Tails in the 'Hood- Volume 2

So we had another Tails in the 'Hood excursion this weekend. This is what Jason, my partner in crime, had to say about it:

I headed out to meet my good friend Ami Ciontos from Atlanta Underdog Initiative, her friend Drew and our new friend Tracy Bishop, who is a contributor to The Stubby Dog project. Tracy wanted to see what Tails in the hood was all about. Got to Ami's and we all jumped in the Truck. A few days ago, while Ami was on the way to work, she came across a man walking a beautiful pitbull, Ami rolled down the window to her car and complimented the man on having a beautiful pit. The man said she needed a home. Ami had to go to work, so she called her husband David and had David go speak to the man. Turns out the man has 5 dogs and needs some help as he is in between jobs. We went over and spoke with him today. The man's name is Jermaine. We provided him with some great food and we are scheduling appointments to get some of his dogs fixed. A great day.. But wait.. It gets better.

While we are taking with Jermaine, he mentions that there is a female pit that is roaming the block with 5 or six puppies in tow. He says the dog comes and knocks over his garbage looking for food. Jermaine described where the dog lived. Of course Ami knew who it was.. Good old Earl and his pitbulls.. Every heat ,there's a litter... Ami has been helping Earl by providing him with food for his pits for a while now. She could never get him to fix his dogs. We decided to take a ride to go visit Earl..We brought Earl some dog food. He was very appreciative. Ami asked him if he's ready to get his dog fixed yet. He said he is, as soon as the pups are old enough, and Momma dog dries out. We are taking her in to get spayed.. Wait it gets even better...

You remember the last video from Tails in the Hood? The young man Kevin from the Bully Education Rally? He's the one who we brought some food and a crate for his dog. He had the pregnant blue pup in the yard. We decided to go check up on him and the pups. Kevin wasn't home, but his mom was. We were just in time, as they were running out of dog food. We left Kevin's mom with a few bags of food. He was out with the female, Lady at the store. His mom informed us that she didn't have the pups yet. His big male, Rocky ,broke off his lead and ran away. They have not found him yet.

As we drove away, we spotted Kevin walking Lady. We stopped the truck and got out to see them. Lady, either wasnt pregnant, or she lost the pups, because it has been to long for her not to have given birth, and that's a blessing! We double parked the truck and blocked the road to play with Lady and talk with Kevin.. Guess what? We are scheduling an appointment for her to get fixed this week! Can you feel me? Can the day get better than that? I was so happy, I gave Kevin a Friends to The Forlorn Pitbull Rescue T shirt for free.. (my mother bought hers). We are going to get Kevin and Lady some more food and teach him how to take care of her, the right way.

Now we were on a roll... We went after Fletcher, Kevin's friend who is about 14 and a hustler. He breeds his pitbulls every chance he gets. We drove up to his house. He wasn't home. We dropped of some food with his dad. As we were backing out of the parking spot, I notice Fletcher by the neighbors house across the street. Ami called out to him..Poof! Vanished into thin air.. He knew why we were there. Fletcher, we are coming for you buddy, you can run, but you can't hide forever.. Round 1 goes to Fletcher! May the Pitbull be with you..

A received a call from my friend Susie, from Animal Action Rescue a few days back. She mentioned that she saw some neighborhood kids running pitbulls with car tires attached to their necks. There were multiple dogs that were chained up in their back yard. Susie was afraid they were up to no good. I told her I was heading to Ami's and we would check it out.

Off to Decatur we went. We passed the address and nothing was going on. We came around the block again, and noticed the house next to the address where the dogs were, was vacant and for sale. That gave us an excuse to pull in the drive way and have a look around. As we pull up, there were 2 young men in their early 20s, smoking a blunt. They had three pits in the yard. We looked around the house pretending to be interested in buying it. I asked the guys if they were selling the pits, they replied they will be soon. I started talking to them and checking on the dogs while doing so. The dogs were not mistreated and physically looked good. No scars and well fed. Ami and I were playing with the pups.

Our new friend GK and his partner are trying to start a kennel and breed weight pulling dogs. I came clean and told him we were there to check up on them to make sure they weren't doing wrong by the dogs. He just wants to breed and weight pull. Ami and I explained about vaccinations, proper care of the dogs and about the pitbull problem across the country. It seems GK and his boy are in a gang and they want to sell these dogs for big $$$.

Ami and I showed them all the pits we have rescued from the pound because somebody wanted to breed them for big $$$. I told them that I would introduce them to our friend Paul, who does professional weight pulling. We also told them we would help them learn how to vaccinate and provide their dogs with heartworm prevention. We gave them a few bags of food and exchanged #'s. Ami and I suggested they can get into training dogs and make money. We called our good friend Byron, from B good Dog behavior Modification. Byron is a great trainer, who used to breed pits.

I am going to pick up Paul and Byron and we are taking are two new pitbull breeding friends for lunch, then we are going to the pound to see all the pitbulls that are going to be killed this week. I dont use the term euthanasia.. I say killed. When a perfectly good healthy dog dies in a pound..Its killed, not euthanized. Hopefully our new gangbanging friends will see the light. They are willing to go.. thats a start and a perfect finish to a great weekend. In rescue, you cant ask for anything more. Stay tuned as you we be seeing a lot more of us... Until the next time. Thanks for your support..Thanks Drew and Tracy for coming along.. We appreciate you..

Tails in the 'Hood

Want to see the work we do? Look at the videos below. This is taking to the streets and getting the word out. I'm not quite sure what we'll call it, but I'm leaning towards "Tails in the 'Hood". Atlanta Underdog Initiative and Friends to the Forlorn are teaming up to reach the pit bull owners who need the education the most, and we're starting on the Southside of Atlanta.

If you're in Atlanta and you want to help us with this effort let us know! We welcome all the help we can get. You only need to have a passion for dogs, the ability to not judge someone and be able to keep a level head no matter the circumstances. This work isn't easy, but we have to gain the trust of the people who need the education and build a relationship with them in order to help them become better pet owners. It's the best way to start to improve our communities, one dog at a time:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKxGAe-ydIs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6-VryYcs1k

This is what Jason wrote about our adventure from that weekend:

After picking up the food donation from Palena with Sanctuary Animal Refuge, I headed into Atlanta to meet up with Ami Ciontos, The staff from Lifeline, The Coalition to Unchain Dogs and the HSUS where we helped at a free rabies clinic and food give away. We provided the public with rabies vaccines, free Halo Dog and Cat food and spay and neuter assistance.. It was nice to see all the pits getting their shots.. Some people even agreed to get their dogs fixed.. Dog of choice .. Pitbulls.


After heading back to Ami's neighborhood, We delivered a new crate and some Halo dog food to a 16 year old boy that came to the Bully Rally. Ami and I were trying to educate this young man on proper and responsible ownership. . We also taught him how to care for his dogs and how to crate train them. We are trying to gain his trust so we can make sure the pups from his pregnant female end up in safe homes. We are trying really hard to get him to fix his dogs.. This is what we will be doing.. Reaching out to the lower income, High pitbull population areas. All in Time.

Oldie but Goodie-

I was browsing through some old emails and I came across this in my stuff. It's from 2006 when we first moved to SW Atlanta. The 'hood has improved since this happened, but we still have a long way to go!

AUGUST 21, 2006:

David and I are dog-sitting Zeus, a beautiful blue male pit that's about a year and a half old while his foster mom is out of town getting married and honey mooning and such. He's up for adoption on the K9 Rescue League page in GA. Anyway, we took our usual 2 mile walk around 11:30 pm on Saturday. We like this time because it's not so hot out and there aren't too many people in the streets. We usually get to the Chevron station then turn around and come home. I was walking Boss and Lady and David had Zeus and Lenox. Due to Boss's intolerance for other dogs, David was about 50 feet or so behind me.

I heard a dog barking across the street from the Chevron station at a transmission shop. Curious as I am, I stopped and looked across the street. I couldn't see anything, so I asked David if he could see a dog. He said yes, it's a beautiful black pit with a solid white head. Right then, I did see him and he's a beauty. Then, some guy in a wife beater shirt looking like Dibo from the movie Friday came out of the transmission shop and unhooked the dog from the chain. The dog starting running around behind the fence. Then the guy started to unwrap the chain from the gate. I have no idea what his intentions were, but I took Boss and Lady and said to David, "Let's Go".

Next thing I know, David screams "PICK UP BOSS, NOW!!!" So I obliged and had a hell of a time picking up my writhing, wiggling dog that was trying his best to break away from me and also hold on to Lady Red. I finally had a hold of them and I turned to see that dog flying across the street straight for David, Zeus and Lenox. The guy at the transmission shop screamed "Mike, get back here!" and half-heartedly ran across the street after him. David secured his grip on Zeus and Lenox with one hand and grabbed "Mike" by his collar and pinned him to the ground with the other hand. Thank God that Zeus and Lenox aren't dog aggressive, and apparently Mike isn't either.

The guy who let Mike out came up and grabbed him by his ear and made him cry out. When he did that, Lenox lunged for the guy and growled because he was hurting the dog. I have NEVER, EVER heard Lenox growl at anyone or anything and it's pretty damn scary. The guy jumped back and screamed. Mike got away from him and Zeus managed to break his harness at the same time. Both dogs ran into the street together and were almost hit by a car. David threw Lenox's leash to a guy on the sidewalk and said "Hold my dog" and dove for Zeus. I couldn't get too close to grab Lenox because there would have been a horrible dog fight if Boss had gotten away from me.

David got Zeus under control and took Lenox from the guy on the sidewalk. For those of you who have met David you know that he's very laid back and mild mannered. Well, he wasn't that night. He came unglued on the guy and said "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?? ARE YOU RETARDED?" Well, it was all down hill from there. The guy, let's call him Dibo because that's who he looked like, was surprised and offended that this white guy was yelling at him and he started in on David with the racial slurs, except for he was referring to David as "Nigga and bitch"...Then this crack ho that had been in the shop with Dibo comes out and starts screaming across the street at me "What you lookin' at? You a white bitch"...of course I didn't make matters any better when I screamed at Dibo, "He's a cracker...get your racial slurs right!"..and to the woman, "I'm lookin' at your toothless ass"...then after a long pause the crack ho yells "White trash!!" at us like she was coming up with the winning answer to a quiz show or something...it was pure mayhem. The guy was in the street going back to the shop in the midst of the screaming match, but he took a step back towards David like he was going to be stupid enough to try to hit him or something and then he thought the better of it when he looked over at me and saw Lady Red practically foaming at the mouth to get at him because he was yelling at her daddy. He yelled at us that we had vicious dogs that need to be kept on chains. Yeah buddy, we're REALLY going to take dog ownership advice from the likes of YOU!

Everyone had stopped to watch the madness...even cars in the street were stopped...people pumping gas at Chevron were staring in amazement, and people in the Chevron had come outside. All this because the idiot let the dog out of the gate. People were asking if we were ok and saying to just leave that guy alone because he's stupid and knows he's "dead wrong for that". I called the cops about the incident but they wouldn't do anything about it. The little weenie of a white cop they sent out said there's nothing he can do because that's not his zone and because it's an animal control issue. Ummm, ok, then why didn't they send out a cop from the correct zone? Since there was no bite and no one was assaulted there was no incident to report....The cop said that even if he did make a report the judge would throw it out because the judge that hears their cases throws EVERYTHING out, even crack violations and trespass charges. If this had been my old 'hood that is now yuppie central that guy would have been paid a visit by the po-po.....oh well, welcome to the ghetto!

Updates!

So, it's been a long time coming, but as of August 2009 we are officially licensed by the Georgia Department of Agriculture! Our group is called Atlanta Underdog Initiative. We focus on the rescuing and rehoming pit bulls and mastiffs. We also seek to educate the public and advocate on behalf of the dogs we rescue.

Our website domain has been purchased. Now I'm just waiting on the logo to be complete and waiting to get our 501(c) 3 status. We've filed for incorporation with the state, but it takes a while to get the rest of it done. Once we've got everything in order I'll be sure to blog about it!

As for our dog updates, we've had lots of changes!

Honeybunch has been adopted by our friends Sarah and Daren. They adore Bunch and she has really blossomed with them! She is doing advanced tricks and is doing great in her new home! Here's a pic of her doing tricks with Basil, one of our fosters and one of the Missouri 500:

If you aren't familiar with the Missouri 500, you can read about them here, and bear in mind that sweet and tiny Basil is looking for his forever home:


bhmsr.com/?page_id=55




As for Ms. Gracie, she has been adopted by our cousins Jonny and Khristina Aldea. Gracie had surgery on her other ACL in December, (the first one was in May) and she has recovered beautifully! Initially we thought that David's co-worker was going to adopt her, but he totally flaked out on us the DAY Gracie came out of surgery. Thankfully our good friends Diana and Paulina (who also happen to be our former foster Cha-cha's moms) stepped up and helped us by fostering Gracie during a large portion of her recovery period. In February Jonny mentioned he'd like to adopt a dog and it just so happened that they met Gracie and fell in love with her. We couldn't be happier that things have worked out so well for our sweet girl! Here's a pic of her chewing on her Michael Vick chew toy:










Last but not least, Rosie has officially become part of the Ciontos pack. I asked David what he wanted for his birthday and for Valentine's Day and he told me he wanted me to remove Rosie's adoption postings so we can officially keep her. So, Rosie is the fourth perma-pit to join the Ciontos pack. Welcome home Butterpants!

In a separate post I'll blog about recent news and our dogs currently available for adoption!

Pit Prints FINALLY exposed!

For many years now Georgia rescuers have know about Pit Prints and the shady, under-handed tactics of organization president Amanda Conrad. Through several months of hard work and a dedicated woman named Liz Henderson, Amanda Conrad has finally been exposed for the fraud that she is!

See the Fox 5 I-Team reports here:

www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/i-team:-pit-prints-030110

www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/i-team:-pit-prints-pt.-2-030210

A special thanks goes to Randy Travis, the Fox 5 I-Team reporter who did these reports, and to Liz Henderson and Jennifer Dragon for coming forward and telling their stories.

THIRD ANNUAL ATLANTA BULLY RALLY!!

The 3rd Annual Atlanta Bully Rally was awesome! Special celebrity guest Victoria Stilwell of Animal Planet's It's Me or the Dog was in attendance. We also had a clicker training demo from Lifeline Animal Project and two pups in need of a home were adopted from Fulton County Animal Services. All in all it was a great day! To see pics from the event please visit this link:

http://atlk9luvr.smugmug.com/Events/Atlanta-Bully-Rall/10103891_ZyBGz/1/693867304_qn5oU#693867304_qn5oU

Gumby is doing therapy work!

I'm not sure how many of you remember Gumby, the pitiful nearly toothless crusty old pit bull that wandered up to my house in Atlanta in February of 2008. Thanks to your help he was saved and got a chance to live life as a cherished pet. Anyway, I wanted to share some good news! Gumby is so thankful for his second chance at a happy life that he is giving back in the form of doing therapy work. I got these awesome pics and an update from his mom, Liz.

He has truly retired to Florida in old man style! He's even hanging out at the retirement home entertaining the residents with his antics when Liz goes to visit her dad. Liz says that everyone there loves Gumby! I just wanted to share this news, and give you all an update on how Gumby is doing.

Mama's Babies

Just wanted to post some pics of my beautiful babies!

This is Lady Red. She is my constant companion and my heart dog. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. She will be 10 years young in October!

This is Boss. I brought him home from Oakland, CA in 2002. He had been thrown from a moving car onto the freeway. A woman and her grandson saw it happen and pulled over to help him. They weren't able to keep him, but he was lucky to get into rescue. I went out to San Franciso on other dog related business and to see some friends. The people I stayed with had Boss and way too many foster animals in a tiny 3 bedroom ranch house. Only I would bring home a pit bull souvenir! He will be 10 years young in April.

This is Lenox. My friend Jennifer pulled him out of Clayton County AC because his time was up and he was too sweet to die. She was fostering Lenox and wanted me to come along to do a homecheck for him. As it turns out, the guy who adopted Lenox was awesome, and he and I really hit it off. We're now married and live in downtown Atlanta with our 3 babies, assorted foster dogs and in an old house on a large lot.

Long Overdue Updates!

Well, it's been a busy couple of months at the Ciontos household.

Unfortunately we have gotten three of our fosters back.

Gracie came back to us in November after her "forever" family broke up and went their separate ways. She had surgery on May 11, 2009 to repair a torn cruciate ligament in her left rear knee. She is currently in foster care while she recovers. Many thanks to all who donated towards her surgery and a HUGE thanks to the kind folks that have opened their hearts and homes to our girl as she recovers.

Gracie is a Pit Bull/ Treeing Walker Coonhound mix. She was rescued from animal control as a tiny pup. After her original rescuer could no longer handle her, she came to us. She was adopted in May of 2007 to a family with a cat. Unfortunately, the family cat is declawed and not used to dogs, and Gracie could not be broken of chasing and tormenting him. What would you expect out of a dog with such an impressive hunting heritage?

Gracie is a very intelligent girl. She has an amazing drive to fetch and retrieve and would make an excellent tracking dog. She is currently 2.5 years old. She is fully vetted, crate trained, housebroken, heartworm negative and on preventative and leash trained. She plays fine with other dogs, but will not be adopted into a home with cats. Gracie is an extremely intelligent dog, and she needs a home that will mentally stimulate her.

Rosie was adopted by a friend of mine in December, but due to him recently losing his job and him having to go back to school and work nights, she came back to us in late April.

Rosie was half dead from starvation when she was found walking down a busy Atlanta street in February of 2008. She is now a robust and rather healthy girl. She has obviously been bred a few times and has several scars. I don't know that she has been fought, but I do believe that she has had to fend for herself on the streets. Rosie is very good with all people, and gets along well with all the foster dogs that come and go. She is a patient and caring "mama" for our foster puppies, and the first dog to befriend our new fosters as they come in. No cats, please. If you are looking for an easy going low maintenance bully, Rosie is your girl. She's doing her famous "Poker Dog" pose in this pic.

Honeybunch was in her forever home, but due to an accident involving one of the children she lived with, she had to come back to us in late April. The 3 yr old boy she shared a home with and adored fell out of a two story window and was seriously injured. His skull is fractured and could take months to heal. During that time he cannot be bumped or risk falling again, so the family decided the best thing to do is find a home for Honeybunch, also known as "Bunch".

Honeybunch is a beautiful young female American Pit Bull Terrier. She was originally rescued from St. John Parish Animal Control in Louisiana. She is approximately 3 years old. She was in a home with two young children and was very good with them, but due to circumstances that are no fault of hers, she is back in rescue and ready for a forever home.

Honeybunch has gorgeous green eyes and a soft blonde coat. She is extremely affectionate with people, does well with other dogs and is ready for a forever home of her own. She is housebroken, fully vaccinated, spayed, heartworm negative and on preventative. She is a very petite girl, weighing in at 39 lbs. Honeybunch is a lot of love in a little package!

For more information on any of these dogs, please contact Ami at amiela@gmail.com

On the adoption front, we also took in and placed 3 Dogo Argentinos since November of 2008.

Lola was labeled as a pit bull by Rockdale County, GA animal control and was set to be put to sleep. Someone sent her pic to me and I realized that she was at least a Dogo mix, if not a purebred dogo.

Lola is a sweetheart of a girl and was adopted by my husband's co-worker, John. We have also recruited John as a foster home for pit bulls, and he also has Dexter, a male pit pulled from Dekalb County, GA animal services. For more info on Dexter, please e-mail me!

Aslan came to us from Americus, GA. He was a sad looking mess when he arrived because he was painfully thin. That's no longer the case now! He was adopted in to his forever home in November of 2008. He lives with a rescued female pit bull named Coke, and Jacob, Britt and baby Israel.

Alba was rescued out of Henry County animal control. She was about 10 weeks old when we got her, but now she's almost 6 months old and is getting big! She was fostered by our friends Warren and Olivia, and she quickly became a foster failure. Alba loves to play with other dogs. We see her almost every weekend since they bring her over to play with Boss, Rosie and Bunch.

We also adopted out Jetta into her forever home in January of 2009. She now lives with Stallone, Sheeta, and her moms, Diana and Paulina. They have changed her name to Cha-Cha.

We adopted Rambo into his forever home in April of 2009. He now lives with Jennifer and Rob in Woodstock, GA.

And finally, we adopted Nellie to Orlando and Veronica in May of 2009: