The Little Red Dog Raises $3,000 For Rescue Efforts At "Pups At Pittsford"

By Freda Freeman

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (JULY 11, 2015) – It was a dog day afternoon – and morning too – at The Little Red Dog’s Founder’s Day Fundraiser Saturday.

The second annual “Pups at Pittsford” fundraiser was held in Pittsford Park, where families could take home dogs that were available for adoption. The dogs, mostly pit bull terriers, were rescued from high kill animal shelters, given up by owners who for various reasons could no longer keep them or abandoned.

The event raised $3,000 to support The Little Red Dog’s rescue efforts, and four dogs found homes.

PJ Rosch of Lake Forest founded The Little Red Dog in 2011 after reading “The Lost Dogs: Michael Vick’s Dogs and Their Tale of Rescue and Redemption.” She still gets emotional recalling the story of a little red dog that was tragically killed because it didn’t want to fight as part of Vick’s brutal dog-fighting ring.

Rosch said she is “on a mission from dog.”

“Most pitties make great family dogs if you just take the time to train them and socialize them,” she said. “Dogs are very social in general, and especially pitbulls—they just want to be with their people. Dogs need people and people need dogs.”

The Little Red Dog has rescued 700 dogs over the past four years. The group also rescues moms and their entire litters. There are currently about 60 dogs up for adoption.

The Little Red Dog places the dogs in foster homes where they are potty trained and learn how to be part of a family. The group, which is working on getting its own facility, presently has about 15 foster homes, but is always in need of more.

Jenn Zieska, A TLRD volunteer and foster said she takes in dogs to keep them from being put to sleep.

“There are so many and they don’t have homes. There’s a good chance they will be destroyed, even the babies,” she said, adding, “I just can’t say no.”

In addition to Saturday’s dog adoptions, dog trainers offered simple dog obedience training tips and there was a flyball demonstration and a dog beauty contest. New was a commemorative dog pack walk in recognition of the hundreds of dogs rescued throughout Southern California this year.

Included in the event, at one end of the park, it was off to the races for Charm, Tobey, Myia, Bindi, Kelso, Curie and Bella. The dogs jumped over hurdles as they raced to retrieve tennis balls and back again. The races and agility course were put on by the Woof Gang Flyball Team of Garden Grove.

“The purpose is just to show people how to have fun with their dogs,” said Woof Gang team member Tom Harrie. They also invited kids to run the course.

South Orange County Animal Hospital held free heartworm testing. Participating vendors included companies that make all natural dog food and hold special birthday parties for dogs. There were also games for kids and face painting. Mustache Mike’s Italian Ice and Jerry’s Woodfired Dogs provided food, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting The Little Red Dog.

The crowd took a short break during the festivities to hold for a moment of silence to remember Dan Chan, a dedicated volunteer with The Little Red Dog who died earlier this year.

For more information about The Little Red Dog, please visit thelittlereddog.com.