Christine Allen’s boy Sam turned four fingers old on Tuesday. We’ve had the pleasure of watching him grow from a babe to a boy with a special connection with dogs, starting with his love for homegirl Izzy, then later as one of V-dog Teddle’s very first and bestest friends.
These are the days when we sure could use a crystal ball. This sweet soul presented us with a new mystery when he came into Oakland Animal Services, shook up from his past misadventures. He sat in his run looking very forlorn while the days that his owner could come collect him him ticked away. Poor kid almost got lost in the hustle-bustle, such a quiet guy and all, swallowed in a shelter that’s being rocked with the challenges that come from staff shortages during an increase in intake numbers.
While looking for something else in my files this morning, I came across a photo that shows Red Ted’s spot on his head! So in the interest of full disclosure, here it is 
Not much we can say; just read for yourself. Dude.
Rock’s Dog-Fighting Comments Cost Him Pryor Role?
There are always so many unspoken heroes behind the scenes of those larger criminal cases involving dog fighters. They stay in the background while making us look good by helping us get the dogs to safety. I was glad when Rita Mason (below) and Scott Wilson gave us the okay to tell people who they are.
It was a very different kind of Sunday in Oakland: In Defense of Animals gathered up a group of animal lovers at the coliseum for the Raiders game and pushed their message out to several news outlets 
(well done, guys – news), our banner got off the ground AND the Raiders kicked some serious Philly butt. Woof!
We’re still peeling our jaws off the floor from the high powered maneuvering that went down with last night’s photo contest deadline. What a wild ride. Just when we thought the finalists were settled and the contest was wrapping up, four huge donations came in inside the last 15 minutes and pushed long standing favorites in every direction. It was a true pit bull experience – as in, “Move on over, I gotta contest to win!”
This coming Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles will be landing in – gulp – our hometown to play the Oakland Raiders. What to do? In the spirit of moving forward, we decided to invite Michael Vick to meet his victims while he’s here so he could look them in the eye and extend his apologies. Yeah we did. It was a tough situation to consider – but at some point we have to find some closure and move this man off of our emotional radar, right? It took five pins & needles days for him to say No. One can only imagine the back and forth between his handlers about that little decision. (Right: V-dog Frodo)
