out in Iowa and back at home in Oakland

There are always so many unspoken heroes behind the scenes of those larger criminal cases involving dog fighters. They stay in the background while making us look good by helping us get the dogs to safety. I was glad when Rita Mason (below) and Scott Wilson gave us the okay to tell people who they are.

Rita is your federal government, ladies and gentleman: US Marshals Service, Southern District of Iowa. And not only did she search out help for the bust dogs that landed in her state, she rooted for each dog during their evaluations and even had her heart broken when a favorite male showed some troubled behavior. (Read: She wept) Scott Wilson, Operations Manager of Animal Rescue League of Iowa, is another helper who was rooting for the dogs. His shelter does not adopt out pit bulls, so it was extra special to have his and his staff's (Karen!) support. He smoothed our visit to the Des Moines shelter in a big way, stayed through almost every evaluation and hugged on every dog that ended up near his lap.

Thanks also to Maureen McGuire, Assistant U.S. Attorney, for bringing our recommendations to the judge and securing the dogs' release. And to Shane Bunn, Assistant Counsel to the Inspector General USDA, for contract help.

This group of dogs they've been focusing their energies on are so very important because they represent a teeny bit of hope to this state that's littered with a whole lotta bad news for pit bulls including breed restrictions and bans. So helping their bust dogs became a mission to help more than just the bust dogs: It meant demonstrating to Iowans that pit bulls matter, including the ones that most would cancel out without a second thought. We knew we had to get involved, but we didn't know how we would be received until we met these big hearts during our visit. What a pleasure.

A Positive from Iowa News - News Video
This past Sunday, four of the dogs left their kennels for good. This report documenting their departure gave me goosebumps. A Rotta Love Plus made the nine hour round trip to gather up the dogs they'd selected during evaluations and staffy bull devotee Kristi Johnson came to collect Ernie, a goofy little cannonball on four legs. Check out the quotes in the news piece - inspired. We're just so proud of all these good people.

(Note: We're currently working to get some lucky Iowa dogs to CA.)

Back in Oakland...


Here's a screen grab of the banner we flew over the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday. There's a story behind this thing: Turns out that the local FAA rep put so much pressure on the pilot to kill this message that the pilot caved and refused the job at the very last minute. We have to wonder if this rep was a big football fan. After all, as Christine Allen reminded us, chilling first amendment rights is a big no-no. We were in a pinch at that final hour but the pilot's partner is a dog lover and felt so bad about leaving us out in the cold that he contacted his competitor and asked if they would do it instead. It's interesting how many people seem to want to quiet the outrage against Vick's return. Even more interesting when a federal agency does the chilling.

BR adopter Dona Fong was at the game and reported back on the drama: "There was a lot of clapping and shouting for the positive when the Bad Rap plane flew over. I did go into the game because most of the protesters did not and I wanted to keep the protest alive once the game started. Whenever Vick came on to the playing field, which wasn't much cause he sucked, the crowd would boo, bark and many shouted dog killer. As I walked through the crowd with my Bad Rap t-shirt on ( "It's about the dogs, Justice for the Vick-tims"), many people gave me thumbs up, or shouted "I love my pit bull" and; several made comments like Vick is a Dick or Vick sucks. I had a few heated conversations with some idiots who tried really hard to defend him by saying it was a mistake. I said a mistake is adding 5 + 5 = 9. I said what Vick did was premeditated murder of innocent animals who's only crimes were they were too nice to fight - defend that. Anyway, it was a good day for Oakland and for our beloved dogs. I bet Vick won't forget his visit here anytime soon."

Thank you for your showing your cajones, Dona. We love knowing that our hometown didn't decide to pick its navel when the Eagles came to town.