By JULIE DRAKE
Valley Press Staff Writer Original story posted here.
ACTON, CALIFORNIA - Johnny Depp and his canine entourage rushed to greet a visitor to their property with a flurry of tail wags and hand licks through a chain-link fence.
The young American Staffordshire terrier mix was rescued from death row at a shelter. Now, the happy, outgoing and well-behaved dog is awaiting adoption and a new home with a loving family.
Unfortunately, not all dogs like Johnny are as lucky.
Johnny, his canine friends Tyler and Annie and many other dogs are based on 2½ acres at actress and philanthropist Linda Blair's Rescued Animal Wellness Center.Blair formed the nonprofit Linda Blair World Heart Foundation to rescue abused and abandoned companion animals and to help draw attention to the tragic consequences of pet overpopulation and illegal dog fighting.
"I believe any companion animal is a gift," Blair said. "I believe animals are angels on earth and they rely on us for protection, as do children."Blair purchased the Acton property a couple of years ago so she would have a place to house the up to 50 dogs she is licensed to keep at any time for her rescue operation.On a tour of the property, dogs greeted the animal advocate with wagging tails and the occasional bark as she walked past.
The animal advocate knows the personality of each dog on her property, most of which are the so-called "bully breeds": the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire terrier and the American bulldog, or pit bull.
"They are like none other, extremely emotional, and if you're not prepared for it, you should not get one," she said.
The first time Blair saw a pit bull, she was afraid.The animal followed her as she was walking her dog. She admitted she was frightened of the large dog because of how the breed had been portrayed in the press."I thought I was going to be attacked and, instead, the dog's whole demeanor was not anything like the press depicted," Blair said.
She said the dog displayed signs of having been roughed up and was terrified of anyone who wore a hat. She tried unsuccessfully to find its owner and ended up adopting him instead."He brought me such happiness," Blair said.
She said the dogs are an unusual breed when you get to know them, and can be loving, loyal and, most of all, funny.
"They are as close to a human's emotions as I have found in any great dog, no matter what the breed is. … These dogs as a whole, the breed is like that, that's what most people are surprised at and that they're not what's depicted in the press," Blair said.The actress has dedicated herself to helping the dogs. She started fostering shelter dogs about 12 years ago after she had experienced losses in her life. Her mother died in 1994 and she lost two pets a couple of years later.
"It was the loss of so much that I cared about that brought me to such sadness," Blair said.Blair added she felt abandoned and lost and found herself at a crossroads in her life."I had a vision of dogs in the shelters, saying, 'What about me, where's my family; what did I do wrong?' " Blair recalled. "I realized those in the shelters felt the same way I did, and that's when I started fostering. Fostering led to rescue, and I've never looked back."
Among the dogs available for adoption at Blair's rescue center are two Hurricane Katrina survivors, Happy, a muscular but gentle hound mix who loves to play, and Holly, an American Staffordshire terrier mix.
Happy bounded toward Blair, his tail beating a fast back-and-forth rhythm as he greeted her playfully."He loves me because I saved his life," Blair said as she reached down to pet him.Blair said she understands the fear people may feel about the dogs." The reason I fight for this breed so hard is because of the prejudice, is because they have no chance," she said.The prejudice against such breeds is undoubtedly elevated whenever a story about an attack hits the news.
Last month three dogs, two of which appeared to law enforcement personnel to be pit bull-bull mastiff mixes and the other a 7-month-old Neapolitan mastiff, forced school staff members to climb onto benches and a custodian's cart to avoid getting bitten by the dogs, according to deputies.One dog was killed by gunfire from deputies fearing for their safety while the second was severely wounded and managed to walk to its home nearby before being captured, authorities said. That dog had to be euthanized because of the severity of its injuries.
Based on the information Blair heard about the case, she offered her own suggestions about why the animals were human aggressive."Dogs are not human aggressive because they're born that way; they're human aggressive because they've been abused," she said, adding that the dogs were likely abused in some way, chained up and unsocialized."Any bully breed that is chained up, which is not legal, that is unsocialized, they must be kept socialized; when they get out in a pack mentality, that is when you would have a problem."Look at the owner, it's always the owner, never the dogs, because the dogs aren't born that way; they are made or abused to become that way," she said.Blair favors more regulation on dog owners who want to keep the bully breeds. She said owners should possibly be required to have a license to show they can handle the dogs and that the animals are good canine citizens.
"If they have nothing to hide and they're a good citizen, they'd be happy to comply. But if you're a bad guy, those people would not be willing to get a license to say, 'My dog's a good citizen,' " Blair said.Blair said simple obedience training is always the best route for any dog.
Candy Clemente, a trainer who works with the dogs at Blair's foundation, said the misconception about pit bulls or the bully breeds is that they are not friendly animals.A little time spent with the dogs at Blair's rescue proves otherwise.
Blair's dogs prove that when trained, given some love and shown some compassion, they can make any family a good companion.For example, there is Marshall Tucker, an American bulldog mix with large brown spots on a short and smooth white fur coat. Marshall, who soon may go home with a family, spent most of the time during a recent visit on his back so he could get a belly rub. "That's all these dogs want is someone to pay attention to them; they are just loving dogs," said Clemente, who has been a dog trainer for nine years.
Clemente said the pit bulls or bully breeds can fall into the wrong hands, where they are kept for the wrong reasons and the wrong conditions. "They're usually in a concrete backyard, tied up, get food once a day and they're never socialized," she said. "Every single dog needs to be socialized; it's even more important than training." The nation's poor economy has been particularly rough on people and their pets.
Thousands of dogs have been abandoned at shelters or dumped elsewhere because people cannot afford to keep them - they have lost their jobs or their homes to foreclosure. Blair said it is wrong to blame the shelters. "It's not the shelter's fault, it's the pet overpopulation, the crisis; misunderstanding the bully breeds," she said.Blair urged people to have compassion and to not get mad at rescue groups but to volunteer in their communities and lend a helping hand. "We're begging people to stop dumping them in the desert, where they'll die," she said.
"We're at a crisis, and I am trying to help people realize the shelter isn't the problem; please, please adopt." She said the only way to fight pet overpopulation is for pet owners to have their dogs spayed or neutered. Blair urged veterinarians to help people by cutting their prices for such services. "Help us spay and neuter to end the pet overpopulation," she said.
She urged people who are looking for dogs to adopt one and not purchase a dog from a backyard breeder. She said the only way to stop backyard breeding is through mandatory spay and neuter laws. Los Angeles County requires that all dogs and cats licensed in the unincorporated parts of the county be spayed or neutered and have an identification microchip implanted in each dog.
Thirty years ago, Blair said she did not realize there were dog trainers and there was dog help and that the dogs didn't speak the language. Instead, she spent more than 20 years learning behavioral and obedience training and work. She decided to open a facility where she could lend a helping hand in 2005, with so many animals in need after Hurricane Katrina. She spent 2½ weeks in the New Orleans area rescuing animals left behind. Her group was able to rescue 350 dogs, 51 of which remained under Blair's care. Blair has been an advocate against illegal dogfighting for at least six years.
However, it wasn't until former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick pleaded guilty in 2007 to conspiring to run a dogfighting operation that the plight of dogs trained to fight hit the national level. "Michael Vick proved I wasn't lying," Blair said. Blair urged people in her community to lend a hand and volunteer at one of their local rescue shelters.
"I beg people to adopt; I beg people to volunteer in their community," Blair said. She could use volunteers herself.Blair needs people who can walk and socialize the dogs as well as those who can assist with building dog houses, putting up fencing, raising funds, becoming foster parents to the animals or perform a host of other tasks.She also use donations, including supplies such as lumber, to help cover the cost of boarding and caring for the dogs. "We need volunteers; all the rescues need volunteers. We need to help the shelters," she said.
To view the animals available for adoption, visit www.lindablairworldheart.org. Blair accepts donations to cover the cost of boarding the animals and for their veterinary needs and food.If you are interested in volunteering, contact Blair at worldheart volunteers@gmail.com.
Blair and Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan will be exhibitors on May 9 at the Santa Clarita Valley's Pet and Family Expo at College of the Canyons, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road, Santa Clarita. Blair was excited to have something so close to home."Please, please, come and join all of us," she said. For details, visit www.petexpousa.net.
MEGAN BLAKE:
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