My Tuesday morning drive from the Philly suburbs to the Trenton, N.J., train station wasn’t routine this week.
My commute to the office involves visiting the Trenton train station.
You see, as I was about to pull into the garage where I normally park, I spotted two unleashed dogs trotting down a sidewalk, with no human companion anywhere in sight.
A familiar sight for me yesterday in Trenton, N.J.: two unleashed, unaccompanied dogs walking the street.
Being an animal person/lover—I stop for anything with four legs and fur—I immediately pulled out of the lot, onto the street, and after the loose pooches. I could tell they were Pit Bulls, but wasn’t deterred (I figured that if they ran from the slowing vehicle or growled at me when I spoke to them, then I wouldn’t try to catch them).
That building in the back, a parking garage, is where I spotted the loose dogs.
Fortunately, as I pulled up along side of them, rolled down my car window, and called out ‘Hey there good doggies!’, they wagged their tails and seemingly smiled at me.
A happy Pit Bull.
Good sign. I stopped and got out of the car.
They trotted right over to me, and I slowly held out my hands as I told them how beautiful they were (if you’re not a dog person, then you just won’t understand). They sniffed, wagged their tails again, and were eager to be petted.
I opened the hatch of my vehicle, and they hopped right in.
Many Pit Bulls are super sweet dogs.
Okay, now where do I go? I should’ve been on a train to the office already, and I’ve got two Pit Bulls in my car and am in a state that I only travel through to reach New York. Thankfully, my worries lasted only a moment: My boss is also an animal lover, and would not be too upset with my delay, and, I have some experience dealing with animals in need (all of my pets are rescues).
I drove back to the train station and found a police officer, who helped me get phone numbers to several nearby animal shelters.
A little while later, and the kind employees at the Trenton Bureau of Animal Control welcomed my new dog friends into a much safer setting than the streets of Trenton. The two dogs, one a pretty caramel color and the other dark brown and white, joined about 20 others (all Pit Bulls) in the pound.
The dogs I picked up looked very similar to these two pooches.
I thanked the employees for taking care of the dogs—Pit Bulls that are identified as one type of a perceived “bully breed” by Best Friends magazine, the print voice of the non-profit group that operates an animal sanctuary out West, and, which took in 22 of Michael Vick’s abused fighting dogs. I am also happy that the Pit Bulls that I picked up were socialized around people (and if they weren’t, I would have phoned local police to pick them up off of the street), as sweet and affectionate as my Lab, and to see them get food, shelter, and some good people to look after them until they get ‘forever’ homes.
Many staffers at JCK love pets, and therefore, we have written about animal-themed jewelry at various times in the past—“Animal Magnetism: Attracting Business With Pet-Themed Jewelry,” August 2003; “Trend Alert”, December 2007; and “An inconvenient Tooth,” May 2008—but there’s always interest in more of these tales (pun intended).
Certain jewelry makers come to mind when I think of animal themes. Among them are Méche, Puppy Paws, and Thistle & Bee, but many other designers craft pet-motif pieces as well. I am always interested in learning of new animal-themed designs, especially since I haven’t seen any in some time.
Do you make or sell pet-themed jewelry, and do these efforts benefit an animal-specific charity? Let us know by weighing in on the comment function. In particular, I would love to know about efforts that aide the cause of Pit Bulls. And if you’re interested in making a donation to Trenton Bureau of Animal Control, here’s the address: Trenton Bureau of Animal Control, 72 Escher Street, Trenton, NJ 08609.
Also of note, Hedda turned me on to Best Friends magazine, which is a well-written and heartwarming publication for pet lovers. A $25 donation gets you a subscription. I’ve already passed along two sub cards to coworkers, and will be subscribing myself. Best Friends also accepts donations for an annual summer raffle it conducts to raise money for the care of some 1,700 animals at its sanctuary. What a great opportunity for pet-loving jewelers to donate a piece to a worthy cause. For more information, email Best Friends at bfraffle@bestfriends.org, or call (435) 644-2001 ext. 4547.
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