Meet The Rescues
The other night my girlfriend and I were sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching this fabulous series called "The Fosters" about a lesbian couple -- a cop and a vice-principal -- who foster kids and then love them so much they ultimately adopt them, leading to an ever growing brood. We looked around at our little gang: Cabo, Foxy, Rico and Tux and realized -- with a laugh – hey we could do a show called The Rescues. So we did! (See it here!)
Let me give you some deep background on Cabo San Lucas. He's a VIC (very important Chihuahua mix). He was left in a box outside a shelter in South Los Angeles. You might say Cabo is bi-coastal because he ended up in New York City. Now he goes into Central Park and proclaims with a bark, "All this land is mine!" Any dog who crosses Cabo's path gets an earful. The only exceptions are his BFF's: Foxy and Lil' Rico.
Lil' Rico, who was rescued from Puerto Rico, is a genuine Chihuahua who loves to sit on my 97-year old mom's lap. When she takes a stroll, leaning on her fully-equipped walker, Rico proudly rides on the seat, looking like a tiny general on parade.
Foxy, a mini-Pinscher/Chihuahua mix, was found roaming the streets of Fresno, California and is a real party girl. Fetching is her scene. She nibbles her food daintily as if determined to keep her perfect figure.
And then there's Tux, a black and white tuxedo kitten, the newest member of our clan. One of my mom's caretakers found this kitty crying and shivering in a gutter in Queens during an icy storm. In from the cold, she immediately melted our hearts with her hijinks. But, Foxy –used to being the star- has given Tux a bit of the cold shoulder. It doesn't help that Tux miraculously took to fetching as well. Hence Episode One: Foxy's Jealous. I hope you enjoy it.
As a journalist I feel it's my obligation to speak for voiceless animals and I do every week on my TV show that airs Monday through Friday at 7pm EST on HLN. Sometimes I bring my rescues on the show with me. It takes the edge off the horror I feel the obligation to discuss. 9 billion farm animals – cows, pigs, chickens, lambs, ducks, turkeys -- raised in factory farm conditions whose cruelties have been revealed in numerous undercover operations by organizations like the Humane Society of the United States, Mercy for Animals and PETA. Many of these sentient beings will only glimpse the sky on the packed ride to slaughter.
Our show has repeatedly covered the dolphin slaughter in Japan's infamous cove. I've reported on the abominable wild horse round up by the U.S. Interior Department using our tax dollars to rip wild horses from open spaces and pack them into holding pens indefinitely, with no announced long range plan. I've done many stories on unnecessary and wildly cruel animal experiments, again often subsidized by our tax dollars.
These stories are very important. They are too often overlooked by mainstream media. But, thankfully, that is now changing. The Dodo is an example of how animal issues are finally being taken seriously.
Animals have so much to teach us. And we, as a culture, have so much to learn about how to treat our fellow earthlings. My four little rescues are my teachers. If you haven't already, please go rescue yours.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi