Helicopter Finds Lost Pit Bull

Sky and Mimi -

I just wanted to thank you for bringing Brooklyn aka River, into my life. She has been the most incredible thing to ever come into my life. She truly is my best friend. I take her hiking, to the dog beach, dog park etc. She is so attached to me. She follows me everywhere and everyone knows I'm the crazy dog girl. LOL

At one point I brought her to my sister's house in Coto De Caza which is a very wealthy area where people live on estates where it is very rural. I brought her there to play in her huge back yard. I stepped inside for a minute and came back out to check on her and she was gone. Long story short, she went missing for 24 hours, we were hiking, mountain biking, putting up posters, handing out flyers. I was an absolute wreck. So I got desperate and couldn't imagine my life without her. So I chartered a helicopter to fly me over Coto to look for her. I did not see her and was becoming so let down. When I got back to my sisters, we were going door to door and this lady said, "I just saw your dog up behind my property.

I randomly came out side because I heard this helicopter flying over my house and I wanted to see what was going on." While she was telling us this, she tells us that she hears the dogs across the street barking and that we should go look over there. Sure enough I trust passed onto these people's property and there she was. She was dehydrated and a little thorny, but perfectly fine. I was thrilled and my money well spent on the helicopter ride (which everyone thought I was insane for doing) that made the neighbor come out of her house and see my dog. A good lesson learned, Brooklyn does not like being away from me for more than 5 minutes.

I just wanted you guys to know she is living a very fabulous and spoiled life. She sleeps with us every night and snuggles with the cat all day long in our bed. We recently did a photo shoot with Brooklyn and my friends' dog Romeo. All of my friends have pit bulls and I love it. I might start a little pit-bull group on facebook, for my friends and I. I sent you guys some pictures and I hope you enjoy them. Thanks for all the amazing work you do. It truly pays off and made a difference in my life and Brooklyn's.

Thanks,
Daniella Kelley

From Holiday Ham to Therapy Pig

One afternoon just before the holidays, I was going by the local market when I came across a sign on the bulletin board that read "Pig for sale, great family pet, or holiday ham"!!!

I had seen these signs up before, this sign made me very sad. I wasn't sure if it was knowing that this pig was friendly and thought of as a pet, or the black and white photo of him digging in the dirt like a dog.

I knew I didn't have the facility for farm animals. But I also knew that the town I lived in was known for their 4H clubs and there was a very slim chance that Arnold (my soon to be pig) would be adopted as a pet. He was already 75 pounds and still growing. Without thinking twice I called Mel, the man selling Arnold, but Arnold had been sold. My heart sank, but then he said that the man hadn't paid for him yet, and he was coming to pick him up in a few days. I offered to buy him as a pet and begged Mel to sell him to me instead, I told him I would get 150 dollars and pay for him today!

I guess Arnold touched his heart too, cause he held him for me for over a week until I could try to get a pen built or someone to foster him. One day I proudly walked into a pet supply store named Pet Stop and told my friend Stephanie what I had done. She asked what kind of pig did I buy, and I said a Yorkshire pig. She began to laugh, and said "you didn't buy a pig, you bought a swine!" He will grow to be over 350 pounds, he'll need space, you'll have to get him fixed and may need to remove his tusks, and he will need heat in the winter and a cool place to be in the summer, cause pigs don't sweat.

She also said that a swine needs to be taught who wears the pants in the family, cause they are very smart and will take over, that was a lot to swallow now I was nervous!

I rushed back to my sanctuary for homeless dogs and cats, and got on the computer looking for help. I thought of my friend Kris Kelly who is well connected with other rescues. I told her of my dilemma, but that I was committed to this Swine, and I was gonna make sure he was happy. Thank god I did, Kris mentioned a wonderful women named Jen who had a small farm about two hours away, and that her family was vegetarian. This gave me a little hope, so I called her and told her about Arnold and our vegetarian dog rescue.

Talking to Jen was like talking to an angel, she told me that she got into rescuing animals for her children. She had quintuplets, 3 boys and 1 girl. One of the children was born with autism, and another was a slow learner. Since the kids were home schooled, she knew that animals could help improve the mental state of kids with autism. So she rescued a few horses and some chickens and her children flourished.

Well when Jen heard about Arnold, she couldn't wait to have him join the family. This was like a dream come true for Arnold and I, and I was so thankful to Kris for hooking us up. Now wrangling a 75 pound swine is not easy, and I had no transportation for Arnold either. My mother suggested to look through our local paper to find someone to help us. That's how I met Stephanie, she was a rattlesnake wrangler and an animal transporter too, but she looked like an actress, pretty and very friendly.

When we got to Mel's place I noticed there were a lot of farm animals, some for food, like the poor turkeys and some for pets like the goats. The three of us trying to move Arnold was like watching the 3 Stooges, he was scared and kept running back to his pen, his brother and sister were scared for him too. With a lot of effort, we finally got him walking towards the transportation truck with a bucket of corn, and then with a load squeal, he was hoisted into the truck.

Once Jen DeCado and her Family met Arnold, they fell in love. Jen treats all of their animals like family members, the way they should be. The horses roam pretty freely, and ask for snacks through the kitchen window and the chickens enjoy watching TV with the family. Since then, Jen has decided to become a non profit charity for therapy farm animals.

She wants other children to learn and benefit from them too, so now Arnold is in training. Her kids read children's books to him and play with him daily, he is a happy camper. Since the holidays Arnold has doubled in size, he's a gentle giant a very special swine who taught me to never be scared to follow my heart. He reminded me that God will always have my back when I'm doing Gods work.

In the next few weeks, my singing group the Vegan Vixens are gonna pay a visit to Arnold and take professional pictures of the animals for our album cover, and web home page.

In the spring, I'm gonna learn about chickens and save a few myself. Our rescued puppies would love the eggs, and I would love to get to know more about the personality of these misunderstood birds. Until then, I will keep you posted about Arnold DeCado, and all of the wonderful work he is doing to better the lives of children.

Blessing for a wonderful ( meat free) New Year!!!

Sky Valencia

Raven, the Great Dane

Raven was dumped at the Lancaster animal shelter due to her blindness at 2 1/2 month old. The photo that was taken of her at the shelter made her look deformed, which turned off a lot of rescues from adopting her.

I'm glad I took a chance, because when my good friend Pauline ( who pulled her out for me) brought her to me on New Years Eve, I was delighted to see she wasn't deformed at all! She just had HUGE paws and very bad eye sight. She was all puppy, playful, funny and very sweet.

We adopted her to a great family in Washington who love her to death, she's the only dog in the house, so she gets a lot of TLC. We think she is awesome, and we think the Bergam Family is too, for adoption a special needs puppy.

Can't wait to see her as an adult, she's gonna be a tall girl.

Sky Valencia


Hello Sky,

I do want you to know that our trip was amazingly smooth. Raven is the perfect traveler, at least at this age. She comfortably slept in between rest area stops, always on someone's lap. She met a 3 month old lab puppy that walked right under her, and another time she met a full grown great dane who was so sweet and gentle with her, and she had good manners with them. She is enjoying her backyard, but only during the daylight, she doesn't feel comfortable in the dark with the little vision she has. She is navigating around the house quite well. We have light colored floors and white kitchen cupboards, which I think helps her vision alot. We are feeding her 5 times a day so far, the meals aren't too big, she is weighing in at 27 pounds. The only thing I've found that she doesn't like too much is hard boiled eggs. We bought her several toys and the ones she likes the best are small sticks we cut off our cherry tree, junk mail envelopes, and egg cartons, she is very easy to please.

WE ARE IN LOVE WITH OUR NEW BABY GIRL.

Thank you for choosing us to be Raven's adoptive family.

Kathy Bergam

Jessica and Ruby are best buddies

Jessica Stell loves baby-sitting her dad's new addition, Ruby, a Jack-Russell mix. Thank you to her dad, Jeff still, from Rush Copy, in Hollywood California, for helping us with our printing and flyers.