DOGS/ANIMALS
Contact: Carol Bryant
Phone: 570-540-3341
Email: CarolBWriter@yahoo.com
TV's Tatooted Animal Rescuers Leave Their Mark
An army for the animals, Rescue Ink proclaims "Abusers are Losers!"
Have you ever read a really good book and envisioned what the characters might look like if they were to lift themselves off the pages and into real life? What if those characters were super heroes who brandished formidable symbols of sorted pasts all over their skin? And instead of names like Superman, Spiderman and Captain America they called themselves Big Ant, Johnny O and Joe Panz?
Their mission is not to save America but to give animals in a need a responsible home, swooping in on their motorcycles and busting abusers’ mindsets one a time. These are the super heroes called Rescue Ink and this is one day in the life of these non-caped, tattoo-laden crusaders.
Feeling like Lois Lane waiting with bated breath for supermen to emerge, this reporter was left flying high as one cape-less inked crusader after another explained their role in animal rescue. Trading capes for muscle shirts, tattoos for stylized emblems, these heroes rode into town on choppers instead of being dropped from them. Their technique and appearance intimidating, FIDO Friendly invites readers to walk a day in super hero boots, as Rescue Ink lives their creed, “Abusers are Losers.”
A reporter approaches the elementary school wondering what fine mess she’s gotten herself into. “Riding with a pack of motorcycle men on assignment?” she ponders to herself.
After receiving security clearance, she tiptoes past lockers and giggles, the aroma of fresh chalk and foil-covered lunches in the air, towards a classroom. Behind the brightly colored door sit a pack of men on kiddie chairs, at a kiddie table, walls adorned with ABC’s.
“Hey, how aw ya? I’m Joe, this here is Big Ant and that’s Johnny O there. Have a seat,” leader of the pack, Joe Panz, makes his muscled presence known.
“Guys, you’re on in 10 minutes. The kids are starting to file in to the auditorium,” the principal tells the big boys in little chairs.
“I ain’t even done eatin’ yet. Can we take this with us?” An eruption of laughter bursts from the guys as Big Ant chortles one of his many words of wisdom that would lighten the load of the day.
Today Rescue Ink starts young.
“We’re talking to these kids to educate them about animal abuse and what to watch out for. But we go out to reform schools and teach about second chances. We aren’t exactly angels ourselves,” Johnny O declares.
Passing the microphone along, the guys introduce themselves and get right to business.
“What types of animals shouldn’t people own?” Joe asks the tiny tots.
“Alligators,” one child reports. “Dragons,” says another. “Pomeranians!” Laughter engulfed the room.
What isn’t funny are the dangers that Rescue Ink faces each time they investigate an abuse or neglect case. Perhaps best recognized for their television show on the National Geographic channel, the guys from Rescue Ink have been together fighting animal abuse for many years.
“The media come to us,” Johnny O shares, “We’re street guys. Three of us founded Rescue Ink: me, Joe and Big Ant. We’ve got 6 to 7 recruits. We aren’t afraid of anything. Dogs are our priority, but we rescue all animals. We even responded to a call about a woman who was keeping a 500 pound pig and its babies in her residential place. You oughta’ see me and Big Ant running from a mama pig when we took her babies away to safety.”
This begs the question, “Do people ever see the light after Rescue Ink steps in?” Big Ant is quick to interject, “Honey, we not only show them the light but we give them the batteries.”
Case in point: Pack leader Mary calls the guys to report a possible abandoned dog in a vacant home in a small suburb of New York. We’re off faster than a speeding bullet in single bound. Stopping en route to the scene for a red light, people honk, cheer and a police officer shakes the hands of the men in black riding their Harleys. Super heroes indeed.
Arriving at the scene, Joe Panz and his posse of puppy patrol approach the house solider style, an army for the animals. They line up, these muscled inked men, and knock, peer into windows, canvas the property. No barks are heard. Is the dog alive? Is someone in there? There isn’t much time to answer these questions before the police arrive.
“When people tell us they’re calling the cops, we say go ahead,” Johnny O remarks and walks with Joe to exchange handshakes with law enforcement.
After much ado, nothing turns up. An abandoned dog house is found in the rear of the property but no sign of a dog. “We’ll follow up on this one. Joe is calling the guy who reported this right now,” Johnny O informs. With a neighborhood of onlookers forming, we pack into our respective vehicles and travel to meet the most tattooed of the group: Scott, who is one of the roughest looking pussycats of the pack. Scott, like the rest of the guys, has a special affection for pit bulls. And poodles. Scott is proprietor of a very popular grooming shop in New York.
We spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out in front of the grooming shop. The honking and cheers of support from passers-by garners waves and crooked smiles from this group of unlikely heroes.
“A rescue is not a rescue until it finds in a forever home,” Big Ant interjects, “Our goal is to educate, change people’s minds.”
What can FIDO Friendly readers do to help?
“We always need donations. Every little bit helps, either 10 cents or 10 dollars,” Johnny O waves to a passer-by and continues, “We’re all on this earth for a reason. Animals balance out our good and bad.”
Video from Carol Bryant’s visit with Rescue Ink:
Carol Bryant with Rescue Ink
Skiing Handicapped Dog: From Pound Puppy to Powderhound
Disabled cocker treks through Alaskan Snow
Just call him Codski.
There’s no sense in throwing a life away.” When Zane and Val Henning of Wasilla, Alaska, see their Cocker Spaniel, Cody, trail-blazing through the snow, this thought resonates. Cody entered the couple’s lives in the fall of 2005. “He was in terrible shape with half a left ear, a huge scar over his head and part of his left eyelid missing,” said Zane Henning. “We adopted him, had his health problems addressed, cleaned him up and he was a completely different dog.
With an uphill battle behind, the future looked bright. And then Cody ate. “Cody was so starved. He ate the same amount as our other two Cockers, but due to his emaciated condition, the onset of weight was rapid,” Zane remarked. Cody did more than tip the scales; the sudden accumulation of weight to his small proportion created an usual inward curving of the back and resulting herniated disk.
The couple received news every Fido-guardian dreads: that Cody’s condition made it best to put him down. With a 10 percent chance that Cody would ever walk again, the Hennings refused and sought options. “Although Cody spent a week in therapy, his back end was paralyzed. All we have to do is express his bladder for him,” Zane stated. How would an environmental coordinator and a stay-at-home cocker mom manage trudging through the Alaskan snows with two able-bodied dogs and one with a physical limitation? Although wheelchairs for Fido facilitate dry ground mobility, the heavy snows of Alaska present challenges.
Not for Cody.
In the fall of 2009 while out on a walk, Zane noticed a skier pass by. He explained, “In the deep snow, ski poles create potholes, so Cody’s wheelchair got stuck. I purchased a set of used skis at a local thrift store for five dollars. I cut the tips off, made small wooden blocks so the wheels could sit into them, screwed the skis on and nailed everything together. I used bungee cords to set the wheels in and pinch them between. Everything stays in place.”
The only downhill in Cody’s life are the trails he takes on every day. Cody is a natural in his affectionately termed ““ski-el-chair,”” Zane beams, “The first time he started tearing around corners with no resistance, he was free to run.” Val reports the only downside is trying to keep up with Cody. They do a walk/run three miles a day, so sometimes she leashes him.
From pound puppy to powder-hound, Cody houses an Olympic-style spirit in a Cocker-size body. No sense in throwing a life away, not when Cody has miles to go and slopes to conquer.
Carol Bryant
Writer/Blogger & SocialMedia/PR Guru
Professional Writer and Editor
