pitties Archives - Compassionate Women

Vegans Love Pitbulls!

July 27, 2015 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Last month there were so many animal events going on in Austin that I could barely keep my head on straight! There were also a lot of vegan events, so as you can imagine, I felt like a kid on Christmas – if Christmas was in June and lasted the entire month. 🎁🎄

Since I’m really busy this week working on a film job, I thought I would just post some of my favorite pictures from a couple of those events. Scroll down to see cute pitties, delicious vegan food, and some of the fun happenings that make Austin such a cool city.

Weekly Reunion Rescue @ Spiderhouse

Reunion Rescue is a local pitbull rescue group and founder Cindy sets up camp at a popular coffeehouse near the University of Texas to educate people, get donations to help the dogs, and most importantly, get them adopted! On the particular day that I showed up, there were 3 adorable pitbulls with Cindy, all looking for their forever homes.

Meet Amber and her cute nose:

As you can see above, Amber was an abuse case and most likely had acid or something similar poured over her head. Yet when I met her, she was as sweet as could be and loves children!

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Anatomy of a Dog Rescue

May 15, 2015 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Animal rescue is something very near and dear to my heart, and dog rescue is something that I’ve been lucky enough to actively participate in. It’s gut wrenching, heartbreaking, stressful, tragic, inspiring, and extremely rewarding. It’s taught me that every life counts and every life is worth saving and fighting for.

I want to tell you a story about a very special dog named Pretty Girl. She’s taught me a lot and I’m very proud of her. If you look closely at the photo above, you’ll notice that Pretty Girl is missing one of her front legs. This by no means defines her, it merely makes her extra cute & unique.

If you’ve ever rescued, adopted, or loved a dog, maybe you can relate to this post and the struggles I went through for this girl. Regardless, I think everyone can relate to fighting for something they believe in and for someone they love. This “someone” just happens to have a shiny fur coat and a wet nose.

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Happy Holidays!

December 25, 2014 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Wow! It’s been a crazy year for me. I made some big life changes and accomplished many of my personal goals. This website is one of those goals and I’m so thrilled to have a platform to talk about issues that are important to me, and hopefully, have a chance to help others – human and animal alike.

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Pit Bulls Need Compassionate Women

December 1, 2014 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Pit Bulls are the best. As someone who has worked with hundreds of dogs through the years, including a massive amount of pitties, I can genuinely say they are amazing and wonderful creatures. Not only do they have the cutest blocky heads, huge grins, and extremely wiggly butts, but they are full of love, personality, and depth. Obviously, pit bulls don’t have the best reputation in society right now. In the United States and Canada, the media portrays them as vicious, child hungry dogs that will attack for no reason and use their lock jaw to squeeze the life out of anything that gets in it’s path. Is this true? No. Not even a little bit. What does this have to do with compassionate women making the world a better place, you ask? Read on and I will tell you!

Before I begin, I have to dispel the rumors that I mentioned above. Pit bulls aren’t naturally vicious creatures, not even with children. In fact, pit bulls make great family dogs. They score better in temperament tests than Labrador Retrievers! Any dog is capable of biting a child if provoked, the problem is that the signs of provocation can be extremely subtle, but they are always there. It it also a rumor that pit bulls can lock their jaws. It’s false. No dog is capable of “locking” their jaw. This was something made up to give pit bulls an even worse persona. Just like any dog, pit bulls are shaped by the people that take care of them. So if a pit bull is never socialized, never trained, or not treated well, then he’s probably going to have behavioral problems. This goes for any breed of dog. And if the dog does bite someone, especially if it looks like a pit bull, then the dog is punished instead of having the owner* take responsibility.

*On a side note, I do not normally like using the term “owner,” because I do not believe animals are inanimate objects or property that can be owned. I like to use the term guardian instead of owner.

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Why Shelter Dogs are the Best!

October 1, 2014 by Jillian Leave a Comment

Look at those eyes. Soulful, huh? And those cropped ears. Both features tell the tale of a hard life full of pain and sadness. Yet this sweet girl, Catherine, was always so sweet and outgoing. She didn’t let the fact that she was passed around from owner to owner, dumped at the shelter, unable to find her forever home, and goodness knows what else stop her from giving up. This is why shelter dogs are the best. They are resilient. They endure terrible, heartbreaking circumstances and yet they continue to overcome. And they never stop sharing their love. Most humans I know are incapable of doing this. For me, shelter dogs represent and embody true love. I never grew up with dogs or spent time near them, and honestly, at times I preferred not to be near them. I mean, the drooling and barking and jumping on me – no thanks. But after working at shelters and observing these dogs firsthand, I immediately fell deep into love with their personalities and their stories. I saw them as furry little people, each with their own quirks, likes, dislikes, needs, strengths, and weaknesses. And the fact that they were shelter dogs as opposed to coming from a puppy mill or breeder, just amplified these endearing qualities and made me love them even more.

This is Horatio, one of the shelter dogs that I fostered for a couple weeks. He was so skinny when I first saw him. And as the weeks went by, I noticed that he wasn’t gaining any weight. In fact, it didn’t look like he was eating at all. I decided to bring him home and see if he gained weight. And he did! And my two female pitties absolutely adored him. The first night I brought him home, I had to lift him onto the bed because he was too terrified to move, and my other foster dog, Pretty Girl, started rolling around and stretching out next to him to try to impress him. It was amazing to see her react that way because Pretty Girl came from a bad situation too and was very introverted, yet she connected with Horatio and he brought out the best in her. Poor Horatio was probably the most scared dog I’ve ever met. He was scared to go into my yard to use the bathroom. I’d have to walk him out on a leash, and then he’d be scared to come back in. I don’t know anything about his history, except that my shelter rescued him off the kill list at the city shelter. I’ve always wondered what horrendous things must have happened to him to make him so petrified. He flinched every time I came near him, even to pet him. And yet Horatio was always a gentle creature.

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