We Love People Who Love Dogs

Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, with Stella

In this photo is Gale Frey with Mutts-n-Stuff holding our beautiful Stella who came from the very large Missouri dog fighting raid last summer.The photo was taken at the location where the dogs were held after being rescued. By the look on Stella's face, you can see she probably had gone through some tough times throughout her entire life. Poor girl. You can also see how much Gale loves this girl. Beautiful.

Stella is a happy, confident camper in our house with our dogs, us, etc. Stella also loves to meet people she doesn't know and wants to get snuggles from everyone. She's a very happy girl over all. However, one horrible thing about neglect is just that - neglect. Coming from these situations we see dogs that may get little to no exposure to new surroundings, TV sets, furniture in a home, car alarms, clickers, tea pots, microwaves, cars, cars even just sitting parked on the street. Stella even got worried when she squeaked a squeaky toy accidentally. She walked away from it very slowly as though she hurt it. Initially when I would walk her on the street she would literally panic. It was like landing on another planet for her.

But there's been so much progress. She walked out of the house on her leash today with her tail wagging, knowing she was going on a walk. She continued to wag her tail. There were only a few spots of "oh, what's that?" for her. This tells me that recovery is possible for her and that's what we're looking for, recovery. Just walking every day and positive exposure does wonders. These dogs are quite amazing. Of course, every dog progresses at his or her own rate.

Dog fighters do NOT want anyone to find their dogs. The dogs are very often hidden from normal environments, like being able to live inside of a home, seeing cars on the street, playing with toys etc. This is most likely why it can be hard for them to adjust initially to a new environment. To me, this is just another part of the horrible abuse that goes on in these situations.

We feel it's important to give these dogs a chance, so back to Gale in the photo. She helped us get our beautiful Stella and has helped many dogs in tough situations. Thank you, Gale!

Gale is also building Phoenix House which is a house for dogs that come from abuse cases like Stella's. At Phoenix House, the dogs will have a place to get exposure to normal life in a positive, controlled fashion. This way, many, many more dogs can be helped.

For more info on Phoenix House and how you can help or donate go to http://www.muttsnstuff.com.

Rest In Peace Sweet Fay

We are very sad to announce that Fay from the Missouri raid this year has died. She had been undergoing surgeries to correct her mouth where much of her lips had been missing. This had presented a myriad of health issues for Fay.


Fay underwent her second surgery and all went very well. Unfortunately after the surgery she went into cardiac arrest. All appropriate percautions had been taken prior to the surgery by the vet and truly nothing could have prevented this tragic event. There is no blame here, well, except toward the people who used her for dog fighting that ravaged her little body.
Thank you to Gale at MuttsNStuff for your love, care and peace you gave to this beautiful angel. Thank you Dr. Marcy for you love and help you gave this wonderful girl. Thank you to HSMO for giving this sweet dog a chance. She touched the hearts and souls of many and will truly be missed.

Animal abuse such as dogfighting, neglect and needless lack of simply caring for the animals that God made US in charge of needs to stop....now. The obvious evidence of abuse that Fay showed along with her courage in spite of it MUST give us a concept of what real courage and humanity is. It's sadly ironic to me that in this case as with many others it's the animal showing the human how they should be.

Rest in peace beautiful Fay,you will forever be in our hearts




Marthina McClay, CPDT
Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer
Certified Tester/Observer for Therapy Dogs, Inc.
AKC Certified CGC Evaluator
www.ourpack.org
www.dogtrainingforpeople.com

Beautiful Video of the Missouri Bust Dogs

Here's a wonderful video of the Missouri dogs. One of my favorite photos of all time is of our Stella being cuddled by Gale. Stella.....innocence. Beautiful photography by Lynn Terry.

Welcoming Committiee for Missouri Bust Girl

Here's some of the Our Pack crew giving a warm good morning welcome to Belinda our newest girl from the Missouri raid.

Thank you to Gale from Mutts and Stuff for driving our girl to the airport. She arrived safe and sound!

Also, in this article I wanted to correct the fact that Jakob is living with Anna Morey Seekamp, an Our Pack volunteer and trainer. He is going to be fostered by her until he's adopted. She and I will be working together on his therapy training. In the article it states that Jakob is living with me. Easy to misunderstand being that Leo lives with me. Happy Endings
Thank you Anna for all your good work!!

Marthina

Thanks to All

We want to give a special shout-out to all of the rescue organizations that have been working so hard to care for the dogs from the Humane Society of Missouri bust. There was some great press coverage of the release of some of the dogs yesterday at HSMO, including Our Pack's Jakob, but there were lots of folks involved behind the scenes as well. And, of course, the dogs themselves deserve their own shout-out, including Fay, pictured here.

The full list of dogs released to these organizations includes:

FAY: received by Mutts-n-Stuff, a St. Louis-based bully breed rescue group

ELI: received by Mutts-n-Stuff on behalf of New Hope Pit Bull Rescue in Goose Creek, South Carolina

CARLOS, JUNIOR and KALI: received by Broken Hearts, Mended Souls Rescue based in Missouri

JAKOB, to be received here in California by Our Pack.

Humane Society of Missouri Dog Released to Our Pack

Jakob is coming to California!

We are thrilled to finally be able to announce that Jakob, one of the dogs seized in Humane Society of Missouri fight bust, the largest dog fighting bust in U.S. history, has been released into Our Pack's care.

Jakob looking optimistic about his new future.

Jakob is one of three dogs that will be rescued by Our Pack from the more than 500 dogs seized in the multi-state raid coordinated. The remaining two dogs are still being held at HSMO while they await the results of forfeiture proceedings in federal court. Like Leo, the former Michael Vick dog, Jakob will be trained by Our Pack for a new career in therapy work.

Associated Press reporter Cheryl Wittenauer was on hand today at HSMO for Jakob's release. You can read her article here: http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13562726.

As soon as we saw pictures of Jakob, we knew he was special, and our first impressions have been confirmed by our good friends Gale Frey of Mutts-n-Stuff and Our Pack's Tracey Cutler. They have been on the ground in Missouri working tirelessly to care for and evaluate these dogs.

Jakob looking happy at his release.

Therapy dogs are trained in basic manners, then provide affection and comfort to people in need in hospitals, retirement homes, schools and similar situations. Although Jakob comes from an abuse case, we’ve seen time and again these dogs are cut out for therapy work and we think he is a great candidate for this kind of work. The most important characteristic of a therapy dog is temperament, and as we know, Pit Bulls have loving, affectionate natures that often make them perfect for this kind of job.

This is not the first time that Our Pack and Mutts-n-Stuff have teamed up to train former fight bust dogs for therapy work. In 2008, Our Pack trained Leo, a dog rescued in the infamous Michael Vick case. Despite his rough start at Bad Newz Kennels, Leo blossomed under Our Pack's care and received his therapy certification in just five weeks. His work earned Leo headlines in national media outlets, including the Washington Post, MSNBC.com, Animal Planet’s “Animal Witness: The Michael Vick Case” and many others. See Leo’s story here.

Our Pack and Mutts-n-Stuff also worked on a HSMO bust case in Stoddard County in 2007. Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, trained some of the dogs from the Stoddard case to be therapy dogs, and has been helping with the evaluation of Jakob and other dogs held at HSMO in this more recent case.. “The dogs from these cases are so resilient and wonderful to work with,” says Gale. “We’re thrilled to be helping to find them new and loving homes.”

Fay Released to Mutts-n-Stuff

We've received news that Fay, one of the dogs taken from the Missouri dog fighting bust, will be going to Mutts-n-Stuff. Better yet, she'll be the new spokesgirl for Phoenix House, a place where dogs from these abuse cases can go to decompress, get training and socialization, and find new homes. Gale Frey, founder of Mutts-n-Stuff, has plans to start Phoenix House right away. Congrats to Gale and Fay. Here's to a bright future for both!

Our Pack crew

Congrats to our Friends at Mutts-n-Stuff!

A big shout-out to our friends at Mutts-n-Stuff, who announced today that they are building a new halfway house, called Phoenix House, that will provide safe haven for dogs rescued in fight bust cases. The facility is named for Phoenix, a a dog previously rescued my Mutts-n-Stuff, and is being built on land donated by a previous adopter. It will serve as a halfway house for dogs rescued in fight busts after they are released from their court cases.

The dogs in the cases are held as evidence until they are no longer needed by the courts, then they're released, often with no where to go. Suitable foster homes aren't always immediately available, and the dogs often require time to learn basic manners.

Our Pack is partnering with Mutts-n-Stuff on the HSMO fight bust case. Gale Frey, dear friend and founder of the rescue group, has been one of the people working with HSMO to help care for the dogs. Congratulations Gale!

Get the details about Phoenix House here:

http://www.ksdk.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=185028

Missouri Bust Update

I assume you all have heard about the biggest dog fighting bust in US history on July 8th by our friends at Humane Society of Missouri. Over four hundred of my brothers and sisters have been rescued from the horrid life of dog fighting. I am so happy that my friends at HSMO have freed my brothers and sisters but what happens now?

Right now they are in a secret bunker safe from the bad people. The dogs have to be held for at least 40 days until the court hearing.
I, Smiley King the dog you see in the pic above with my special Pooh Bear, went through this process myself and it was scary at first being in a new place but my friends at HSMO made me feel at home right away. In the meantime, my brothers and sisters from this bust are experiencing their first toys, peanut butter, friendly hugs and kisses from humans, and fresh bedding. I wish I could talk to them to let them know their lives made a major change for the good and they will never have to fight again.

My foster mom, Gale Frey who founded MuttsNStuff is on the move to find foster homes for the dogs. She's also been on site helping the MO dogs. I've been in touch with my sister Zoe, who went to Our Pack from the same 2007 Stoddard County Mo bust that I came from. After arriving at Our Pack she went to school to become a therapist. Zoe's been asking Our Pack to ask for foster homes too.
Well heck, Zoe got adopted into an awesome home, they have toys, Kongs, balls and all the stuff that makes life wonderful! I know this is possible for all my buds out here too! Everyone should have a Pooh Bear, very comforting.

I heard that after the big bust other abused dogs outside of this case here were surrendered because their enslavers felt the heat of the FBI and HSMO. Since these dogs were owner surrenders they were able to go into rescue. But hudreds of my brothers and sisters are still waiting. Right now, I have a picture of an FBI agent and HSMO Investigator on my dog crate wall. They are my heros.

I will send everyone updates as I know them about the Missouri Bust Dogs. They are safe in a secret place waiting for our a laws to release them to rescue. What a sight it must be having over 400 pits in one place, where I used to be! I'm so lucky to be here, with my bear and my friends. Thank you again HSMO for helping us. Your are my heros.

Thanks for listening,
Smiley King

Missouri Bust Dogs Need Help

My name is Zoe. I came from the Stoddard County fight bust in Missouri a couple of years ago. I was lucky enough to find a fantabulous home here in California with a great mom and two lab brothers. Now there has been an even bigger bust and HSMO (Humane Society of Missouri) is housing 400 dogs. It gets really warm there in the summer and they are in desperate need of fans to keep the dogs cool and comfortable while they are being cared for. Before I came to Our Pack to get adopted and become certified as a therapy dog, here is a link to a local rescue MuttsandStuff that helped me when I was in that awful situation and is helping with these dogs too.