VIP (Very Important Pet) Mascot 2009

Diamond's "Tail"
by Teri Parkhouse

To start, I was not an “animal person” – it was my husband that was…..things have changed somewhat – my husband is still an “animal person”, but I; however, am now fanatic about dogs…particularly rescues…specifically bully breeds.  It breaks my heart to see how our society demonizes the bully breeds and I would have never had my eyes opened to this issue if it weren’t for us adopting Diamond!

Diamond is with her third and final family – we found each other when she was 18 months old….so, three homes in less than two years of life leaves much to be desired.  Her first home was a military family getting transferred – they loved Diamond, but could not do her justice in their moves.  They placed her on Petfinder.com for adoption – fortunately they were insightful enough to know when people came to look at her and had the bad intentions.  Folks would come and look at her and talk about ways they could make her mean - that she was too sweet, etc….all to say, they wanted her for the wrong reasons.  In light of recent events, none of us can turn a blind eye to the relevancy of dog fighting in our area.  Well, a woman saw Diamond’s mug shot on Petfinder and could not resist.  She adopted Diamond to join her other American Bulldog, Lucas.  Lucas and Diamond loved each other, but once again this woman’s lifestyle could not do justice to owning two big dogs.  This is when I entered the picture.  

I temporarily rented a room from a woman in Charlottesville and it just happened to be that she was the second owner of Diamond mentioned above.  I moved in understanding she had “dogs”, but not two huge dogs that wanted to be lap dogs!  From the onset, I did not like Diamond, because of her coloring – how shallow…keep in mind that I was still not a “dog person”.  Well, give Diamond and me just one week together and she grew on me like white on rice.  My roommate, now a good friend, shared her predicament and how she needed to get rid of Diamond.  So I brought Diamond to meet my husband – he loved her, I loved her and voila, I had my first dog ever!  She was so calming, therapeutic and all those other things that we can not get enough of in our canines. At the time I was going through some addiction issues with which I had been struggling for years with associated self-destructive tendencies.  The progress I made once we had Diamond was phenomenal.  The urge to harm myself lessened and lessened.  I knew I would be no good for the big girl if I was not available for her.  I am happy to report that 3 years later we are all a happy family. 

If Diamond had it her way we would play ball all day long, rope is another one of her favorites – she loathes walks, but entertains her mom’s regimen.  Since having Diamond, the two of us have gone through K9 Connection’s training and she passed her Delta certified therapy dog evaluation.  My addictions are well in my past and I dream of the day that I can have property and care/foster/board/own many, many more dogs!

Well, Diamond’s “tale” is a short one, but full of love and redemption…and about Diamond’s “tail”? I’m not sure where it went – but kids always ask and both are great topics for conversation. 

Chagwa
by Emily Council

 We adopted our Chow mix, Chagwa, about 2 years ago.  Her previous owners had her chained up all the time – you can see her teeth worn down from chewing at the chain.  But her years of neglect didn't harm her temperament in any way, and now she is a beautiful, sweet dog who enjoys walking around our neighborhood, where people pat her, compliment her, and get her name wrong.