OK, so maybe just one more video
Technically, this one could be about Dexter. It just also happens to have Solo in it. Sorry for the music, but between L Word and Clerks 2, I’ve got Jackson 5 on the brain.
If you have issues with the Blip TV Player, this video should be up on my YouTube page later today.
ESPP Fridays – It's one last Solo Video (and some photos)
I don’t have much to write about today – not much that I feel like setting down in print, at any rate. Solo goes home on Sunday, and I know that it’s for the best, and I know that it’s a great home, and I know that part of being a breeder is making the tough decision about winnowing pet from show and placing puppies accordingly.
I know all of that. I just don’t care.
I don’t care about it being logical, or rational, or about the fact that I’m at my ‘dogs I keep just as pets just because I want to even though they’re retired or defective or whatever’ limit. I know all about the dangers of kennel blindness, or the more appealing danger of fooling myself into thinking a dog has ‘potential’, when what I really mean is ‘I just love them, that’s all’. I know.
But after two short months, don’t believe it isn’t possible for us to fall head over heels madly in love with one small puppy. And it isn’t just me, either – Solo has an entire fan club, who’ve supported me when he was sick, and rooted for him as he got well, and enjoyed watching him as he grew up.
Still. When you’ve stayed up nights, nursing a puppy through times when you’re afraid he’s never going to start gaining weight, you’re going to lose your heart. The first time he starts gazing into your eyes while you bottle feed him is when you know you’re in deep trouble. You’ve fallen in love with another puppy, long before it’s logical for you to do so.
Of course, according to the ‘experts’ over at Peta or the HSUS, I’m just in this for the money. I’m cold and heartless and making myself rich off of puppies like this – never mind that my recent math on this litter shows us just under $2K in the hole for it. If you’re a breeder, you’re supposed to see dollar signs instead of puppies, and handing them over should be no problem at all.
Except it is. And I guess I really did have something I wanted to write about, after all.
A new photoset is up on Flickr – random shots of the dogs being crazy nutjobs, with Delilah, Bunny, Dexter, Penelope, Fanny and (of course) Solo all featured. Link here, thumbnails below.
Here’s Solo’s last video, taken two days ago. We’ll miss you, baby boy.
13 Postitive Media Stories on the Michael Vick Pit Bulls
I almost wonder if we’re in the middle of a revolution. Could the tide finally, finally be turning?
Could media stories about killer monster Pit Bulls be falling out of fashion?
Could the press finally be realizing that people love to read happy ending stories about cuddly Pit Bulls leading fulfilling lives?
Wouldn’t it be nice…. and wouldn’t it be nice if that tide was enough to wash away Ontario’s idiotic, press driven breed slaughtering specific legislation?
Hey, Mr. Media Journalist! Hey, you! Look at all the press frenzy a Pit Bull positive story can generate? Someone out there is getting a Pulitzer for this, trust us! Wouldn’t you like a Pulitzer, too? I bet you would. So, read these top Thirteen press positive stories on the Vick Pit Bulls, and go write your own!
Oh, and Peta? You and the HSUS?
Are you realizing yet what a bad, bad, badly chosen side of this argument you came down on? Are you feeling stupid yet, looking at all those pictures of happy, face licking Pit Bulls?
I bet you are. I just bet you are.
(note – most of these links are from those tireless fighters for justice over at Bad Rap. You guys rock. so. much.)
1. Cheryl Wittenauer’s wonderful AP article, on CNN
2. Dan Simon’s great article on CNN – in which he makes sure to mention that HSUS and PETA wanted the dogs murdered killed euthanized
3. NPR did several positive stories on the dogs – here, and here. These are snippets linked to the audio file of the broadcast.
4. Tim Racer of Bad Rap’s appearance on CNN (sensing a theme here? You go, CNN). Watch the video clip here.
5. Juliet Macur of the New York Times did a wonderful, full page story on the dogs Best Friends Animal Sanctuary is caring for. I dare you not to cry when you read about Georgia. I just dare you.
6. If Fox News – never before known as a bastion of unbiased news reporting – is doing positive stories on Pit Bulls, can the rest of the media be far behind? See Pibble Johnny Racer on Fox News here
7. TV Station KPIX did two nice News Clips with great quotes
8. A positive article on SFGate.com
9. A news clip detailing National Geographic show ‘Dogtown’s upcoming feature on the dogs
10. Anderson Cooper’s 360 did a wonderful report on the Best Friends dogs. There’s video footage here
11. A Positive news story by John Sasaki of KTVU
12. Great stories in the Mercury News – here, and here
And finally….
13. Full color, multi page coverage in People frickin’ Magazine!
Watch the Bad Rap video on the People Magazine photo shoot…And happy Valentine’s Day to every single Pit Bull, and to their people!