When I lost Faelcor, my Pit Bull/Akita/Chow mix to cancer at the age of 10, I was devastated. He was everything to me. He was my little boy, my protector, my familiar, my best friend. I sank into a deep depression, gained weight, became bitchy and unmotivated. I slept almost constantly when I wasn’t at work. I still saw Fael everywhere (still do from time to time)
I was miserable, unable to concentrate, unwilling to communicate or be a part of almost anything. Then one day I was on the internet, and for some odd reason I typed “California pit bull rescues” in the Google box and hit enter. Was it Faelcor telling me that it was time for me to help another dog? Was it just me wanting to move on? To this day I still don’t know.
After paging thru numerous pages of links I came to a name that just stuck with me “Villalobos Rescue Center.” Almost instinctively I clicked on the link and was taken to their site. I clicked on “About Us” and read their story. Then I clicked on th
e link to watch the video of the Katrina dogs and was brought to tears. Finally I clicked on “adopt a dog” which brought up pictures of dozens of beautiful pit bulls just waiting for a forever home. All different colors; fawn, brindle, black, pied, blue, white, all gorgeous and I wondered how did such beautiful creatures end up needing to be rescued? But none of them “struck me” Until I saw this picture of a little guy named Uggie, he had a lop ear and from what I could see crooked teeth….I fell in love immediately! I called my husband to look at the picture and he was a “goner” as well. I filled out the online adoption form as fast as I could and sent it off. I emailed “Tia” and finally after a few days we finally connected. We made an appointment to go out and meet Uggie…..and then Tia asked if we would like to be part of a new reality show that they were doing. My husband wasn’t quite sure….but I was all for it. So off we go to meet Uggie and Tia.
It’s not a horribly long drive to VRC from our house but it’s not close either. The most disconcerting part was turning onto the road that the rescue is located on and driving and driving and driving, you get out past where the asphalt ends and then keep going. At this point, it’s almost too narrow to turn around and you just pray that it doesn’t get dark before you find the place. Then you see the sign out front.
So we pull in and are met by one of the Show’s associate producers, we’re in the High desert now and it’s WINDY. They take us and get our microphone packs on, then we stand around and wait. At this point I just want to meet Uggie. But we have to wait….finally they have us get back in the car and go down the road a bit so they can film our arrival….ok so that’s typical for any show. Then they have us get out of the car and walk towards where we will meet Tia. That’s when things got….well for lack of a better word…odd. I see a red haired woman walking towards us she walks up and introduces herself, “Hi, I’m Tia”. We talk for a while as they are setting up the next shot and I almost fell over…not only is she a redhead (so am I), she’s the same age as me and yes, she’s Pagan.
I was miserable, unable to concentrate, unwilling to communicate or be a part of almost anything. Then one day I was on the internet, and for some odd reason I typed “California pit bull rescues” in the Google box and hit enter. Was it Faelcor telling me that it was time for me to help another dog? Was it just me wanting to move on? To this day I still don’t know.
After paging thru numerous pages of links I came to a name that just stuck with me “Villalobos Rescue Center.” Almost instinctively I clicked on the link and was taken to their site. I clicked on “About Us” and read their story. Then I clicked on th
e link to watch the video of the Katrina dogs and was brought to tears. Finally I clicked on “adopt a dog” which brought up pictures of dozens of beautiful pit bulls just waiting for a forever home. All different colors; fawn, brindle, black, pied, blue, white, all gorgeous and I wondered how did such beautiful creatures end up needing to be rescued? But none of them “struck me” Until I saw this picture of a little guy named Uggie, he had a lop ear and from what I could see crooked teeth….I fell in love immediately! I called my husband to look at the picture and he was a “goner” as well. I filled out the online adoption form as fast as I could and sent it off. I emailed “Tia” and finally after a few days we finally connected. We made an appointment to go out and meet Uggie…..and then Tia asked if we would like to be part of a new reality show that they were doing. My husband wasn’t quite sure….but I was all for it. So off we go to meet Uggie and Tia.It’s not a horribly long drive to VRC from our house but it’s not close either. The most disconcerting part was turning onto the road that the rescue is located on and driving and driving and driving, you get out past where the asphalt ends and then keep going. At this point, it’s almost too narrow to turn around and you just pray that it doesn’t get dark before you find the place. Then you see the sign out front.
So we pull in and are met by one of the Show’s associate producers, we’re in the High desert now and it’s WINDY. They take us and get our microphone packs on, then we stand around and wait. At this point I just want to meet Uggie. But we have to wait….finally they have us get back in the car and go down the road a bit so they can film our arrival….ok so that’s typical for any show. Then they have us get out of the car and walk towards where we will meet Tia. That’s when things got….well for lack of a better word…odd. I see a red haired woman walking towards us she walks up and introduces herself, “Hi, I’m Tia”. We talk for a while as they are setting up the next shot and I almost fell over…not only is she a redhead (so am I), she’s the same age as me and yes, she’s Pagan.
I just look at my husband as I pull my own Pentagram necklace out from under my shirt. What are the odds that we would find THIS dog at THIS rescue operated by THIS woman at a time when I was so surely looking for SOMETNING to pull me out of my depression? So we get to wait a little more, she tells us that she has chosen a couple other dogs for us to “meet” as well as Uggie, that it works better for the show. The first little girl that they bring out is adorable…but not at all interested in us. The second boy….WOW! What a tempest! He barely sat down long enough for us to pet him. Then comes Uggie.
He is a short stocky little guy. Blue with a white “tuxedo shirt” chest and he’s soooo happy. As he gets closer we notice that yes, his teeth are crooked and he does have a lop ear…but he also has a short deformed tail that doesn’t so much wag as it does wiggle at the speed of light!
Then we are told that Uggie was a stray is South Los Angeles and when Animal control picked him up he had a pellet lodged in his hind leg where someone had shot him…..that makes me…..ok let’s be real…that PISSES ME OFF! He looks like he has scars on his face and could have possibly been used as a bait dog at some point. Regardless of all this….he is HAPPY and loving! We take him on a walk…and find that when he doesn’t want to walk anymore that he will lay down and (as I put it) become an anchor. *L* But with a little coaxing we get him going again…..before we even get back to the greeting area I’ve made the decision that Uggie needs us (or me) as much as we need him. …. (to be continued)
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