Who could resist such a face?

I have recently been getting quite a few letters from my readers and they are all very encouraging and many of then contain interesting real life animal stories.

I particularly wish to share one with you. To start with: the look on this little guy’s face is just so cute, who could resist such a face?

Thomas Laws wrote to me from Atlanta a couple of weeks ago:

Dear Kim:

I own a Royal Bahamian Pot Bull or Pit Cake named "Wazza" - he hails from the city of Freeport in the Bahamas.  He is currently 5 months old.  (Estimated time of birth Feb 1 2008). I was told that he was rescued out from under a dumpster when he was only a few weeks old behind either a grocery store or a "target" in Freeport.  I adopted him from a potcake rescue group a few months ago here in Atlanta where I live.  He is an indoor dog who has more or less potty trained himself.  He knows how to sit, shake, lay down, fetch.  As you can see in the  picture, we are working on his footballing skills too.  He is an absolutely amazing little guy (not so little anymore).  He is happy, social with people, social with animals and with kids. He loves to play, play, play all the time. Don't get me wrong he is a LOT of work; he is a chewer and very head strong.  But he is very rewarding also and LOVES my wife and I (he loves our cat too, but the cat hates him...LOL)

Anyway, since I first adopted him I have been fascinated with his history - and his story - I have been reading about where he comes from, what he is made up of ect ect ect... A lot of people can buy dogs they get from pet stores or breeders and that’s great, but my dog has a real story, and I think that is just awesome. 

I have found that breed dogs can come from shoddy breeders and have nervous ticks and temperament issues due to inbreeding ect ect. And "mutts" are more or less genetically stronger.  - More often then with breed dogs you get a happy, loyal well adjusted personality - and like you have stated, less health issues to boot.    - anyway while doing research on him I stumbled upon your column and have very much enjoyed reading about the potcakes and the rescue efforts and the dogs that share his origins. Keep it up, post more pictures

  Thomas Laws

I was delighted to hear the story of Wazza and to hear how well he has settled down into his away from the Bahamas home. I learnt that Wazza’s first name was “Snoopy Potcake" and his new owner changed it in order to name him after his favourite favorite footballer (that’s soccer to some of you out there!) Wayne Rooney of Manchester United.

I asked Thomas how he got to adopt Wazza and he told me that he adopted him from a group that operates in Atlanta. Website address: http://www.potcake.org/   

I will now quote from Thomas’s second email to me:

They have rescued all kinds of dogs from the Bahamas' from pure potcakes, to mixed breeds, to pure breeds that were simply abandoned.

They are genuine and good people and would appreciate any attention and or help they could get. 

The way that I got in touch with them is that - I have a friend here in Atlanta that works with a cat rescue place called "Furkids:.  Furkids sets up at a few local pet stores on the weekends and adopts out cats, kittens and sometimes puppies that they rescue here locally.  I told her I was moving to a house with a yard and I was looking to adopt an American bulldog mix. 

She had been helping me look.  The potcake group set up at the same pet store that her group was working in that day.  When she got to the pet store to set up their adoption center she saw Wazza and called me. 

Wazza the Football player

She said she wasn't sure if he was American bulldog or not, but he was adorable and I should come and meet him.  When I got up there Wazza came up and jumped in my lap - he was such a happy guy.  A few minutes later in the middle of all of the commotion, he went to sleep.  

I very quickly signed the papers and bought him ($175 he comes with shots, neutered, and vet history)  As I was signing them she started to tell me that he was a "potcake" and came from the Bahama'. 

I was in the process of moving from a 2nd floor apartment in downtown Atlanta to a house in the suburbs with a fenced in backyard  Nancy, the lady who was fostering him held him for me at her house until I completed my move (2 weeks). 

That night I went home and got on the internet and started doing research about these "potcakes".  How they came to be, what problems they caused.  Then I stumbled upon an article where someone was complaining about Pit Bulls being abandoned in Freeport.  And how they were breeding with the potcakes and people would miss treat them and then someone would get attacked by one of them.  That’s when I put 2 and 2 together and I realized that Wazza was one of these dogs.  You can look at Wazza and clearly see the pit bull in him.   His muscles and frame, his head shape and his eyes, but if you know what to look for you can also see the potcake he has long lanky legs, floppy ears and a long tail. 

He has big paws - so I think he is going to be a big dog!       - Thomas   Laws

I think that it is just wonderful what these people are doing in Atlanta and I wish more people were able to help our abandoned dogs this way. Re-reading Thomas Laws letters and looking at Wazza’s happy little face reminds me that there is an awful lot of good out there and sometimes we got so entangled with the bad that we forget to look out for the good and the happy stories.   Thank you Thomas for giving us a happy ending this week!

About the author: Kim Aranha grew up in the Berry Islands with her first dog, a beloved potcake named “Friendly” (who was anything but!).  First educated at home, and then in boarding school in Switzerland, Kim moved to Rome, Italy in 1974 to pursue a career in the dramatic arts and ended up working as an interpreter.  She moved back to The Bahamas in 1980, and now lives in Nassau with her husband Paul, and their two teenaged sons.  Kim has 4 dogs, 5 fish (1 Beta, 4 Goldfish), 10 turtles (6 babies, 4 adolescents), 1 Asian box turtle and 4 Budgerigars. Her idea of relaxing is being home to take care of all her pets. Kim is President of the board of the Bahamas Humane Society. Kim can be contacted at kimvba@coralwave.com