::steps onto soapbox::

ehem. is this thing on? yes? ok.

when i was in college, i had to write a speech about something that motivates change. i picked puppy mills and adopting/rescuing, rather than going to a pet store and supporting the abusive way that many disreputable breeders handle their "business".

before i go much farther, i'm not saying that buying a dog from a breeder is bad. when done correctly, all parties involved are happy-including the momma dog. which is what is the most important thing, you see.

responsible breeders only breed their momma's a couple of times. they take care of all HER health issues (vaccinations, check ups, recovery time) and make certain that she lives a comfortable life. she is part of the family. and when she is done doing her duties, she is STILL part of the family. loved and cared for.

bad breeders keep their girls in cages, over breed them, DON'T care for the health, and when she is washed up, they dump her at a shelter, or on the side of the road. because she is useless now. i'm not going to get too far into it here. but if you really want to know how bad it can get, google image search "puppy mills" and you'll see what i mean.

this is something i am passionate about. so yesterday, when we saw some pictures from a local shelter of several sweet dogs who were about to be euthanized, i had no choice. i had to act. i hopped in the car, drove almost 2 hours and arrived at spalding animal control in griffin, ga.

bella and i walked up and down the 3 rows of kennels with dogs in them. these dogs looked so sad, and wanted so badly for you to just love them. there were several puppies (which of course bella LOVED), but puppies get adopted quickly, and as i was informed by the animal control officer, people come weekly to take the pups to no kill shelters. so i went to the front and said, "give me a list of the ones closest to death's door".

they gave me a list of 5. the officer showed me those dogs. "this one's mean", well....i can't have a mean dog with a baby. "this one has severe skin allergies. it's a cheap fix, but you have to put a treatment on her every day". i barely take a shower myself everyday. i don't know that i could handle that. "this one is skittish" ::read-not good with kids::

then we get down to the last 2. faith and hoss. hoss was a big hound, and he had the sweetest face. but he was almost 100 pounds. he sat there looking at me. i put my hand in his cage and he leaned his head down and nuzzled my fingers. i loved him. i cried. he was too big for our apartment, and with bella toddling around, it may not be a good mix. it broke my heart.

but faith, well, faith was smaller. smaller than duke. at a year old, she should be almost full grown (and her paws confirm that suspicion). she had ticks around her ears and was itching a lot, but those are easily fixable problems. we took her outside and she walked right beside us, sat when we stopped, licked the bella's feet.

i left to get some cash, and when i came back in i sang, "i gotta have faith!"

of course, faith isn't her real name. that's just the name they gave her at the shelter. we gave her lola. because, whatever lola wants, lola gets.

this is my little lola luftnagle (i like disney channel. so what. don't judge me, monkey.)

lovely lola was a little shy at first. but once we got her home, and gave her 3, yes 3 baths, she started to open up a little bit. this morning, after a good nights sleep and a full belly, she even started playing with duke. she is a sweet baby. she lays at our feet, follows us around, sits beside the baby. she is gentle and quiet. she has a family and we couldn't love her more.

lola was set to be put down today.

"no voice, no choice. rescue a shelter dog!"