And the future says my portfolio will shortly look like this! :

LARGO, Fla. (May 9, 2008) - Today, SPCA Tampa Bay Humane Officers confiscated 16 poodles and one dachshund mix with the help of local law enforcement from a Largo home.

“These unfortunate dogs are in a terrible state of neglect. They are infested with fleas and intestinal parasites. Many are anemic and extremely thin,” said SPCA Executive Director, Beth Lockwood. “We are just glad they are safe and receiving the veterinary attention they need to recover over the next few weeks,” said Lockwood. They were covered in fleas!

The Largo animal shelter received a tip from a local veterinarian who treated one of the poodles that was near death. County and SPCA humane officers have been observing the owner, who has a known history of animal hoarding, for more than two years.

“Hoarding is a mental disorder that cannot be overlooked,” said Beth Lockwood, Executive Director. “Often hoarders believe they are the only ones who can save the animals despite their limited resources and means to care for them.”

The Largo Police will be filing animal cruelty charges and the SPCA will seek legal custody of the dogs.

Among those 17 puppies was one little black one (in all honestly there might have been more than one black one but all we saw was one :P) who will be coming home (to us) on Wednesday after his surgery! He is a little weight-less, you can literally count his ribs if you run your hand down his side, but that won’t last long, he also has a immature cataract in his left eye, but we’re going to get that taken care of in probably about a month or so (so far it’s not effecting his eyesight at all) :)



He is a five year old pure-breed miniature poodle and his name is Scrappy :)

I think me and my sister will also be volunteering at SPCA in Largo - the one we adopted Scrappy from - me as a photographer to take photos of the pups for their website and my sister as a Canine Counselor - which basically just helps with people who are adopting or have questions about the adoptable dogs. It’s only three hours a week, for three months - which isn’t a terribly long commitment, so I think it’ll be good, and fun :)

Do you know how hard it is to find a small dog who doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? Or one who doesn’t get swooped up from you at the SPCA 15 minutes before you were about to tell the people OMG WE WANT THAT DOG NOW! - Well in case you want to know, it’s really really really hard. Darn it.