Tina Louise made the long journey to Utah.







I first saw Tina Louise on the world wide web. I fell in love with her smile and knew we must meet. When I took my first trip to Best Friends in November of 2008, I met Jeanne and Robin, volunteers extrordinaire. I told them I wanted to meet the stripey dog with the ten million megawatt smile named Tina Louise, and they were ecstatic, because not many people asked about her. That is when we took our first walk together. I made a promise to Tina Louise that I would take her on a sleepover when I returned. For no one had EVER taken Tina Louise on a sleepover in her couple of years at Best Friends.

I tried to get back to Best Friends over New Years, but had many roadblocks in the way. I cried so hard when my trip fell through, because my spirit needed it so badly. But, I knew I'd make it soon. When I did finally arrive back at the Lodges, I immediately asked one of her caregivers if I could spend the night with Tina Louise. She wasn't sure if Tina Louise was on the sleepover list, and for a while there, our night together hung in the balance. When I finally go the go-ahead, Jeanne and I hugged and jumped up and down. We were to drive up that afternoon, right up to Tina Louise's run, to pick her up, because she can't even walk down the road of Dogtown without getting upset.



Tina Louise jumped right into our car, then crawled up into my lap, showering me with kisses and love. I had to push her gently back into the backseat and encourage her to stay there until the car stopped, that we would have lots of time to cuddle once we arrived. On the car ride into town to pick up food, Tina Louise looked contentedly out the window. She seemed to really be taking in the view. I think she loved the red cliffs, and all of the pretty scrubby trees. When I got out of the car, she jumped into my passenger seat to shower my husband Adam with love, as if to say, finally the car stopped, now we can cuddle!

When I got back in the car, it was as if we had been separated far too long, her tail wagged furiously, wagging a swath so wide, she hit herself on her sides! She showered me with affection.

Once back in the room, she jumped right onto the bed. She looked into my eyes, crawled into my arms, and smiled her trademark grin. She looked at me with so much love and happiness, as if to say "thank you so much for choosing me, I've waited so long to spend a night with you, and I can't believe someone finally picked me!"

Tina Louise army crawled in whatever direction we happened to be in the room, and if we went to sit with her, she immediately crawled right into our lap, so happy to be held.

After we ate dinner, the three of us went on a walk. Tina Louise was very curious, but anytime we stopped, she would run back into our arms to get a hug and a kiss. Then we would trod on our way. She was very curious about the deer, but she responded well when we told her to keep moving.

Before bed, she was so content. Every time we touched her, her heart began to pound, and she would pant with excitement. She finally fell asleep between us, on her back and into contented sleep. At around 6 am, I stirred slightly, and rolled over and put my hand on her chest. I must have hit the cuddle switch because she immediately started nuzzling and kissing me and almost crushed me with her love. She was so gentle with all of the treats I bestowed on her, and when I gave her a little rawhide chewy, she let me stick my fingers in her mouth without a peep. I kissed her face, her ears, and even picked her up and she didn't mind any excuse to be touched.

I can't say enough about Tina Louise. I think she has a bit of a 'wild child' reputation, and living in the very last run at the Lodges with a red collar dog limits her exposure to volunteers. But Tina Louise is the most loving and affectionate dog I have ever met. She is bursting at the seems with love and happiness, and she would relish and love the opportunity to spend any time with a volunteer, especially a sleepover. I do think Tina Louise would love children, however she doesn't realize her power when she crawls into your arms to cuddle. Tina Louise would make someone the perfect, loyal, devoted affectionate dog, and she would be forever grateful to have a person to love and call her own.

Please, go meet Tina Louise, take her on a sleepover or outing and get her away from the hustle and bustle of Dogtown, and see what a truly amazing girl she is.

I love Neko Case

Aside from her hypnotic voice and badass lyrics, she is donating $5 to Best Friends per blog post of her new song and one dollar per download of the song (free to you to download!). If you are a blogger, please consider adding this link to your blog.

Please go here to listen and download:

Here is the original post at antilabelblog.com:

The promotion will run from January 13 to February 3, 2009. Five dollars will be donated for every blog post and one dollar for every user of iLike that adds the song to his/her profile. Details and instructions after the break.





People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Best Friends Animal Society is one of America’s foremost animal rescue organizations. Founded in 1984, Best Friends advances nationwide animal welfare initiatives by working with shelter and rescue groups around the country. On any given day Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the nation’s largest facility for abused, abandoned and special needs companion animals located in southwestern Utah, is home to approximately 2,000 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals. The society also publishes Best Friends magazine, the nation’s largest general interest, pet-related magazine with approximately 300,000 subscribers. For more information, visit www.bestfriends.org.



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How do I post on my blog?
Every time a blog reposts “People Got A Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case, we will donate five dollars to the Best Friends Foundation. Here’s how to participate:

There are two ways ANTI will know you reposted the track. If your blog is currently being registered in Google Blog Search, Technorati, The Hype Machine or Elbo.ws, we will automatically be able to find it. If not, please email newmedia@epitaph.com with your blog post information and we will be sure to add you to the list of participating donors.

To find out if your blog has made it on the list, please visit www.antilabelblog.com and see the list of participating blogs on the left hand column under “Neko Case: Blog For Charity.” There you can also find available assets to help you with your post.

Post any of the following links to your blog

People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

How do I Ilike “People Got A Lotta Nerve”

Ilike “People Got A Lotta Nerve” by Neko Case and we will automatically donate a dollar on your behalf to Best Friends Foundation. Here’s how to do it:



1) Go To Neko Case’s Ilike profile here
2) Select “People Got A Lotta Nerve” under Featured Songs
3) Click “Ilike” in between Album and Send

Additional Artist Assets:
Myspace | Imeem | Ilike

Angel's Rest

Angel's Rest

Our Cabin- the far right unit

At the gift shop with Tiggs and Adam

On Tour

The Angel Village Cafe

Best Friends- An Overview

Nicole- probably a 'bait dog' from a dogfighting ring (she is not one of the Vicktory dogs).

Best Friends is located in Kanab, Utah, in Angel Canyon. The sanctuary is home to many animals, including horses, kitties, over 500 dogs, pot bellied pigs, birds and more. BF has gotten a lot of publicity in the past year because they took in Micheal Vick's 22 pit bulls that were rescued from his hellish dogfighting compound. Renamed the Vicktory Dogs, BF has been profiled on the National Geographic series Dogtown, which is the name of the areas that house most of the dogs living at BF.

BF was started in the 70's by a group of 25 friends who felt there were animals that needed another chance in life, and they got some money together to purchase some land where they could create a heaven on earth for animals that were deemed unadoptable, or unworthy to others. Since then, they have become the largest no-kill sanctuary in the country, if not the world. They were on the ground for Hurricane Katrina, the bombings of Lebanon, the streets of Bosnia, etc. They've been there to assist in rescuing puppies from puppy mills, animal hoarders, and more. They have created a safe haven for all animals, and they have about a 75% adoption rate. Many animals have such special needs that they will need to live at the Sanctuary for the rest of their lives, but those days will be guaranteed to be safe and loving and free from abuse or neglect.

You can learn more about BF by clicking my link on the bar to the right, and please consider sponsoring an animal, or making a donation if you can. All week I will try to post a picture of a Sanctuary animal and some stories from the trip.

Update on Tiggs

Hi Everyone,

Many of you know, but some of you don't, that Tiggs has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal blood disease called Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia. In laymans terms, it is when your body begins attacking it's own red blood cells. Tiggy was diagnosed yesterday after several days of lethargy and lack of appetite. He was hospitalized last night, and given high doses of prednisone, a steroid that will hopefully squash his immune response, and also given 2 blood transfusions. His prognosis is very guarded.

We picked him up this morning from the hospital and brought him back to his regular vet for more treatments. He looked much better than he did yesterday, but eventually his body will attack the new blood he was given. Our hope is that it will buy him some time while the Prednisone takes hold in his system. All of you, in addition to being our good friends, have also been good friends to Tiggs. He needs all of your love, prayers, and good thoughts sent out to the Universe, and wishes for his recovery. He is always happy, smiling, and has nothing but love for life, all of you, and everything else in the world. He is a wonderful ambassador for the Pit Bull breed and a little happy love and cuddle muffin.

We are truly hopeful that we can get him into a remission, and we promise to keep everyone posted on his condition. In the meantime, many of you have asked how you can help. Here's a couple of things: Go to www.bestfriends.org or www.obamafamilydog.com and sign the Obama family dog petition. The Obamas plan to get a dog after the election, and Best Friends is trying to raise awareness for the adoption of homeless pets over pure bred dogs. Tiggs was adopted almost four years ago exactly, from the Larimer Humane Society in Colorado. Also at the Best Friends site, you can learn about Breed Specific Legislation (pit bull and other bans) and learn how to sign petitions or send emails to communities considering such bans. For example, Sandy, Utah was just considering such a ban.

Keep us in your thoughts and we will keep you in ours.

Thanks for your love and support,

Melissa and Adam