Team Noonie

When science finally perfects the human-cloning process, we're going to have to get busy with building an army of this woman, Nicole Rattay, and her husband Steve Smith. These guys are the diehards who flew out to VA to drive an RV with 13 Vick dogs back to CA. Nicole then went back to VA and lived in a run-down little rented apartment for six weeks so she could offer daily assessment reports to Rebecca Huss, along with exercise opps and general comfort to the sheltered dogs that were still waiting for their ticket home. We could (and should) write a long blog on what Nicole did for those Vick dogs and how her care brought so many out of kennel stress and depression.

Shown here with Bouncer now Leo, a fantastic example of the breed - destined to be a working dog (and quite likely related to Hector). Leo has a way of making toys out of anything he can get his big fat mouth on, and after demolishing a plastic garbage can for sh*ts and giggles, we knew that flying him home in a vari-kennel might cause a little bit of a problem (!) So without a second thought, Nicole raised her hand to do another coast-to-coast drive, this time solo - except for her special passenger, of course.

During the long and difficult dogs days of the Vick ordeal, Nicole learned that her three year old nephew Charlie was diagnosed with leukemia.

As you may imagine, our family was rocked by the diagnosis and the reality that came with it. Hospitals…procedures…tests…needles…chemo…all scary stuff, and bad enough when an adult is faced with these things, but try explaining the necessity of all of this to a child. Charlie has been a real trooper during his treatment. Initially of course there were battles over medication, but those are few and far between now. He understands that there are “bad guys” in his blood and the medications and healthy food are going to make them go away. (Letter from Nicole)

So what do you do in that situation besides rack up the cell phone minutes and frequent flyer miles?

What else. You shave your head in solidarity for the little guy who lost his hair.

On March 15, Nicole and Steve will be going chrome-dome as part of a St. Baldrick Fundraiser to bring attention to kids with cancer, and to raise funds for research. Cancer is the #1 disease related killer of children under the age of 14 years and currently, one in every 330 children in the United States develops cancer before the age of nineteen.

Nicole's whole family is in on this and have formed 'Team Noonie.' Noonie is the name of Charlie’s beloved softie that accompanies him to all hospital visits. If you'd like to pledge a little something to support this family, I know they would love it. Team Noonie Pledges.

Thank you!