I am not sure how many times I have doubted myself for doing everything I can to educate my friends and family about animals.  There are times where I just say “Why even bother to post and write and share my love for pets when I get no response?”  Is it worth all the efforts, maybe It’s more for me then for my friends…and then today I got an email:

Hello AJ! What’s Uppers!? Hope all is good with you and your hubby, and of coarse Peanut and the kitties…… I want to say thanks for all your writing and websites regarding animals…. Sure there moments of being annoyed with your posts , but three days ago I decided to prove you wrong…. I signed up to volunteer at an animal shelter here in Chicago. I figured all these stories you say about poor animals must be a mistake and it can not be happening here in my home town. I mean there are laws right?
Wrong!….I saw so many puppies, and kittens, and rabbits and lizards that looked as if they where awaiting to be hanged!… I met Charlie, a 5 month old Pitbull… I was scared, I mean I heard of that one pit bull who bit Vanessa Carlton and all the ones that have been in the news attacking kids… but when I walked inside the cage he just sat there in the corner, shivering, head down, tail not even one wag. Turns out his owners would hit him with a belt anytime they would get near him. After an hour of just sitting there he came to me and licked my hand and went back to his corner…. I saw birds with no feathers because there owners didn't feed them well, I saw mom cats with so many kittens that I had to help feed with a bottle, I must say it was so amazing how they drink with the smallest baby bottle….. It just broke my heart…..
AJ, you are one person with a huge heart for animals and now after seeing this for myself, seeing how shelters have to turn down animals because of all the ones they have and seeing how the “DANGEROUS” dogs can be the sweetest dogs ever, I have committed myself to open my home to these animals, I am a proud foster mom to Charlie and 4 birds…. Thanks for your love and care and educating us. Keep it up!"

They say that It took a whole Village to come together and build a country. They say that one small baby can change a mans childish ways and turn into an adult. For me, it has taken years to get to this point. the point where I have touched one persons view, the point where All my writing and donations, and efforts in saving lives has finally paid off. sure my friend lives in Chicago now, and she is one person, but imagine… One person who after being “Annoyed” by my stuff decided to prove me wrong and failed. Now here she is, a Pitbull and bird foster mom. =)
It takes one person to open a door. For me that person has and always will be BABY, R.I.P little mama.

Here goes another story about a VICIOUS dog bite: A 5 year old girl goes to work with her mother. Everyday at the same house the 5 yr old is greeted by two English bulldogs, and a Rottweiler. Everyday it is the same routine, she arrives they lick her to death and then they all sit and watch Sesame Street while the girls mother cleans the home…. but this one day, it was different, one of the Bulldogs didn't get near the girl, even tho the others dogs did, this one dog just stared at hear ears back tail straight up, not wagging. Of coarse no one noticed this on the dog, nor could the 5 year old know what it meant…. As the 5 year old got close to the dog, she got bitten on her stomach… She screamed, her mother screamed, the dog owners screamed, and the other dogs howled and barked! After a traumatic episode, the little girl never got near a dog again, her mother gave her more reasons to fear them if she tried by saying “Remember what happen to your stomach, be good or I’ll get the dog.” The little 5 year old girl was a victim, she was bitten.

At age nine, my family got a Chow Chow rescued from the pound. He was the fluffiest dog in the cages, and loved to play. As he grew, everyone began telling us stories how Chow Chows are not good with kids, how they are as bad as Pitbulls and Rottweilers, how Chow Chows claim territory and that we should return him…. Spiky, Spiky loved kids. he would cry if he could not play with them. He was the kids Dragon, and at times pillow. He would sit next to us as we ate ice cream and he would enjoy licking our faces to clean up the evidence. Spiky, was you could say, my teacher on not fearing big dogs, he allowed me to open my eyes and my heart towards kindness to all. He was an amazing watch and guard dog. He would never allow any of us kids to cross the street alone, either he would go with us or he would drag a grown up to watch us. He loved cheese, and hated bath time. As he grew older, he showed me pets never forget you. I remember once a bull dog was walking the streets, I of coarse just felt fear hit me…. And I guess Spiky felt it that he just pushed me in the other direction away from the Bulldog. Once we where a little away from it he sat down, didn't move until the bulldog passed us, then he went back to the trail we where on.

See the 5 year old girl was me, I remember that day as if it happen yesterday. My fear for dogs grew so much after that day that I honestly would cry and begged my parents to pick me up whenever I would see ANY dog: little or big. When Spiky came int our life, as cute as he was I was still scared, I feared a puppy would bite me and I would have to end up in the hospital again. But the more time i spent with Spiky the more I began to understand what had happen to me with the Bulldog.
It turned out I had some food crumbs on my shirt, and apparently a bug was on me, the dog was going after the bug and not me. For after he had bitten me he was trying to lick my hand, my mother of coarse being Hispanic threw it all out of proportion, but after I asked my sister years later what had happen she explained to me the dog was going after the bug on my shirt. Nothing happen to the dog, I was never allowed to go to that house again, my mother quit after a couple of weeks.
I sometimes wonder how my life would have been if that incident wouldn't have happen. Today I am a happy animal lover, yes I have gotten horribly scratch by my black cat that had required me to have 26 stitches and another time to look like the mummy, but I don't blame pets for defending themselves, Humans do it all the time. We accidentally leave a fully loaded gun where a toddlers can reach. Every person and pet on earth can and will make mistakes, it is up to those with half a brain (Humans) to make sure the mistakes are not made again. My mistake as a child was not to know when a dog is on ALERT, now I know tail straight up, ears pinned back means they are on alert so watch out.
I still fear things, I fear that one day I will end up in the shelter waiting to find a forever home. =)

What?! I know nasty right?! I am here to say, YES I eat meat, and chicken and eggs, and hot dogs, and all that… OMG, RIGHT!? How could I do this and love animals, might as well call me a Hypocrite… have fun. This is me, and I am sure I am not alone. 

The way I see it is you don’t have to do a 360 and turn your whole life into a Vegan/Vegetarian or what not to help animals. If you do that’s awesome! But doing little things, like what I do is more than enough to help thousands at a time. I am pretty sure I have haters and most likely if a PETA person reads this they will attack me, but you know what, I don't care because I am doing more than my next door neighbors are doing. I have made multiple post on saving and adopting pets and so far I have seen friends adopting so that is an amazing thing. I have taught family members the importance of having rules for humans towards there in home pets, and what we can do to prevent any accidents from happening. See I believe that when you love animals, Vegan or not, you do whatever you can, you go out of your way to eat more salads, or even try the organic stuff. I mean seriously, leaving all the junk food behind in one day will be hard…. but animal lovers will agree, you can’t do everything all at once, you need to do one thing at a time.
Me, I am trying my best the I can to help Animals, big and small. From donating my time and money, to providing links and resources to my close friends and family members. Its all about the baby steps. but my main mission for now is just to educate people, not PREACH, educate on adopting and animal abuse prevention.. we all know there are so many other subjects out there: Fur trade, Puppy mills, farming, Whaling, ect….. but again if I just stick to one thing near me, I can make a huge impact in MY WORLD and those around me.
So yeah I am a meat eater,  don't judge me for what I do. In the end our connection is still helping animals in every which way we can.
always,
Jen