A group of disabled Iraq war veterans is calling the date of their brush with death their Alive Day. It's a compelling way to reclaim a tragedy and use it as a point of power.
Today is the Alive Day of the Vick dogs, who were taken away by police and animal control just 12 months ago. It's worth a smile in our corners. Major kudos to our volunteer crew (not all shown here, unfortunately) for sticking it out and dealing with the chewed shoes, caveman-like dog manners (at first, anyway), Saturdays lost to training class, vet appointments, poop clean up, endless emails, prying reporters and a hundred other little surprises that come along with adventures such as these.
This photo is from People Magazine's photographer Tim Archibald. (Thanks again, Tim). I should prolly address his other photo that's on our home page now, because I know it's going to get me some grief. I've heard that some are concerned that images of our bust dogs in close proximity are going to incite trouble by giving Joe Public the green light to build up his own sofa-full of __fill-in-the-blank__ (fight bust dogs/game bred dogs/pit bulls). Is that true? I dunno.
If it is, please Joe Public, understand that our V-dogs are often shown together because 1) we cherry-picked them during our evals, in part, for their dog tolerance, 2) like good dog owners, we know their individual limits and 3) we manage and direct them well when they play so they give us their best manners. It just goes to show what's possible, given a little common sense. We're practicing what we're preaching, in other words.
Here's the sermon: Monitoring Play ...Socializing ...Multi-Dog Homes
Back to the Alive Day news, we look forward to reporting on a big rescue case in another state that isn't getting nearly the attention it deserves. Please check back soon. We're sorting through photos and news and organizing it nicely.
