Monday, August 09, 2010

Good News Monday - the Reunion

It was a crazy busy weekend in our corners with a Shots Fair in East Oakland, packed Pit Ed classes, and several celebrated out of towners who came to help us do some work and - finally - to be reunited with a few special dog friends that they haven't seen in years.

Many hands made for lighter work at the Shots Fair: We were joined by members of the American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA), the American Bar Association (ABA), Kara Gilmore from the National Canine Research Council, Ledy Vankavage from Best Friends, and Rebecca Huss, who served as the Guardian Special Master of the Vick dogs. A true gathering of the tribes.

This particular event was especially important in light of the recent BSL scare in the bay area, so we'll devote a separate post to that news once we've all had a chance to chill out and download our pix. But for now, here's a couple of happy photos from the tail end of our long weekend.

It gave us all such a boost to work alongside so many diehards and finally, to kick back at the barn and toast the dogs with one of Tim's margarita creations. Yum.

Left: Rebecca Huss is reunited with Jonny Justice. They haven't seen each other since he was housed in a Virginia shelter. Jonny seemed more impressed with the cheese tray than the auspicious occasion, but we respect that he has his priorities worked out.


Above: A group shot with seven dogs and their people, including two ladies who helped make history for the dogs. The famous Vick dog defender is wearing her equally famous hat in the photo, and to the left, the don't-take-no-prisoners Ledy Vankavage. (Double click to see bigger) We love you, ladies. Thank you for everything.

9 comments:

who wouda thunk it?? said...

That Johnny is such an impresive little meatball!

J.M. said...

Yes a big THANK YOU to everyone.Hope to see some photos of the kickback at the barn.

Dianne said...

I hope Ledy filled you in on some of the exciting news from the conference here in DC last weekend. And have you talked Rebecca into getting a dog yet? What a nice looking group and great looking dogs.

topscratch said...

Sounds like a whirl wind weekend. I can't wait to read about the shot fair to see how much those folks enjoyed it.

Nice work!

Anonymous said...

What an impressive group! Each my hero (human and canine).

And Jonny's yawn puts it all in perspective.

s&b/mty

Donna said...

ditto on Jonny's yawn s&b. lol!

j.m. .. I'm hoping to get more photos published soon. it was a moving experience to have Rebecca there with us so I may have to edit out the extra sweet boo-hoo shots or risk the wrath of the weepers. ;-)

Boris said...

JJ,

I had a different read on the picture. It looks like you was the spokesMAN for the group.

I'm hearing a big Jonny Justice "Ciao Bella", out to all your fans. My ears are ringing with the loud "Shout-Out" to your peoples and friends that their help is needed:
- one-day to be happy,
- one-day to be sad,
now's time to get back to work.

Boris

Amy said...

Lining up with the American Dog Breeders Association is not a good idea. That group has so many ties to dogfighting that being next to them can't help but blow up in our faces.

Donna said...

Funny you should say that Amy. Many have told us that working with the HSUS was not a good idea, based on their former sins against pit bulls - bust dogs especially. We've found that there are some stellar people in both camps who've been willing to go above and beyond to help the dogs, and when it comes down to it, that's a wonderful sign of progress for the dogs, don't you think?