Pit Bulls And Parolees - General Discussion

[heatherchandler]

I watched the episode with Clank, is that ep from the newest season?

I hope they got a lot of viewers, I know the rescue could use the visibility, and the money like most rescues these days.

Edited October 23, 2022 by heatherchandler

[Bastet]

8 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

I watched the episode with Clank, is that ep from the newest season?

Yes, the first episode of the latest (and final) season.  There will only be five more.

[Medicine Crow]

21 hours ago, Calibabydolly said:

I loved how open they were in this new season. Like when Earl was driving Clank home to Kentucky, admitting the whole crew stays in a hotel! They always made it seem like it was a 1 shot road trip to the home. The new owner asking how he did in the hotel room. Plus,I loved Earl thinking out loud about how in the old days he wasn't allowed out of the state...and it still feels so great to be a free man now! He is the best! So humble and grateful. 

There was no M2 or Tia's other daughter this new show? Only a flash of the twins building cages as well. But I'm not complaining...I could watch the Earl/Lizzy/Mariah show all day long! Man, I really missed this show.

Which Season/Episode are "we" talking about.  I was only able to watch Season 10 - Episodes 1 to 6 (here in Canada) yesterday???!!!

[TVbitch]

I watched the Clank episode. I haven't watched the show in a while, but as soon as a doggie gets a home, I still start crying! 

That was Perry playing the guitar. Are he and Tania still together? Is Tania no longer on the show? Man, Tia looked worn out. Mariah, too. I can't imagine the workload and stress of it all. I wonder if they ever regret moving to NO. I know the community has embraced them, but to have to worry about storms and damage and evacuation every year, and so many abandoned dogs. 

Bless them. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, TVbitch said:

I wonder if they ever regret moving to NO. I know the community has embraced them, but to have to worry about storms and damage and evacuation every year, and so many abandoned dogs. 

I don't know.  They didn't have any choice but to move off the Agua Dulce property, and NOLA was pretty much the only place that wanted them among those Tia reached out to with inquiries.  So they really can't regret the choice they made at the time they made it. 

If they sometimes wish they could go someplace else now, but don't feel like they can ever leave because the problem is so huge there they'd leave a tremendous void?  I guess they probably have to try not to wander down that mental path.  With all the work done on the new warehouse, they seem pretty committed to staying (and it weathered the latest hurricane exponentially better than the other warehouse did, so structurally it's a great place, it's just still the matter of dealing with citywide power outages after a storm).  Tia couldn't stand the city, so moved after just a year and a half, but she loves it out on her swamp.  They like the people in New Orleans better than they did the people in Agua Dulce (having been to both places, I can decidedly say that I do, too).  So I think if they weren't absolutely drowning in dogs with no measurable let-up in sight, they'd be quite happy.

[Bastet]

"You're not treading water in the South when it comes to animal rescue, you're drowning, you just may be drowning slowly."

Boy howdy.  I love how VRC, as overwhelmed as they always are, always helps out other, more-overwhelmed rescues and shit-ass shelters doing the best on their $5 budget when they can, and in turn less-overwhelmed rescues partner to help them out; it's all one big circle of devoted people making the best of a crisis.

This episode was a lovely tribute to M2 on the occasion of Leilani's first birthday.  As awful as things are in the city, she and Kanani agreed to live out in the country, where the situation is even worse, and she couldn't be more dedicated if she'd been involved with the rescue from day one.  M2 had a nice little life as a paralegal going, volunteering on the side since she loved dogs, and then she gradually devoted her entire life to this family and their mission.  She gained a wonderful husband, co-parent, and additional child, and she's right where she wants to be, but it's a lot. 

So I love when those who married in and absolutely ran with it have their contributions highlighted. 

Silver's adopter being so moved by the joy of that experience deciding it's her family's mission in life to continue to adopt the older, special needs dogs letting Mariah pass Rant on to a dedicated home was beautiful.  I like how they did the garage introduction when they got rained out of the usual neutral spaces.  I also LOL at Mariah cracking up at what an adorably noisy house she was leaving the adopter to.

"They ate a hole in my house."  LOL again!  I love that even someone as experienced as Tia can turn her head and find puppies removed siding and ate through a wall.  Beagle Town - "romper room for dogs" - looks adorable.

Edited October 30, 2022 by Bastet

[Bastet]

VRC's web series, Life With the Underdogs, that will be available on Tia's online "network", The Rabid Reality, premieres Dec. 3.  It's basically their self-produced version of this show, so we can continue to see their rescues, adoptions, events, and daily life once PB&P is over:

Several different subscription offers for Rabid Reality's content are available at very reasonable prices (via Tia's Patreon page), and 100% of the money goes to the rescue.  Life With the Underdogs is available starting at the "Lucky Dog" membership level, which is only $5/month (and also gives access to another web series, the fantastic Pit Bulls, Parolees & a Producer, which goes through this series episode by episode and gives behind-the-scenes info [I posted information from the first episode of this a couple of months ago], two podcast series, and eventually to another web series that will premiere next year).

Edited November 6, 2022 by Bastet

[Bastet]

I love the adopter, Kim.  He only had a year with his previous dog, and he still turns around and signs up to once again take the old dog who needs him most.  And that was obviously Marie, having lived her entire life in the warehouse.  I love Earl saying he wanted to do a back flip when Marie turned out to love car rides, but he knew he wouldn't make it.  And Lizzy saying they'll keep giving Kim dogs for as long as he'll take them.

Kudos, too, to Toney and Emily, providing hospice care over and over.

I want so badly to be one of those people, but so far I'm just at the adopting middle-aged cats stage.

Stamps, the poor sugar cane field dog, very scared but sensing she could be helped, so she'd run away but then follow the van, was heart warming enough, and then when she licked M2 through the trap?  I was done for.  Rolling over for a belly rub in the trailer was just icing on the cake.

I am going to miss this show so much!  I'll subscribe to Tia's Rabid Reality network (see my previous post) and keep up with them that way, but I hate watching programming on my little 19" monitor rather than a nice big TV.  So I wish it was continuing for my selfish enjoyment, but I also wish they'd still be getting Animal Planet money (which is astronomically greater than whatever subscription money they'll bring in).

Edited November 6, 2022 by Bastet

[Gwendolyn]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

I am going to miss this show so much!  I'll subscribe to Tia's Rabid Reality network (see my previous post) and keep up with them that way, but I hate watching programming on my little 19" monitor rather than a nice big TV.  So I wish it was continuing for my selfish enjoyment, but I also wish they'd still be getting Animal Planet money (which is astronomically greater than whatever subscription money they'll bring in).

Depending on the age of your tv, there might be a way to use it to watch a YouTube channel. I know my tv offers YouTube as an option, but my brother when traveling with his kids has some way of putting stuff from his phone like Netflix and YouTube on the tv screen in the hotel room. I have no idea how this works, but I figure that's what Google exists for.

I love that Kim is able to adopt senior dogs. Our last rescues were seniors as giant breeds, even our vet was like why are you adopting dogs who you'll have 2 yrs at most, well we had them one month shy of 6 yrs, but it's expensive. Not as expensive as a special needs cat, but the 3 combined are the reason I need 2 jobs, and why my current rescue was only 3 when we adopted him and my next cat will be from a shelter who I know will be honest about health issues before I leave and have 48 hrs to fall madly in love.

Even with pet insurance a rescue is a gamble. Our current rescue had dirty ears per the vet intake form, so ANYTHING to do with his ears is pre-existing and not covered. Guess who's only had allergy related ear infections? So I never judge someone who wants a younger dog. Especially right now with inflation. But it's great that Kim is using his resources to adopt the less adoptable dogs.

And was it this ep or last week's where Tony was taking on hospice dogs? So very sweet and so very hard. Having lost 3 pets in the space of one year, I don't know if I could do it over and over.

[Bastet]

On 11/6/2022 at 12:12 PM, Gwendolyn said:

And was it this ep or last week's where Tony was taking on hospice dogs?

The most-recent one at the time you asked.  We've seen him and Emily with hospice fosters before, too, and Lizzy talked about how often they've done it, so major kudos to them.  Their little girl is learning some painful yet powerful lessons by growing up with so much loss.

It always moves me that he cannot talk about losing his mom without crying.  I don't think that will ever change, no matter how many years pass.  It wasn't "just" losing her, and it wasn't "just" losing her young, it was being in prison when she died.  He carries so much.

As for tonight's episode, I always love seeing this pair of adopters who want whoever needs them most and is least likely to get picked by anyone else.  I thought it was interesting they mentioned the bonded pair they adopted, but not the fact they wound up having to return them; I can't remember the specifics of that situation, but the one with intense emotional issues turned out to somehow be a problem they couldn't handle (not as a slight against them; it was something where everyone agreed it was best for them to go back to VRC, I just don't remember the details).

Apple's kid testing was sweet, for how Moe and Lizzy's kids went from jumping on the couch to being calm and quiet to let her suss them out.  After ten long years, she's got everything she could ever want.  I love the story about her stopping and lying down in neighbors' driveways.

Wow, Dani's story.  It is absolutely disgusting to try a 15-year-old as an adult.  I appreciate how honest she is about the kind of person she was at the time of the crime.  She's Tia's first homicide hire -- that's always been one of her few rules (no murder or rape convictions).  Dani is yet another poster child for how beneficial the prison dog programs are!

I'm so glad we got to see a little bit of the new training program, because, given my love of prison dog programs, I've been excited ever since I first read about the Healing Center, that it would be staffed by graduates of such programs; I've been looking forward to seeing stories.  Not airing more of those (and more of the new warehouse in general) is one of the many reasons I'm sad the show is not continuing on Animal Planet.

I love Lizzy, the boss, acknowledging Dani has been training longer than she has, and Lizzy can learn from her.  And Tia's reaction when the two of them said the same thing at the same time.  I hope Dani is still there (I know she was at the time the episode was put together) and doing well; she's someone I'd love to keep up with via the version of the show VRC will be producing.

Edited November 13, 2022 by Bastet

[gesundheit]

On 11/12/2022 at 10:06 PM, Bastet said:

Wow, Dani's story.  It is absolutely disgusting to try a 15-year-old as an adult.  I appreciate how honest she is about the kind of person she was at the time of the crime.  She's Tia's first homicide hire -- that's always been one of her few rules (no murder or rape convictions).  Dani is yet another poster child for how beneficial the prison dog programs are!

I'm so glad we got to see a little bit of the new training program, because, given my love of prison dog programs, I've been excited ever since I first read about the Healing Center, that it would be staffed by graduates of such programs; I've been looking forward to seeing stories.  Not airing more of those (and more of the new warehouse in general) is one of the many reasons I'm sad the show is not continuing on Animal Planet.

Me too, it's pretty heartbreaking. I know they'll do their best to keep viewers up on the various goings-on but they're not going to be able to have the budget or reach to do the scope of their current stories. Home visits? Probably on a little camera phone at best. All these great talking heads with adopters and parolees and the family, etc., will probably be a thing of the past. And it's going to be the hardcore viewers, rather than the folks flipping through on their couch who might actually change the way they see things because of what PB&P is depicting.

One of the terrible things about our incarceration system is how the meaning-making job skills some people are lucky enough to get inside, they can't really apply on the outside (for instance the many states that put them to work as firefighters but will not hire parolees for same). Getting to use those skills that helped shape a new way of thinking but now to make an actual living? So critical for success after incarceration. 

Seven episodes this season, right? So only three more? Wow. I'm going to bawl, I just know it.

[Bastet]

On 11/14/2022 at 6:55 PM, gesundheit said:

Seven episodes this season, right?

I think there are only six, unfortunately.  But I read that before the season started; hopefully I'm wrong and your seven information is correct. 

I am not ready, no matter how many!!

In addition to all the obvious reasons I love this show, I have the specific connection that it helped me through a terrible time in 2015.  My cat - an only child since my other cat had died in 2013 - died that September.  I spent a lot of time at my parents' house with their cats (whom I loved like my own) and with my niece/nephew cats at a best friend's house, but being home was hard -- I was not yet emotionally ready for my next cat, but miserable in my cat-less house.  Animal Planet was airing a lot of old episodes of this show, plus more were available on YouTube, and there was something ill-defined but particular about it that was exactly what I needed at that time; it was a security blanket for a solid month in that early haze of grief.  I will always be grateful for that specific experience beyond my usual love of what they do for their dogs and their employees.

[pasdetrois]

On 11/6/2022 at 3:12 PM, Gwendolyn said:

Even with pet insurance a rescue is a gamble. Our current rescue had dirty ears per the vet intake form, so ANYTHING to do with his ears is pre-existing and not covered. Guess who's only had allergy related ear infections? So I never judge someone who wants a younger dog. Especially right now with inflation. But it's great that Kim is using his resources to adopt the less adoptable dogs.

We are taking a pause after losing our last old dog. It's because of the cost of vet bills. The shelter where I volunteer has noticed an uptick in returns due to adopters not being able to afford the vet bills.

[CrazyInAlabama]

My cable guide lists episode 5 tonight.  Next saturday there are two new episodes.   Episode 6 talks about the new location,  Episode 7 is "The Story of Villalobos" with the rescue's history, and where they're going next with the show ending.   

[Medicine Crow]

I'm going to miss watching "new" shows.  It's been hard to find them though.  I'm glad I wrote the Season/Episode down when I started watching because now I know that everything shown today is a repeat, if not a triple repeat.

[Bastet]

16 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Episode 7 is "The Story of Villalobos" with the rescue's history, and where they're going next with the show ending.   

Oh, I'm so happy to know Tia will be able to tell the Animal Planet audience about her web series!  I mean, most people are not going to bother, and the money from the small percentage of the audience who do subscribe is going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the show money, but every little bit helps.

I didn't get to watch the 9:00 repeat after football like I'd planned, so I haven't seen the newest episode yet.

[Bastet]

I just took a break from cleaning the house to watch last night's episode and, jeez, it normally takes a little longer to get me worked up, but seeing Lambchop's condition had me going just two minutes in!  That poor dog.  I hate people; leaving that dog to endure the agony of a slow death alone and exposed instead of having him euthanized?! 

Stamps coming so quickly and thoroughly out of her shell with Juno is utterly adorable (as is M2 carrying her around because she's scared on leash).  I'm glad she has a nice, big quiet place to live with a patient owner and her new BFF.  Like M2 said, Dana and Stamps are going to heal each other.

Lizzy and Tia, both trainers, so nervous about how their bloodhounds were going to do in scent training was funny.  With the first test, I thought, well, duh, of course the dogs all went to the right place; they weren't following a scent trail they were going to the person in front of them who had treats and was talking to them.  But then when they had two people and had to go to the right one, I got it.

[Gwendolyn]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

Lizzy and Tia, both trainers, so nervous about how their bloodhounds were going to do in scent training was funny.  With the first test, I thought, well, duh, of course the dogs all went to the right place; they weren't following a scent trail they were going to the person in front of them who had treats and was talking to them.  But then when they had two people and had to go to the right one, I got it.

As someone who adopted a fear based reactive dog, who does not like strangers at all, after Tia said her bloodhound didn't like people and then to see the trainers get down and put their faces in the dog's face I'm like "noooo!" So when the dog snapped, I side eyed everyone's training qualifications. DO NOT PUT YOUR FACE IN ANY STRANGE TO YOU DOG'S FACE!

It's not about you, it's about the dog. A) you're stressing them out and B) they're the ones who will pay for your mistake.

Lambchop broke my heart. I know there are so many cruel or thoughtless people in this world. As Tia said at least Lambchop isn't suffering, didn't die alone, and someone remembers them.

And yay for Stamps finding a loving home!

[gesundheit]

The combo of tragic heartbreak and movingly happy endings in that episode? That's the magic formula, I was a mess during this one. Half because of what was on the screen, and half because we're losing it soon.

I'm so glad Lamb Chop at least got some good pets and affection in his final days.

[Happy Belly]

On 11/20/2022 at 2:12 PM, Bastet said:

Oh, I'm so happy to know Tia will be able to tell the Animal Planet audience about her web series!  I mean, most people are not going to bother, and the money from the small percentage of the audience who do subscribe is going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the show money, but every little bit helps.

I’ve been signed up now for a month. I know her new series starts first week of December. I only hope more people sign up. They desperately need the money to keep Villalobos running.

[heatherchandler]

1 hour ago, Happy Belly said:

I’ve been signed up now for a month. I know her new series starts first week of December. I only hope more people sign up. They desperately need the money to keep Villalobos running.

Where can I find the web series?

[Bastet]

20 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

Where can I find the web series?

I put the info in this post.

[Bastet]

Aw, I love that Ben's adopter had deaf parents, one of whom was named Ben.  I also love Earl joking that once he got a look at that yard, he tried to broker a "send Ben back, take me instead" deal -- every time someone from VRC homechecks a nice house, they ask the adopters if they can't be adopted too, and it amuses me every time.  Ben loving having all that room to run, and coming to the adopter, not Earl ("I just spent 12 hours in the car with him, and he didn't come to me!" 🙂) when the adopter signaled for him was great.  It was kind of weird the female partner wasn't in any of that yard footage, but there's a later shot of all three of them taken there, so she must have just been unavailable during the time that which was chosen to air was shot.  Ben seems like a Daddy's boy, but probably cuddles up between them on the couch and such.

Naming the sidecar The Spud Bucket in memory of Tater is sweet.  As is brother and sister spending time together working on old motorcycles and cars (good on Mariah laughing at herself when she screws something up, since her knowledge/abilities don't quite match her interest level).  It was bittersweet Mariah saying she knew how much of her time was taken up by Tater, but didn't realize until he was gone just how much of her identity was, and now she doesn't quite know who she is without him since she's had him her entire adult life.  And funny when Tia described how protective Tater was of Mariah, to the point he'd guard her when Tia came in her room/house, with her saying, "I'm the one who rescued you!"

I know I'll see it on the web series, but like with everything else (it would always suck for this series to end, but especially when they'd just moved to the new place, were opening the Healing Center, etc.), I wish there'd still be a show on which a much wider audience could see it finished, and Mariah taking interested dogs on a little field trip.

Mystic obviously had an owner, and I was hoping she'd just gotten loose, but, nope, yet another abandoned dog.  <sigh>

I was watching football last night, so caught up on the regular episode this morning (before commencing more football watching) and have the finale special to get to tonight.  I am not ready for this to end!!

[Stealthy]

Were those the final two episodes?

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Stealthy said:

Were those the final two episodes?

Yes.  As noted above, Tia will be producing a web series continuing to show the goings-on at VRC (and the web series that goes episode by episode of this series and gives additional information about it), but there will be no additional episodes of this series.

[Stealthy]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Yes.  As noted above, Tia will be producing a web series continuing to show the goings-on at VRC (and the web series that goes episode by episode of this series and gives additional information about it), but there will be no additional episodes of this series.

Thanks, I’m signed up for the web series. Last night’s last episode just seemed like a normal episode and kind of anticlimactic to me. Never would have known it was the last episode of the series, which is why I was wondering. Guess I expected a more direct acknowledgement by the channel of the end of a very longstanding show, but I suppose that’s not how APL usually operates. Sad to see the show end and hoping the rescue sees decent financial support through their web series. They do such important work. 

[Rlb8031]

I did wish they did more of a "Where are they now" with the parolees, but no such luck. I wish Tia and the rest of the team good luck going forward. I'm going to subscribe for the new show, even though I don't watch YouTube at all. My hope is that AP will continue to show reruns from time to time as even that will help bring in donations. 

So sad to see this show go...

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, Rlb8031 said:

I'm going to subscribe for the new show, even though I don't watch YouTube at all.

You can watch it through Patreon instead if you prefer that, but it's more expensive (you also get more; on YouTube, she's just going to upload the webisode, but on Patreon she's going to include watch parties, where she gives additional information [plus, it will premiere on Patreon and be uploaded to YouTube later]). 

[Bastet]

Based on how the final episode had been described here, I had false expectations and wound up disappointed -- I was expecting it to end with acknowledgment the show was over, and information on how to keep up with their work in the absence of that.  Instead, it felt like any other recap episode, ending with them poised on the brink of all these new things that there's no next season of PB&P to cover.

Tia posted a video to answer some questions (including those from all the idiots wondering where the dogs were going to go, thinking that because the show was ending, so was the rescue).  Tidbits:

- The majority of their income is from donations; the show money only covered seven percent of their expenses.  So it's not really about losing the show money, it's about losing the donations that always go way down when the show isn't airing.  It's not just the hundreds of dogs depending on her to come up with the money the rescue needs to operate; she signs the paychecks of a lot of people.

- The mobile spay/neuter clinic shown in the final episode was donated, but they'd planned to use the show money to hire vets and buy supplies, so they have to figure out something different and thus that program hasn't started yet.

- It costs $400k to produce an episode of PB&P, so no one subscribing to see the "Life With the Underdogs" web series should be expecting the webisodes to look anything like the episodes; they will be much shorter, and with far lesser production value.

- Mariah is going to do a web series, and Earl and Toney are going to do one together.  Tia is also going to do a "Just Tia" autobiographical podcast.

- Tia is writing, with Tania's help, a children's book about VRC dogs

- Marcel is still part of the family even though he and Mariah divorced and he moved (to North Carolina); he's involved in rescue there, and Tia talks to him all the time.

I miss this show already!

[Medicine Crow]

The last time I saw Marcel on the show (with Mariah), he exclaimed there would be NO babies from them.  I thought that was an odd statement to make, but obviously there were things happening between them (or had happened).  Too bad ... I thought they were a great couple.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

The last time I saw Marcel on the show (with Mariah), he exclaimed there would be NO babies from them.  I thought that was an odd statement to make, but obviously there were things happening between them (or had happened).

Yes, the obvious thing happening was they'd decided not to have children.  Why is that an odd statement to make?  If someone says they intend to have kids, that's not odd.  So why would it be odd to say they don't?  Plenty of people don't want them, or decide not to have them for other reasons (no burning desire to parent, financial and time limitations, a lifestyle that would have to be significantly altered to incorporate a child, not wanting to bring a child into a dumpster fire of a world, etc.).

2 hours ago, Medicine Crow said:

Too bad ... I thought they were a great couple.

Yeah, I think they were quite a good match for the time they were together.  Of course, we only see a tiny fraction of their lives, but with Tia still regarding him so highly, I suspect it was indeed a good relationship.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Bastet

[Medicine Crow]

19 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Yes, the obvious thing happening was that neither of them wanted children.  Why is that an odd statement to make?  If someone does want kids, that's not odd.  Why is not wanting them odd?  Plenty of people don't.

Yeah, I think they were quite a good match for the time they were together.  Of course, we only see a tiny fraction of their lives, but with Tia still regarding him so highly, I suspect it was indeed a good relationship.

I thought the time & place was odd, not saying it.

I'm one of those people who didn't want children, just dogs, cats & horses.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Medicine Crow
Accidentally left out one of my favourite species.

[Bastet]

8 minutes ago, Medicine Crow said:

I thought the time & place was odd, not saying it.

The "no kids!" (said by both of them) I remember was in the episode in which they revealed they were married.  I figure they were just pre-answering the inevitable question viewers would have -- her siblings were all in baby mode, and way too many people assume everyone who gets married will procreate, so they'd have been barraged with "OMG, so great!  When are you having babieeeeeeeeeees?" crap.

Edited December 17, 2022 by Bastet

[Bastet]

There's a marathon, and right now is the episode where Sui's mom comes to visit him for the first time since he got the job.  I adored him from jump, and meeting her I could see why.  It's heartbreaking to hear her recount learning he was selling drugs, when she'd never thought her kid was going to be one of those guys on the corner, and then so heartwarming to watch her walk around the kennels with him as he excitedly told her things about each dog, realizing he has a job he does well, is passionate about, and where he's respected.  When the first thing Earl says upon meeting her is "This is a good man right here", her face is everything. 

[Bastet]

Ooh, love it -- I remembered the man with his young son and a dog who were looking for a second dog because he'd broken up with his long-time girlfriend, with him keeping custody of one dog and her the other, and the son and the dog were both thoroughly depressed without the other dog.  But I had forgotten his dog wasn't neutered, and Tia said in order for them to adopt to him, he had to get his dog neutered; even though whatever dog they adopt to him will be spayed, it's a matter of principle that dogs need to be fixed.

It's the same episode with Beast and his owner, an unhoused woman living in an abandoned hotel who would only agree to being taken to the hospital if the outreach workers promised to find temporary care for Beast.  I love the way VRC interacted with her, and how grateful she was (I think she even volunteered to come back and help them).

They're picking good episodes for this marathon (Rita and Charlie Brown were in the last one)!

[Warg2929]

On 2/22/2020 at 10:06 PM, Bastet said:

Picking which 22 dogs to send to the prison program was a huge task; this is their audition to establish an ongoing relationship that will result in VRC dogs getting out monthly, so they want to pull together the absolutely perfect group for that environment.  I can only imagine the thinking, deliberating, and testing that resulted in the big play group we saw.

Fancy was among the dogs, which reminds me that I had today's repeat episodes on in the background while I painted window trim, and laughed again at how she got her name -- M2 dances around to Reba McEntire while cleaning, and the then-newly rescued dog was really into it.  Fancy hugging Tia when Tia was leaving and Tia saying, "Don't do this to me, you'll be fine" resulted in a teary smile here.

And, of course, Cavalier.  She is fast!  "It takes her coming to prison to be free" is right -- she was chained up, then at VRC she had leashed walks and play time in small groups, but now she has that gigantic prison yard to sprint around in.  She needs to go to someone with a big yard.

Which I'm sure she will.  It's always, when transferring dogs to another rescue/program, a big leap of faith to say okay, you'll be the ones screening and selecting their adopters when the time comes.  But Amy from DAWGS clearly knows her stuff.  It was great to see how many volunteers she had lined up for the arrival of the newest batch of dogs.  (And a nice kudo to VRC for DAWGS to say they've never before received such organized medical history on dogs they've taken from other rescues/shelters.)

We desperately need - for the dogs, and the inmates - more programs like that in this country.  It makes me angry that we don't; like Tia said, they're crucial.  I wish we'd been able to see the inmates as they met their new pals.

Warg loves car rides!  Like Lizzie said, it's a good thing since he doesn't fit in any of their crates.  I don't find him a particularly attractive dog, and he's significantly bigger than a lot of people are interested in, so I absolutely love that someone fell in love with him online and drove down from Michigan to meet him.

His adoption is another illustration of how VRC doesn't have bright-line rules that unreasonably keep good owners from adopting a dog who's right for them.  His adopters have only been together a year and a half.  Sure, statistically, they're probably going to break up at some point during Warg's life.  But they're good dog owners; they'll figure out custody, and, if not, VRC will take him back.  It's not a reason to refuse adoption.  And they've just moved in to their together place, so the yard doesn't yet have the kind of fence he needs.  They'll put one in, and will use a long line in the interim.  Again, not a reason to refuse given their history of dog ownership and commitment to doing right by this one.

Jones's recovery was impressive, and he's beautiful; I hope someone falls in love with him.

Great episode!

 

Ya!!! We are still together and had a baby in 2021! He is the best big brother anyone can have. He s loves the snow and loves his daily walks! Hopefully we can beat those statistics, but for now he is still in a loving home with us! We give them updates all the time!! 

[Bastet]

Glad to hear the happy update!  And I'm sure VRC loves that you stay in touch about him; they see such awful things, I bet someone having a down moment is cheered right up when a picture from one of their adopters shows up in their email.

[Bastet]

Oh, no!  Remember Lucky, the dog Tia unsuccessfully tried to catch for weeks, and then a mother and daughter came in saying they'd found a dog drowning in a canal and called Animal Control to come save him, but now they're scared the shelter will euthanize him, and when they showed Tia the picture it was him so she went and got him?  That was in an episode, and then in other episodes we sometimes heard her tell the rest of the story, which was that he was unadoptable due to his aggression, so she took him home, where he initially didn't even like her, but then she got sick and he curled up with her and never left her side again.

He died two days ago.  Out of the blue, he collapsed, and died on the way to the vet.  It turned out he had cancer, and a tumor had burst, causing him to bleed out.  Tia is, of course, beside herself; this is the text of the Facebook post my friend sent me a link to:

Quote

TODAY MY HEART WAS TAKEN FROM ME

They say love comes when you least expect it. So does grief. The king of my castle, my protector, the four-legged face of Pit Bulls & Parolees, was taken from me today.

I rushed Lucky to the vet this morning after he threw up his food and then laid down and couldn't get up and was breathing pretty heavily. I got as far as the grocery store (about 10 miles from my house) when I got a feeling and pulled over and leaned over the back seat. Lucky was gone. He had passed away in my car and right then and there my life fell apart. I sat in the parking lot and screamed like a wild animal in pain because at that point, that's what I was.

Through a waterfall of tears, I continued on to the vet where they performed a necropsy (autopsy) and found several tumors attached to various main organs in Lucky's body. They were situated in locations that were not detectable thru an x-ray, etc. and even if spotted earlier were inoperable. One of them had burst and Lucky had bled out in the back seat of my Hummer. Four tumors and that dog never showed any weakness until today.

As many of you know and have felt yourselves, the pain is crippling. I can't even breathe and my heart wants to burst out of my chest. I had always thought Lucky would die from old age and together we would hate the world until we both passed. Because that's how we rolled. He didn't like anything human and I backed him up on that decision. Losing him so suddenly and not being able to say goodbye has destroyed me.

It was 11 years ago that he "picked me". We had just rescued him out of the shelter after he had been saved by them while spotted drowning in a canal. Upon bringing him back to our facility, he tried to eat everyone and was so aggressive that I had to remove him for everyone's safety and brought him to my house where he still wanted to eat me as well.

I had pushed his crate to my back door and let him out (that was the routine so I didn't have to touch him) and laid back down with a migraine. Apparently, I hadn't closed the back door well enough, and he pushed it open, snuck in and I was awakened to him licking my migraine away. And from that moment on, we were inseparable.

Our 11 years together is something that I will never be able to replace nor will I ever take on another dog to do so. He is a legend and I will forever keep him on the throne in my mind. He will always be my king for life.

To my ride or die, may we take many more road trips together in the afterlife. Until then, my broken heart will only beat for you.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Bastet

[Bastet]

And now for a happier update:

A PA prison dog program VRC's Dani is now overseeing (the facility started a program in 2016, in coordination with another rescue, but then stopped bringing in any new dogs due to pandemic visitor restrictions; early this year, it started up again now in partnership with VRC) got a nice write-up.  Right now, there are nine inmate handlers caring for four dogs, and Dani visits weekly.

That article concludes with a great story about an inmate who was released in 2021 and took the dog he'd been training with him; shortly before the pandemic restrictions put the program on a very long hold, Irvin Moore, serving a life sentence, was assigned Fred, a 140-pound Saint Bernard:

Quote

He was told that Fred was an impossible case, a dog with no name recognition who only ate and slept all day. But after three days, Fred knew his name, listened to basic commands and followed Moore around Block E without a leash.

Soon enough, Fred became a household name at Rockview — taking trips to the infirmary, mental health ward and “the hole,” which Moore said is the area of Rockview that houses inmates with infractions and more violent behavior. “(Administration said) take him over there to the hole; it’ll change the mood of the total environment there,” Moore said. “You would hear guys say, ‘Fred is coming! Fred and Mr. Irvin are coming!’ So, we virtually had the run of that place.” The day Moore found out his sentence was commuted, he said he was overjoyed with the idea of living on his own — the first time since 1969.

“But immediately, I thought about Fred,” Moore said. “I said, ‘Oh, what am I gonna do? …. I’m gonna have to leave him.’” Just a moment later, the superintendent handed Moore another piece of paper from the governor’s office: a signed release “in the case of Fred Moore the Dog.” “I just lost it. I fell down to my knees, tears everywhere,” Moore said. “I mean, I’m just like a blubbering fool.”

Moore had one day to pack his things and take Fred to live with him in a halfway home in Johnstown. Shortly after, Moore and his canine best friend moved to State College, where Moore now works for Penn State’s College of Education through the Restorative Justice Initiative. Advocating for more progressive prison initiatives, like the puppy program, and teaching people about the justice system from experience, Moore is working to support incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals like himself. Since leaving Rockview, Moore said he hasn’t let anything get him down, even when Fred died from bone cancer on July 18, 2022: the anniversary of Moore’s arrest.

A day that usually reminded Moore of his deepest regrets now reminds him of the fond memories he made with the fluffy friend who was freed alongside him. “We were saving the lives of the dogs themselves,” Moore said, “and the dogs didn’t realize it, but they were virtually saving our lives as well.”

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Bastet

[Bastet]

Popping up again to say if you have any money to spare, and would like to donate to VRC as thanks for the years of enjoyment they brought us with this show, now would be a particularly helpful time to do it: 

On Monday, a good samaritan arrived with an utterly emaciated dog that had shown up at her apartment the night before (she'd called VRC, they said they'd take her, but the next morning, and even though the woman was not allowed pets in her apartment, she risked getting in trouble to keep her overnight), and while they were getting that intake handled, an asshole showed up saying he had a pair of pits and was going to throw them and their litter of six puppies in the river if VRC didn't take them.  When he came back with the dogs, he brought three adults and 16 puppies!  These were multiple litters, obviously, some newborns, and as he was dumping them off, he was smacking the puppies around.  He'd have made good on the threat; those 19 dogs would have been killed if VRC hadn't agreed to take them.

Between that disaster and their usual, they had 23 dogs dumped on them in one day!  Employees were in tears as they scrambled to find places to put new kennels up.

(One of their rescue transport partners is going to take a momma and her litter of seven and they have a couple of local foster homes lined up for some of the other puppies.  But still.  For a rescue already drowning in dogs, that was a huge unanticipated increase in expenses.)

[Megan]

Have Lizzy and Moe divorced? She started popping up in my IG feed and she looks very different and he is nowhere to be seen.

 

 

[Gramto6]

As much as I can find on google, Lizzy & Moe were still together in 2022 nothing newer reported. Another article says they prefer to live a private life now.

Mariah and Marcel are divorced.

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, Megan said:

Have Lizzy and Moe divorced?

I'm not sure.  Whenever Tia talks (on social media) about Lizzy's dog training services, she still refers to her as "my daughter-in-law", so I didn't think so, but you got me curious and Lizzy's Instagram shows she has dropped the -Chock from her last name and she and the kids now live in upstate NY, seemingly without Moe (based both on his absence from the pictures and some of the comments).  But she still promotes VRC events and dogs, so hopefully whatever is going on is an amicable situation.

Edited November 16, 2023 by Bastet

[Bastet]

Dammit!  The GA prison dog program (at Gwinnett County Jail) showcased in the season three finale has been put on indefinite hiatus; tomorrow is the last day and there's still one dog left in need of a home.  The facility will be undergoing a massive reconstruction, and somehow that means no dogs -- the jail is being renovated so that the growing population of inmates who need "specialized custodial resources near our in-house hospital" have better access; the unit currently housing the jail dogs program, which is right across from the hospital, will be reallocated to inmates who need to be in a first floor cell with easy access to the hospital.

Okay, that's great, but why can't the dog program be relocated?  The sheriff's department spokesperson said "We conducted an extensive search for an alternative location that can accommodate the program, and determined there are no other suitable options that can meet its specific needs during the construction period”.  I find that hard to believe.

Construction projects like these take years; that's a very long time for the inmates to go without this important program and a whole lot of dogs who will be euthanized in shelters now that this program is no longer available to place them in.

The sheriff is up for re-election next year, and two of his opponents have already said they'll reinstate the program if elected.

[Lisa418722]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

The sheriff is up for re-election next year, and two of his opponents have already said they'll reinstate the program if elected.

I hope everyone in Gwinnett County votes this sheriff out of office.  Programs like this help the dogs and the prisoners. As well as saving the dogs' lives, it helps the prisoners' mental health and gives them something to look forward to daily. 

[Bastet]

VRC will be closing down its New Orleans location.  They're staying in Louisiana (and Texas, where their wolf dog sanctuary is, and West Virginia, where the prison dog program is run), but with donations down so much they can't afford the rent and utilities in the city anymore.  The dogs will be divided up between the Assumption Parish location (which she owns, so the overhead is a lot cheaper) and some smaller ones in various Louisiana locations she owns -- they have enough room for everyone. 

This is the latest casualty of that dreadful David Zaslov (the head of Warner Bros. Discovery who has made more bad decisions since the merged company formed than I have seen in all its previous iterations combined) effectively killing Animal Planet.  Tia said when they rented and and started fixing up that great new warehouse, they were getting ready to film a new season of the show, so the network would be paying the bills.  Then two weeks after signing the lease they didn't start filming when they were supposed to, and it took months to get confirmation Animal Planet would not be doing any more episodes.  So the past two years have been up to her to pay for, and she cannot do it anymore given the rescue's financial situation; with the way things are for shelters and rescues nationwide, it's clear donations aren't going to pick back up any time soon.

[heatherchandler]

On 1/4/2024 at 5:28 PM, Bastet said:

This is the latest casualty of that dreadful David Zaslov (the head of Warner Bros. Discovery

He really is an awful man, I expect he will go down in flames soon enough but the damage has already been done.

[Bastet]

Remember the episode with Mr. Murray, who'd taken in Red, the dog his neighbor was mistreating, but Red and his other dog, Brownie (who Mr. Murray had taken in off the street), would get into it, so he had them tied up so they couldn't get to each other?  Red wasn't feeling well, so Mariah took him to the vet, where he unfortunately died.  Mr. Murray was devastated, and afraid he was going to lose Brownie, too, after learning he had heart worms, but he pulled through.

Then in a later episode, VCR got a call from the shelter that a dog chipped to them had been turned in -- now Mr. Murray had died, and his family either took Brownie to the shelter or turned him loose and he wound up at the shelter, I don't recall.

Tia posted that Brownie died recently after a long battle with cancer.  She didn't mention an adopter, so I guess he lived out his days at VRC.  Sad, but he'd have died long ago if left at the shelter, so at least he had love.

(Their donations remain extremely low - and, remember, they do NOT get residuals from the reruns Animal Planet continues to air - so here's a link for instructions on all the various ways to donate money.  And here are links to their Amazon and Chewy wish lists to send items.  And, of course, you can subscribe to Tia's online network, Rabid Reality, to watch Life With the Underdogs [basically a continuation of this series] and Pit Bulls & Parolees and a Producer [reminiscences and behind the scenes info, episode by episode, about this series].  If anyone can help, even a little, this is a great time to do it.)