by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com
This Sunday, November, 13 from 11am to 3pm there will be a celebration in Wantagh of a much loved and much debated about breed – the American Pit Bull Terrier. The first ever ‘Bully Breed Brigade’ will be taking place in Wantagh thanks to the efforts of Last Hope Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation in cooperation with The Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter. Last Hope has taken the initiative in the past with a Pit Bull Expo a few years ago to try and solve the pit bull over-population problem in our local town and private shelters here on LI.
The Bully Breed Brigade starts at 11am on Sunday, on Beltagh Avenue in Wantagh between the Last Hope Shelter (formerly Bid-a-wee shelter) and the Town of Hempstead shelter. (For a Map click here). The celebration will include an adoption fair with vendors, trainers, breed advocates, rescuers, speakers, holistic experts, T’touch demos and more! At 12:30pm the Brigade of adopted, rescued, owned and to be adopted American Pit Bull Terriers, Pit Bull Mixes, Amstaffs and other bully dog types will be on parade for all to see, learn about and of course get lots of kisses and wiggle butts from! The parade of ‘Ambassdogs’, (breed ambassadors), from shelters and rescues across LI with many ready for adoption will be a first on LI!
At 1:30 pm a special pet celebrity Tia Torres from Animal Planet’s very own TV show, ‘Pit Bulls and Parolees.’ Tia has been tirelessly saving pit bulls and helping parolees get back on their feet at Viallobos Rescue Center in California.
Tia will be there because she and her team have driven across country to take 6 pit bulls ‘The Hempstead Hopefuls’ from the Town of Hempstead shelter back with her to California to help rehabilitate the dogs and find them forever homes. These 6 happened to be pulled from an Elmont dog fighting ring over the summer and Tia is generously taking the time out of her own life to not only drive across country but to help these 6 dogs. My hat is off to you Tia for all you do for our beloved breed of choice. Tia and her crew have never traveled this far to rescue any dog!
While the image of the Pit Bull may be getting better, meaning more and more people are realizing it’s not the breed but how a dog is raised, socialized, trained, etc. we still have a lot of pit and pit mixes in our local shelter. As with ANY other breed –it’s how they are brought up – but with that said, there are some pit and pit mixes that were born in a shelter or lived their entire life in a shelter and are just the best dog you may ever encounter. This loyal, super smart, athletic, adaptable, fun and goofy breed just love humans – and most of them just absolutely love dogs and other animals too!
To cap off this amazing day, what better than a movie premiere all about the breed? At 7pm the Long Island debut of the movie, ‘Beyond the Myth’ a documentary about Pit Bulls and breed discrimination by Libby Sherrill will be shown at the Cradle of Aviation IMAX Theatre in Garden City. (1 Davis Avenue, Garden City, NY). Tickets will be sold at the door for $10 per person and a portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will go to Last Hope is a 501 c 3 non-for-profit organization. For more information on the Bully Breed Brigade or the movie premiere contact bbb@lasthopeanimalrescue.org or call 631-671-2588. If you’re bringing your own bully, be sure they are well behaved, socialized, up-to-date on their shots, NYS licensed and on a 6-foot sturdy leash.
by Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com
Shelter Misconceptions
What is the average Long Island animal shelter misconception? To the layman or non-dog owner, most people think they are just loaded with pit bulls or labrabulls, and that is it. While at each shelter you will see both of the above, if you actually go to your town municipal shelter you may be surprised to see a lot of the smaller designer mutts and purebred dogs of every breed. Just recently at the Town of Islip’s adopt-a-thon there were at least 15 – 20 small to medium size dogs, if not more, of all breeds. Our shelters on Long Island are overflowing with dogs, it’s really quite sad. Where do all these dogs come from someone asked? Some are strays, and more than most are turned-in by their owners – discarded like yesterday’s garbage, someone else’s problem now. No one wants to think about that, or how lazy a person can be not giving that animal a chance. Many dogs are turned in because of a behavioral problem like not being fully house broken, or a 6-month old puppy that is chewing, duh!
Another shelter misconception is that all the animals there are unruly, not trained, aggressive or sick. Many of our municipal and private shelters have amazing volunteers that give their time to help walk, socialize and do a bit of training with the pets housed there. These wonderful volunteers, many times make the difference that pet needed, and helps them get adopted quicker. If a pet is sick, the majority of our shelters vet the pets, give them the necessary vaccinations and medical attention that animal needs.
So what is your shelter misconception? If you ‘re thinking about getting a dog and feared going to the shelter because it’s too sad or for any of the above reasons, I challenge you to go to your local shelter and see what it is really like. You might just fall for a beautiful pit bull with an amazing personality, and surprise yourself. Or find that mutt that captures your heart.
Suggestion: Take the time to meet a few of the dogs’ in the shelter’s meet and greet rooms, instead of just walking the isles. Many dogs’ personalities shine through better when out of their kennel run. If the shelter has a volunteer staff, ask them about the dog, what they are like, behavior etc. – they will be able to tell you.
Did you know: That black dogs and older dogs are the most likely to not to get adopted, to get passed by, to possibly not make it out of the shelter. Now think if that dog is black, is part or full pit bull and 4 or 5 years old, not good odds. Adopting and older dog, and a black one, could be the best thing you ever do!
By Nancy E. Hassel, LIPetPlace.com
What happens when you combine the talent of a local Long Island Pet Professional and an award winning no-kill animal shelter? The world gets a revolutionary new way to meet pets that are up for adoption, live right on your computer! Introducing AnimalRoulette.com. AnimalRoulette.com is an incredible new technology that is going to put a new spin on pet adoptions – and transform the way potential adopters can search for pets. Being launched to go live at Kent Animal Shelter in Calverton, NY this Saturday, July 17th from 1 to 4pm – this new site, the first of its kind in the pet world was designed by Michael Ayalon, CEO of PetWebDesigner.com.
The buzz about this amazing new website has already attracted the media attention from ABC NY News, News 12, Newsday, PetSide.com, Farmingdale Observer, Levittown Tribune, Babylon Beacon and many more. Ayalon was thinking of a way to use this type of technology to help more animals get adopted, virtually if you will. After six months of development, Ayalon was ready to a launch the website and happened to meet Pam Green the Director of Kent Animal Shelter at a recent Long Island Pet Professionals networking meeting. Green was on board and said, “We are always looking for new ways to expand the number of pets adopted, so it makes sense to offer people looking to adopt a pet more than just a photo. They should be able to see the pet’s disposition live in order to determine if the pet would make a good addition to their family. AnimalRoulette.com gives us that ability.”
With technology taking us places we have never before been, why not let it take us to your local animal shelter, or one across state? This technology enables potential adopters to view animals waiting for that furever home in a live meet and greet video chat online. Viewers on AnimalRoulette.com just need a webcam and audio hooked up to their computer so they can interact with shelter staff and talk to them about the pet that particular shelter is showing. If the potential adopter is not really interested in that pet, then they can simply hit “next” and it will bring them to another randomly selected pet in a different live video chat room, hence the “roulette” in the name. This Saturday, all the pets that will be debuted on AnimalRoulette.com will be pets currently available for adoption at Kent Animal Shelter. So if you live in NYC and cannot physically get to Kent on Saturday and you want to see how a pet is, presents itself, interacts with shelter staff, other animals, you can do so from the comfort of home on your computer. All adoptions will go through normal adoption procedures through Kent if you do decide you really want to adopt one of their pets you meet while on AnimalRoulette.com, you can simply fill their an online adoption form on Kent’s website, www.kentanimalshelter.com.
Another fantastic part of this is that if you have small kids and you can’t make it to a shelter, this will eliminate finding a babysitter as the entire family can “meet” the pet live online. Also the noise in a shelter on initial visits result in people passing by that dog in the corner of the run or the one that is jumping and barking. So often overlooked pets will really benefit from this as well. People will see how great that pet is, once out of its kennel run, and in a quieter room for the live intro online.
Ayalon said, “I know how much shelters in this country struggle to find homes for their animals, and I felt that today’s opportunity of real time on the Internet provided the perfect place for pet lovers all over the country to see what’s available. We hope to make this video and audio technology improve the adoption rates for shelters all over the United States. Kent Animal Shelter was the perfect partner for the project because of their outstanding work as a no-kill shelter since 1968.”
Due to this great new idea, the ASPCA also recently named Ayalon their first ever “Animal Hero of the Week.”
So if you have been thinking about adopting a pet and were apprehensive as to what you might find in a local animal shelter, this is the perfect outlet to see the remarkable pets looking for love and a home. Log onto www.AnimalRoulette.com this Saturday, July 17 from 1 to 4pm and meet your new best friend.
Categories
Archives
Blogroll
Meta