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Here is a story about one of my friends, Savannah, and her caregiver, Barbara. I loved it so much it made me cry, so I thought I'd share it with my readers...enjoy!
Savannah, a happy American pit bull
Photo: Barbara Blackman And now for something completely different..a happy pit bull story
Barbara Blackman is a board member of “The Freckles Freedom Fund,” a group dedicated to saving shelter pit bulls across the country.
Together with her people friends, Toni Vale of Pennsylvania, Vicki Weales in Louisiana, Tiffany Russell in Oklahoma and Wendy Schugar in Florida, these gals are saving the lives of forgotten and cast aside American pit bulls.
Barbara has been active in trying to get the word out about the recent surge in pit bull abuse by circulating petitions for awareness and justice in the recent cases of Patrick, Snoop and Daniel.
Fellow board member, Toni Vale suggested Barbara write up the story of her rescued princess, Savannah and submit it. Savannah sounds like a southern girl and she is….South Philly, that is.
Here is Savannah’s story in Barbara’s own words:
“Savannah is a 2 year old, petite, female, black and white 'pocket pitbull' rescued from Philadelphia. I live in South Jersey and had just lost my beloved pit-weiler Dozer to cancer after 8.5 years on June 3, 2010.
I was very depressed and my family thought I should get another dog fast. I knew that I wanted a pit bull, but needed a cat friendly pit because I also have a cat, Bianca, that I rescued from a shelter. I agreed to go with my dad to a few of the local shelters in our area just to LOOK. None were in immediate danger and I did not feel that “connection” to any of them. So I went home.
A week later someone sent me a Petfinder ad but I had no idea who this email was from and to this day I still don’t know who sent her ad to me. I opened it, instantly saw her picture and HAD to meet her. There was something in her eyes; she had the same eyes as Dozer. I swear that Dozer sent her to me.
I read on and found out that she was bred, had contracted an infection in her vulva and because the only way to clear the massive infection was to spay her, her people had no use for her anymore and abandoned her in South Philly. Philly ACCT was called out to get her, and she was held for the required period and then when nobody stepped up for her she was put on the euthanasia list.
Her time was JUST ABOUT UP and PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, the ONLY no kill shelter/rescue in Philadelphia) stepped up and saved her life. I can only assume that PAWS saw what I did later and took her in.
They got her medically treated and then put her in foster care. I contacted her foster mom and set up a meet. We were playing phone tag the day of the meet but I was relentless, I really wanted to meet her. So I drove out to Philly, in the hopes that she was home, and when she answered the door, Savannah ran up, sat down, looked at me and cocked her head to the side as if to say “You’re finally here."
I filled out the application right then, paid the adoption fee and prepared to take her home in 4 days. I made all the necessary arrangements, got a new crate, new beds, new toys, new food, and made a vet appointment for the day I picked her up to transfer the microchip and make sure she was “good to go”.
From Day One, I knew she would be my savior, and she is. I adopted her officially on June 18, 2010. There was a cat in the foster home, but Savannah clearly was not cat friendly at first, so after about 6-7 weeks of a lot of patience, love, positive reinforcement, separation and supervised play, the two are now best friends.
In September I brought Savannah to Leashes of Love in Cherry Hill, NJ for her therapy dog evaluation and she passed with flying colors. We just need to complete the orientation to do visits for them but she does go with me to Cinnaminson Center (where my grandmother is) and visits with patients there.
On October 9, 2010 she received her Canine Good Citizen Certification on her first try with no prep at all. This perfect dog was on the euthanasia list!!!! Can you believe it? We go to every dog park around and Savannah particularly likes small dogs. SO, when we go into the small dog area (she weighs 53 lbs but looks as if she weighs 40), you can instantly see people tense up and get nervous. So I just let her make her own impression because every time without fail, within 5 minutes everyone wants to pet and comes to me asking if she is in fact a pit bull and what a great dog she is. I reply “Thank you, she really is” with such pride in my voice.
She changes people’s minds about pit bulls on a daily basis. My mother, for one, is fearful of all dogs and especially pit bulls, admitting that it is because of the media hype, but she now ADORES Savannah and is my dog walker 3 days a week. Savannah is invited to her home for family dinners and my mom takes her for car rides.
When a co-worker asked my mother what her two young granddaughters (my nieces) were being for Halloween last year, her reply was “I’m not sure, but Savannah is being a skunk!”
I even had a birthday party for her 2nd birthday at Camp Bow Wow in Cherry Hill, NJ and 27 of her furry friends came to celebrate with her. There was a gigantic 4 tier mad hatter style cake for the humans, and doggie bags (party favors) to go home with each dog, along with a pup~cake for them to eat at home. It was such a fun event. She had a blast!
I entered Savannah in a mascot contest for our local shelter, the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, NJ for their 2011 Paws & Feet Walkathon on May 14th at Cooper River Park. Savannah was the only pitbull entered and she won the contest, which was $1 a vote, by a landslide! Her picture is on all their printed materials, flyers, brochures, and will be on all the event T Shirts. She is also going to be on a billboard on Route 73 later this month.
Savannah is precious and without her I would be incomplete. This girl went from being bred, to being useless to her people, dumped in South Philly, put on an E List, being saved, being in foster care, being with me and turning the world (our world) upside down with good things and great views.
She is an amazing dog and I am lucky to have found her! She is my pride and joy. Every day is easier with her in it."
Savannah is an ambassador to the breed and an American pit bull.
To learn more about the great work Barbara and The Freckles Freedom Fund are doing, visit the website:
http://www.thefrecklesfreedomfund.com/
Connect on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Freckles-Freedom-Fund/188810237799808
Together with her people friends, Toni Vale of Pennsylvania, Vicki Weales in Louisiana, Tiffany Russell in Oklahoma and Wendy Schugar in Florida, these gals are saving the lives of forgotten and cast aside American pit bulls.
Barbara has been active in trying to get the word out about the recent surge in pit bull abuse by circulating petitions for awareness and justice in the recent cases of Patrick, Snoop and Daniel.
Fellow board member, Toni Vale suggested Barbara write up the story of her rescued princess, Savannah and submit it. Savannah sounds like a southern girl and she is….South Philly, that is.
Here is Savannah’s story in Barbara’s own words:
“Savannah is a 2 year old, petite, female, black and white 'pocket pitbull' rescued from Philadelphia. I live in South Jersey and had just lost my beloved pit-weiler Dozer to cancer after 8.5 years on June 3, 2010.
I was very depressed and my family thought I should get another dog fast. I knew that I wanted a pit bull, but needed a cat friendly pit because I also have a cat, Bianca, that I rescued from a shelter. I agreed to go with my dad to a few of the local shelters in our area just to LOOK. None were in immediate danger and I did not feel that “connection” to any of them. So I went home.
A week later someone sent me a Petfinder ad but I had no idea who this email was from and to this day I still don’t know who sent her ad to me. I opened it, instantly saw her picture and HAD to meet her. There was something in her eyes; she had the same eyes as Dozer. I swear that Dozer sent her to me.
I read on and found out that she was bred, had contracted an infection in her vulva and because the only way to clear the massive infection was to spay her, her people had no use for her anymore and abandoned her in South Philly. Philly ACCT was called out to get her, and she was held for the required period and then when nobody stepped up for her she was put on the euthanasia list.
Her time was JUST ABOUT UP and PAWS (Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, the ONLY no kill shelter/rescue in Philadelphia) stepped up and saved her life. I can only assume that PAWS saw what I did later and took her in.
They got her medically treated and then put her in foster care. I contacted her foster mom and set up a meet. We were playing phone tag the day of the meet but I was relentless, I really wanted to meet her. So I drove out to Philly, in the hopes that she was home, and when she answered the door, Savannah ran up, sat down, looked at me and cocked her head to the side as if to say “You’re finally here."
I filled out the application right then, paid the adoption fee and prepared to take her home in 4 days. I made all the necessary arrangements, got a new crate, new beds, new toys, new food, and made a vet appointment for the day I picked her up to transfer the microchip and make sure she was “good to go”.
From Day One, I knew she would be my savior, and she is. I adopted her officially on June 18, 2010. There was a cat in the foster home, but Savannah clearly was not cat friendly at first, so after about 6-7 weeks of a lot of patience, love, positive reinforcement, separation and supervised play, the two are now best friends.
In September I brought Savannah to Leashes of Love in Cherry Hill, NJ for her therapy dog evaluation and she passed with flying colors. We just need to complete the orientation to do visits for them but she does go with me to Cinnaminson Center (where my grandmother is) and visits with patients there.
On October 9, 2010 she received her Canine Good Citizen Certification on her first try with no prep at all. This perfect dog was on the euthanasia list!!!! Can you believe it? We go to every dog park around and Savannah particularly likes small dogs. SO, when we go into the small dog area (she weighs 53 lbs but looks as if she weighs 40), you can instantly see people tense up and get nervous. So I just let her make her own impression because every time without fail, within 5 minutes everyone wants to pet and comes to me asking if she is in fact a pit bull and what a great dog she is. I reply “Thank you, she really is” with such pride in my voice.
She changes people’s minds about pit bulls on a daily basis. My mother, for one, is fearful of all dogs and especially pit bulls, admitting that it is because of the media hype, but she now ADORES Savannah and is my dog walker 3 days a week. Savannah is invited to her home for family dinners and my mom takes her for car rides.
When a co-worker asked my mother what her two young granddaughters (my nieces) were being for Halloween last year, her reply was “I’m not sure, but Savannah is being a skunk!”
I even had a birthday party for her 2nd birthday at Camp Bow Wow in Cherry Hill, NJ and 27 of her furry friends came to celebrate with her. There was a gigantic 4 tier mad hatter style cake for the humans, and doggie bags (party favors) to go home with each dog, along with a pup~cake for them to eat at home. It was such a fun event. She had a blast!
I entered Savannah in a mascot contest for our local shelter, the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, NJ for their 2011 Paws & Feet Walkathon on May 14th at Cooper River Park. Savannah was the only pitbull entered and she won the contest, which was $1 a vote, by a landslide! Her picture is on all their printed materials, flyers, brochures, and will be on all the event T Shirts. She is also going to be on a billboard on Route 73 later this month.
Savannah is precious and without her I would be incomplete. This girl went from being bred, to being useless to her people, dumped in South Philly, put on an E List, being saved, being in foster care, being with me and turning the world (our world) upside down with good things and great views.
She is an amazing dog and I am lucky to have found her! She is my pride and joy. Every day is easier with her in it."
Savannah is an ambassador to the breed and an American pit bull.
To learn more about the great work Barbara and The Freckles Freedom Fund are doing, visit the website:
http://www.thefrecklesfreedomfund.com/
Connect on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Freckles-Freedom-Fund/188810237799808
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