This is "Peaches" who was photographed by Animal Advocates Alliance volunteer Lisa Wyatt on a Tuesday at North Central Shelter in Los Angeles. She was a sad, pathetic sight. She had made herself small enough to fit on one tiny hand towel that was placed in her run as a bed. She was clearly blind, and shaking... badly... to the point where Lisa thought she might have some kind of nerve disorder or brain damage.

She had been bred, and was still lactating, no sign of the puppies.

When Lisa inquired about her at the front, staffer Delicia exclaimed, "I love that dog!!! You have to meet her!" Lisa agreed to take some pictures and network her.

Well, Delicia was right. Peaches was amazing. Super sweet and full of life. She was an owner surrender, dumped on Sunday, and red-listed because she was blind. Peaches had until Friday before they would PTS. Lisa sent out an email blast that night.

Well, when we received Lisa's e-mail plea, it was all over for us. I just knew we had to get that dog outta there! Wednesday morning we contacted Lisa, to let her know that we would do whatever it took to save this sweet, luv a bull pitbull.

Thursday, literally hours before her euthanasia, Lisa bailed her out! "Peaches" was promptly taken to the eye doctor to have her eyes diagnosed: advanced Glaucoma due to blunt trauma. She was in severe pain (hence the nervous shaking) and needed to have an enucleation. Everyone rallied to raise funds to pay for her surgery, and a week later, her surgery was performed by Dr. Silverman at Complete Animal Eye Care, in Sherman Oaks.

Peaches recovered at Lisa's house, and three months later Peaches was on her way to Luv-A-Bull!

Her transition to Luv-A-Bull went incredibly smoothly. She bonded instantly with the other dogs.

It was exactly what she needed, and we couldn't have been more pleased.

Peaches became particularly close to Luv-A-Bull favorite "Rhino." He is pretty irresistable. Rhino would guide Peaches on the trails during their walks, and ALWAYS let her win at tug-o-war.

Peaches spent 2 months with her friends at Luv-A-Bull, and in early 2011, she was ADOPTED by an amazing family. Peaches lives in their home with their other special needs dog "Moxie" on a 40 acre farm! Peaches latest pastimes are snoozing in the sun, swimming in the creek, and riding shotgun on the ATV.

David Reeker (Peaches' new daddy) says on Facebook:

"So this is Peaches. Peaches is a rescue from a LA shelter. She has no eyes, but doesn't let that slow her down much. She is the newest member of our happy dog pack, and will live the rest of her life sniffing her way around the ranch. She is one of the sweetest beings I have ever met, and I feel very lucky to have her here."

She is truly a special girl!!!

Augustus the Magnificent

This low-rider is about 70 lbs of mellow calm gentleness. He loves all people and is extremely trusting. He loves to play with his toys and go for walks on his compact little legs. He is good with some dogs - we are still evaluating him. He is living at our sanctuary at LuvABull rescue, a nonprofit dog rescue. All of our dogs are evaluated and temperament tested by our experienced handlers. His adoption fee is $200. Please email us for an application and to make an appointment to meet this chunky guy! Please note that Luv-a-Bull rarely adopts to renters who want to adopt a Pit Bull. We give preference to home-owners with fenced yards, but try to consider every applicant on a case by case basis.

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/19306389

The ladies of Luv-A-Bull

Check out Liesl, photographer extraordinaire Kelly, and Luv-A-Bull's new mama Noelle in Eugene Weekly's feature: "Pittie People!"

We love this article!

http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2011/01/06/coverstory.html

Our boy Budhha

Dear Liesl

I almost wrote this to send out to your listserve but thought perhaps it wouldn't be appropriate so I'm writing this for you. If you'd like to send it out, it's ok. I just feel like I won't be able to sleep if I don't write down and share all the wonderful things I know about Buddha. Buddha affected everyone he met and we all have our Buddha stories but this is how I remember mine.

There aren't words for how thankful I am for your kindness to Buddha. For accepting him into your home and your pack. There is no place on this Earth that I would have rathered he spend his last months. You could see it in his face and his eyes - he was so at peace and content with you and all your sweet dogs.

When I went out to the property in Alsea, Buddha was the first dog that the sheriff's team and I met. He was chained to a short zip line. If I remember correctly, he didn't even have one of those little boxes that served as a dog house. He didn't have a bed or food. He had a dirty bowl of water. Buddha was always slightly alarming to people at first and I was no exception. For a split second I was taken back by how strong he looked, by how scarred and damaged his skin was. He readily approached the team, not wagging but curious perhaps. He took treats so gently although he must have been starving.

Like all the dogs, when he got to Heartland, he ate and ate and ate, then threw up, and then slept and slept. Over the next few days, we all commented about the senior aged dog with the haunted eyes, the "dead" eyes. We couldn't imagine the things that he had seen. Buddha was never any trouble - he just layed stoically on his bed and would watch us all pass, not lifting his head but just taking it all in. He'd take treats, eat his food with gusto and kept a clean kennel.

All the dogs were examined by vets and we started treating Buddha for his skin, which was raw, yeasty and sore. We gave him medicated baths and he would groan with pleasure, but still he never wagged. I don't remember how many weeks it was, but it was many, before he gave his first wag. I was bathing him and I heard his tail lightly beating against the side of the metal tub. I told him he was such a good boy and he wagged a little more. I kissed his face and he gave me a little lick back.

His eyes started to change :) They became brighter, more alive. He would lift his head when people walked by his kennel. Although many people told me I was crazy, I took my little four pound yorkie in his kennel to meet him. He was so gentle and kissed her little face and although it was difficult physically, he lifted his leg and urinated on the wall to impress her - she was very impressed! Later I took a two week old bottle baby kitten I was fostering to meet him and Buddha responded with the same gentle nature that I had come to expect. He licked the baby several times, lightly and that was that. Not even a little nibble.

Up until this point, I had never dared to dream that any of these dogs could be helped or saved. Despite the positive outcomes for dogs big cases like the Michael Vick case, we were a small shelter in Oregon and this was a relatively small case with only local media attention.

But I started to hope a little for Buddha. I told myself that I could live with whatever the outcome was, if I could help this one dog. But his health seemed so poor. We worked really hard to get him better.

He gained a little weight, his hair grew back - he started to frolic in the yard!! Sometimes not so gracefully and he'd trip over his feet and then shake it off like he meant to do that :) He do little mini-zooms. He'd play as hard as he could and then back to his kennel to rest.

Eventually the case was over and I took Buddha home with me. He met my 5 cats and all my kitten fosters. My cats don't really like dogs very much but as I had come to learn, there was something about Buddha that put everyone at ease. They liked him and he liked them. He would share his food with them. My yorkie and he would sleep side by side. Kittens would follow him around and bat at the tags on his collar. He would take so much care to not tread on them on the stairs - you could see him worry about how he would get around the kitten without stepping on it. He was so selfless in everything that he did.

Our shelter staff had a BBQ at a local park when the case was over. It was a time of sadness for us but we were also looking forward to moving on. We took our Buddha with us and he played with our dogs and ate hot dogs. I would see families with children in the distance and they would take one look at him and skirt the other way or go the long way around us. I would look at them and think that they had no idea that they were going out of their way to avoid an angel - a truly blessed and beautiful soul. This sweet dog who had no reason to love or trust anyone, who loved everyone.

I am so thankful for so much. I am so thankful for Liesl and her Luv-a-bulls for giving him a home for his last months. For caring for him while he was ill and continuing to treat his skin issues. I am so thankful to the sherrifs department for following up on the lead that took us out to Alsea - Buddha would have died out there, chained in the cold, alone and hungry. I'm so thankful that my friends and co-workers got to know him and love him because even we are not as enlightened as we may believe and the media's misinformation and stereotypes about pit bulls affect even us. Buddha turned every one of those stereotypes on their ear. I'm so thankful to have known him and that I was able to go say goodbye.

All my best;

Brittany

We love what P2V is doing!

We luv this non-profit program P2V, who works to match up shelter animals with active duty military and military veterans, law enforcement officers, and emergency first responders suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Time just produced this short video photographed by Gillian Laub showing how P2V uses rehabilitation through animal companionship to alleviate the psychological suffering of our nation’s heroes.

Blossom and the beginning of Luv-A-Bull

On Monday March 29, 1999, a boater traveling close to shore along Pittsburgh's three rivers, spotted a disturbing scene along the deserted shore. There, tied to a tree, was the tiny body of a Pitbull puppy, barely alive.

Upon arrival, Animal Control had to climb through a fence and down an embankment - to a spot that was not visible from the road. There they found the pitiful ten month old female pup, covered with open gashes, bite wounds, and a fractured front leg. She was no doubt used for fighting, and intentionally left there, out of sight, to die. Chained just yards away from the river, she had been straining to get a drink, and her collar had dug into her neck deeply, creating a huge open sore.

Emaciated and so dehydrated she couldn't stand, officers picked her up to carry her to safety, her tail wagged a feeble 'thank you,' and she gently licked Officer Ron Smith's face like only this breed can do. Officer Ron and Lora Bauer worked frantically to raise funds for vet care and find a foster home for this second chance dog they named "Blossom." Donations poured in and Blossom received national media attention. This is when I first learned of her.

When nobody in the entire city of Pittsburgh would adopt her, despite all the media attention she received, she was sent to “SpindleTop Pit Bull and AmStaff Rescue” in Texas. There she sat, waiting for her forever home.

One year later, I was perusing petfinder, and lo and behold, there was Blossom. After all she had been through, and after all that media attention, she was still in Texas, still waiting for her forever home. I couldn't believe it. I agreed to adopt her, and paid to have her flown to Oregon in March of 2000.

Blossom’s story made me realize that although people may be willing to donate money toward helping this tortured Pitbull, NOBODY was willing to give this Pitbull what she really needed to survive – a home.

Recently, during the night of Sept 21, she suddenly began having violent seizures. I rushed her to the emergency vet. By the next day, the doctors were fairly certain that the terrible on-going seizures were being caused by a brain tumor.

I had to make the decision to let her go. She was 12.5 years old and I had her for 10.5 years as a major part of my life.

She is the dog who inspired me to found “Luv-a-Bull” because it was as I was researching her story and her own rescue that I learned just how bad the situation is for Pit Bulls everywhere out there in the world, and I decided to start my own Pit Bull Rescue. Blossom was the start of everything.

Rest In Peace, Dear Blossom

March 1998 to September 22, 2010

A FUN fundraiser for LUV-A-BULL!

We are ready to rescue more pitbulls from over-crowded shelters, but just need a little help paying off our existing vet bills first!

Thank you to all those who have donated, and to the Heigl Foundation for their generosity.

CONTRIBUTE TODAY!

http://www.luvabullpitbullrescue.org/contribute.html