I'm a BlogPaws Best Pet Microblogger 2015 Finalist!

Laura Ducourant March 6, 2015

I have recently been informed of some exciting news: I have been nominated as a finalist for the BlogPaws 2015 Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Pet Microblogger for my Instagram @MyPitBullFriend !

Yay! I’m so happy and truly humbled that I have not only been nominated to begin with but I am a finalist. This is amazing considering that there were over 1000 entries and I am 1 of 4 finalists in my category.

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The Best Pet Microblog is Judged on:

“The overall look and feel, audience engagement, and the blogger’s participation in the conversation. Is the page effective in its design and its use of the platform? We are looking for active engagement, sharing, consistency in purpose, original blogger content, creativity and visual appeal, where appropriate.”

Last year’s winner was Deaf Dogs Rock https://twitter.com/deafdogsrock Christina Lee”

Take at look at Finalists in all 12 categories:

The winners of all 12 categories will be announced on Saturday evening, May 30th in Nashville Tennessee. You can register on BlogPaws and gain information about the conference if you wish to attend.

I started my Instagram @MyPitBullFriend when there weren’t as many Instagram accounts dedicated to Pit Bulls. I was going through a difficult time and found an outlet in creating a stronger bond with my dog Bentley. I started really getting into dog training and thought it would be a fun idea to upload some pictures of Bentley to my Instagram. I immediately started to see that there were people that actually could relate with me so I continued and it just grew from there.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Bentley and my daughter Camille featured on my Instagram page.

My followers are a community of Pit Bull supporters and have shown so much love and support and I am truly grateful for this. There has been an immense influx of dog Instagrams and many of them are Pit Bull owners who understand the struggles associated with negative stereotyping. Having this community that supports each other has been a truly wonderful experience. It is encouraging to not only have an audience that likes what you do but that is engaged in this amazing way that is all thanks to social media.

I wish the best of luck to all the finalists in each category and even if I don’t take the winning title, it feels great to know that what I do is being recognized and seen in a positive light. Thank you!

Truly,

Are you #TeamDog or #TeamCat? Show Team Spirit for a chance to win an Ipad !

Laura Ducourant January 29, 2015

Super Bowl Sunday is right around the corner you know what that means -----> The Kitten Bowl will be airing on the Hallmark Channel! If you read my last blog post then you got to see a sneak peak at an amazing commercial that will air during the Kitten Bowl. This commercial uses state of the art technology to bring you a never before seen CGI featuring animals. The theme of the commercial is #TeamDog vs #TeamCat in spirit of the Super Bowl. Well you're in luck because I have a special treat today, I am happy to share with you the Official commercial brought to you by The Lucy Pet Foundation!

The Lucy Pet Foundation has been working around the clock to spread the word on pet overpopulation with a campaign targeted to help solve the problem with education and solutions like their mobile spay, neuter, and adoption clinic. Founder, Joey Herrick, made a promise to come up with a nationwide program to help the problem of pet overpopulation in shelters and this is his promise come to life.

"Spaying or neutering your cat or dog leads to better health, longer life, peace of mind, and foolproof birth control that lasts a lifetime. The average life span of an altered pet is 40% longer than one that’s not spayed or neutered, and the overall effects of spaying or neutering will positively influence your pet’s behavior. This simple procedure will save you and your pet from unnecessary suffering and unexpected financial burdens." -The Lucy Pet Foundation

Spaying will 100% prevent your pets from developing:

Ovarian cancer
Uterine cancer
Uterine infections
Uterine torsion and uterine prolapsed
False pregnancies
Difficult pregnancies
Cystic endometrial hyperplasia
Chronic endometritis
Cystic ovaries and hyperestrogenism

Neutering greatly decreases or completely eliminates certain health problems such as:

Testicular cancer 100%
Testicular torsion100%
Rectal cancer
Benign prostatic hyperplasia
Prostatic abscess
Prostatic cancer
Epididymitis (infection of the epididymis)100%
Perineal hernia (abdominal organs bulging out of rectum)
Inguinal hernia with potential organ strangulation
Perianal gland adenomas
Orchitis (infection of the testicles)100%
Venereal tumors
Acute or chronic prostatitis

Now YOU have a chance to do something good and help raise awareness about spaying and neutering by educating those around you about the benefits. What do you get out of it? The sense of pride in knowing that you will help reduce the astronomical numbers of euthanizations that occur every day but that's not all, if you enter TheLucy Pet Foundation funded contest you will be in the drawing to win an Ipad mini, a #TeamCat or #TeamDog Jersey and sports package!

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:

Take a photo of your pet with a #TeamDog or #TeamCat sign.

TO ENTER ON FACEBOOK:

Follow LucyPetFoundation on Facebook. Post your pet's photo (with a #TeamDog or #TeamCat sign) to your Facebook Page, along with the following message: "The biggest Bowl commercial this year may be #TheLucyBowl on Kitten Bowl!"

Add the hashtag #TeamDog or #TeamCat and @lucypetfoundation to the Facebook post.

Example: The biggest Bowl commercial this year may be #TheLucyBowl on Kitten Bowl! #TeamDog @lucypetfoundation

EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY by making your #TeamDog or #TeamCat photo your profile pic!

TO ENTER ON TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM:

Follow @LUCYPETFDN on Twitter or Instagram. Post your pet's photo (with a #TeamDog or #TeamCat sign) to your Twitter or Instagram account, along with the following message: "The biggest Bowl commercial this year may be #TheLucyBowl on Kitten Bowl!"

Add the #TeamDog or #TeamCat and @lucypetffdn.

Example: The biggest Bowl commercial this year may be #TheLucyBowl on Kitten Bowl! #TeamCat @LucyPetFdn

EARN AN EXTRA ENTRY by making your #TeamDog or #TeamCat photo your profile pic!

Contest ends February 1st , 2015 at 12:00pm PST. Digital manipulation of photos is permitted. You may enter once per day per social media platform.

Terms and Conditions: Contest ends February 1st, 2015 at 12:00pm PST. Winners will be announced at lucypetfoundation.org and on Lucy Pet Foundation's social media platforms on Feb. 1, 2015. We will attempt to notify winners in the manner in which they entered, however, winners are responsible for checking the website to see if they've won, and have 24 hours to respond to contest@lucypetfoundation.org with the subject #TheLucyBowl Winner, or the prize(s) will be awarded to other entries. Winners will be chosen by Random.org. One entry per day per social media account. Entrants must be 18 or older. International entries are accepted. Avoid where prohibited by law. Prizes: 2 winners will receive an Apple iPad mini 16GB Wi-Fi2, SRV: $249 and a #TeamDog or #TeamCat pet jersey. 4 additional winners will receive #TeamDog or #TeamCat sports packs: Pet jerseys and misc #TeamDog or #TeamCat fan items.

Don't forget to tune in to the Hallmark Channel on Sunday February 1st, 2015 at 12/1c to catch the Kitten Bowl and the best commercial of Super Bowl Sunday!

Woof!

Don't Miss #TheLucyBowl #CatsVsDogs On Super Bowl Sunday!

Laura Ducourant January 16, 2015

How many of you are Super Bowl fans? Well then you will absolutely LOVE the Kitten Bowl, which will be featured Super Bowl Sunday on Feb 1st, 2015. One of the things people look forward to on Super Bowl Sunday are the awesome commercials that are featured.

Well get ready because this year's best Bowl commercial may just be featured on Hallmark's Kitten Bowl!

This year, The Lucy Pet Foundation, brings you #TheLucyBowl, an amazing #DogsVsCats Bowl commercial featuring some of the most high-tech CGI ever done with animals. This commercial is sure to be one of the most groundbreaking and discussed ads of the year. The Director is one of Hollywood's most acclaimed visual effects wizards, Sam Nicholson. He is best known for his work on Heroes, 23, The Walking Dead and Star Trek I.

Here is a sneak peak of the commercial!

The commercial is aimed to draw attention to the staggering 80,000 pets that are euthanized each week.

Yes that is correct, 80,000 a week!

"The Mission of The Lucy Pet Foundation is to reduce pet overpopulation by having mobile spay/neuter clinics across the country and to support causes that benefit animal welfare."

Lucy Pet Foundation has a solution to pet overpopulation that will greatly decrease this astronomical and unnecessary amount of deaths each year. The solution is a multi-targeted plan that includes:

Free and Low Cost Mobile Spay & Neuter Clinics across the country (eventually all free!)
Education
Grooming and training of shelter pets to make them more adoptable
Working to enact legislation benefiting pets, including banning gas chambers at shelter

You can read more about the solution here: Letter From Joey Herrick

Who will you be rooting for this year, #TEAMDOG or #TEAMCAT ?

Don't forget to tune in to the Hallmark Channel at 12/1c on Sunday, February 1st, 2015 during The Kitten Bowl to catch the Lucy Pet Foundation commercial and support the cause!

Shelter Chic: Coming Soon to NY

Laura Ducourant August 13, 2014

I absolutely love meeting young, innovative people with a desire to serve the less fortunate. I have recently made the acquaintance of just that. A beautiful young woman named Brittany Feldman with a bright idea to help animals in need with a neat concept and a fantastic name – “Shelter Chic”.

Shelter Chic is a completely different type of shelter experience than what we are all used to. The main goal is to attract the public to shelters as opposed to buying pets from breeders or pet stores and also to make it a positive experience, not a sad one. How many times have you been to an animal shelter and felt depressed by the whole thing? Staring into the eyes of a sad dog in a dreary looking cage can put quite the damper on your mood. Shelter Chic will change that entirely. One of the main components to making the experience unique is a boutique that will be located at the front of the shelter which will carry an array of products for animals and humans as well making an emphasis on products that do not test on animals. The proceeds from the boutique will go towards maintaining the shelter.

As soon as you walk in to Shelter Chic you will feel happy because of the funky atmosphere. Leopard print litter boxes, quirky t-shirts for the employees and the best part is that the animals will all be dressed to impress. Tutus, bow ties - the whole nine, because well animals can have style too! How can you not smile when you see a dog in a tutu? Exactly! This shelter will leave you with a sense of happiness and joy not sadness.

(This is the logo for Shelter Chic, cute isn't it?)

Upon first hearing about this I was extremely happy to find that such a young woman had such an amazing vision and it is all in the name of helping animals. I wanted to delve a little deeper and ask Brittany a few questions.

When did you know you wanted to help animals?

Since childhood I have been a crazy animal lover (I used to play with insects and considered the ants in our backyard my pets). But a few years ago I started watching Pit Bulls and Parolees on Animal Planet and it had an enormous impact on me. I started sponsoring pit bulls from Villalobos Rescue Center and planned a trip to New Orleans to visit them. After meeting the dogs and seeing what they had been through, I quickly saw the resiliency, ability to forgive, and the overwhelming love the pit bull breed has to give. The people working at Villalobos were dedicated, passionate, and devote their lives 24 hours a day 7 days a week to saving animals. I knew I wanted to be a part of that. I became friends with one of the employees, telling him my desire to help, and he said "you know, you don't need to come to New Orleans to help, you can get involved in NY" And that's when I started volunteering at a shelter in Manhattan.I always knew I wanted to help animals, but Villalobos made me want to take action. After getting involved in the rescue world and seeing that there were still so many people buying animals from pet stores and breeders, I came up with Shelter Chic, a fancified and funkified shelter meant to attract the non-shelter crowd. I sat on this dream of mine for over two years, when finally this past May I told one of my closest friends Amanda Folk about the idea. She loves animals and works in business and finance, and it was clear she would be the perfect business partner. She couldn't wait to put her knowledge and expertise to such a good cause. We've been working together ever since.

How did you come up with the name?

I was talking about the idea with a friend in May and he just blurted out "Shelter Chic". I originally wanted to name it Bally's Bitches (Bally is my childhood family nickname) and I wanted to go for that edge. After discussing it with Amanda, we realized that the name Shelter Chic would appeal perfectly to the crowd we were aiming at, those that tend to have a stigma against shelters. The juxtaposition of the two words works against this stigma. I love the name, I think it explains what we're about perfectly.

Do you have any rescues of your own?

I have a cat named Harris that I fostered and soon after adopted from the shelter that I used to work at. He was found alone in a box in a park and brought to us. I bought my dog Georgie from a pet store when
I was in college in 2006. I didn't know about puppy mills or the importance of adoption at the time. Georgie and Harris are best friends, it is adorable. They are the loves of my life.

When could we expect Shelter Chic to open it's doors?

Realistically we are aiming to be open by Summer 2015, although we hope it will be sooner (our paperwork is in process but there is a waiting period while it is still under review). In the meantime we are raising awareness about our cause and beginning to fundraise. We are currently looking for a space in lower Manhattan, which is very exciting!

What message would you like to give to anyone who doesn't want to adopt from a shelter?

When you adopt from a shelter, you save a life. Animals from shelters come from all different places. Some animals in shelters are former strays, some are rescued from abusive situations, and some are purebred dogs and cats that wind up in shelters after being
surrendered by their owner for various reasons. There are kittens and puppies in shelters, too. You can find any type of dog or cat in a shelter, if you look. It is heartbreaking to see homeless animals in cages, but if you truly love animals and want to welcome one into your family, why not save one? They might just end up saving you, too.

We need more people like this, who truly care about the well being of animals. Cheers to you Brittany! Keep up the good work and I will be looking forward to taking my first trip to NYC when Shelter Chic opens its doors.

Get Well Soon Christy Mack

Laura Ducourant August 12, 2014

I've been a fan of Christy Mack for some time now especially after discovering that she is a huge Pit Bull lover and advocate and completely gorgeous, might I add. I recently reached out to Christy Mack because I wanted to write a feature story about her and her 2 Pit Bulls, Pitrick Swayzee and Cleopitra, and it is with great sadness that I am instead compelled to write this story about the vicious attack that she barely managed to escape from.

Christy had been dating MMA fighter “War Machine”, aka Jon Koppenhaver, and the two split up in May of 2014. On Monday August 8th 2014, Christy was at her Las Vegas, NV home with a friend when Jon came over unannounced and beat her and her friend.

She tweeted that she suffered from:

"18 broken bones around my eyes, my nose is broken in 2 places, I am missing teeth and several more are broken. I am unable to chew, or see out of my left eye. My speech is slurred from my swelling and lack of teeth. I have a fractured rib and severely ruptured liver from a kick to my side. My leg is so badly injured I have not been able to walk on my own. I also attained several lesions from a knife he got from my kitchen. He pushed the knife into me in some areas such as my hand, ear, and head. He also sawed much of my hair off with this dull knife. After some time, the knife broke off of the handle and he continued to threaten me with the blade. I believed I was going to die. He has beaten me many times before, but never this badly."

Christy barely managed to escape and get help from a neighbor who took her to the hospital where she remains and has released this photo of the aftermath of the atrocious attack via her Twitter @ChristyMack.

"War Machine" is currently on the run and avoiding the police. There is a $10,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest. Call Crime Stoppers at (720)385-5555. I hope that he surrenders himself soon and deals with the repercussions of his actions.

There is also a website available to those who wish to donate towards Christy's staggering medical expenses which amount to $100,000:

Christy Mack's Medical Expense Fund

I am reminded of why I wanted to interview Christy in the first place. She sees the beauty in Pit Bulls and is not afraid to show the world. She stands up for the breed and is an avid supporter. These dogs go through some horrifying things in the hands of others and now Christy, this gorgeous woman has herself gone through a horrifying experience in the hands of someone who didn't know how to love her. Someone who used brute force on a defenseless being. Beating a human or animal senseless is an act of a sick person. I was going to ask her this question:

"What message do you have for those that beat their dogs?"

Christy, I am so sorry that you had to endure this monstrous experience and I hope that you keep your strength in this trying time. Having been through physically abusive relationships myself, I feel for you and wish you a speedy recovery. I send you all my love and support and I hope that you are surrounded by those that love you. You may feel alone at this time but just know that you have many people that care about your well being at this time. I look forward to seeing pictures of you smiling with your pups soon.

With Love,

Art with a Heart

Laura Ducourant July 23, 2014

I have recently had the pleasure of getting to know an amazingly strong woman who's story is truly inspirational. I would like to introduce you all to Painter Sam.

Samantha Bennet is an artist currently living in Columbus, Ohio. She paints a variety of subjects including our favorite: Dogs, more specifically Pit Bulls. Samantha's passion for art began when she was just a child, in the hospital. When she was 9 months old, she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis that threatened her life but she lived. The impact that the disease has had on her body is evident. She is missing fingers, toes and half of her right foot. She has had over 25 corrective surgeries and is still having them today, 38 years later.

Despite all of this, she has not let is stop her from doing what she loves, Art. She has been exhibiting her artwork and donating proceeds to The National Meningitis Association. One of the subjects that she painted for a show was her very own dog Duke, an American Bulldog and Pit Bull mix. She wanted his true personality to shine through in her painting and not for people to dwell on the fact that he was a Pit Bull. Following this exposure, Bully lovers have shown great interest and are supporting what she does by having Samantha paint their very own dogs.

Sadly Duke has passed away at the age of 11 but he still inspires her paintings to this day and has also inspired her to raise money to help save Pit Bull breed dogs by donating proceeds of her exhibits to rescues.

This is the painting of Samantha's dog Duke

We feel that Samantha has something in common with the Pit Bulls that she paints. They are both strong and beautiful and full of life. Most times humans choose to discriminate based on outside appearances and typical stereotypes. Seeing the perseverance of certain people to make a positive impact in the world is not only encouraging but shows so much selflessness.

This is why we admire Painter Sam, she has not let anything discourage her from doing what she loves, spreading awareness and donating to the cause. Beautiful! We tip our hats to you.

"My scars are my story and I am proud of them. I embrace the curious stares of strangers. Most of all, I hope they look as intently at my art and see that I am following my dreams."

Above is a video of Painter Sam's story. For more information and to view more of her work please visit her website : www.PainterSam.com

To learn more about Bacterial Meningitis please visit: www.NMASU.org

Cheers,

I have recently been informed of some exciting news: I have been nominated as a finalist for the BlogPaws 2015 Nose-to-Nose Award for Best Pet Microblogger for my Instagram @MyPitBullFriend !

The Best Pet Microblog is Judged on:

Take at look at Finalists in all 12 categories:

Best Cat Blog Finalists:

Best Cause Blog Finalists:

Best Pet Blog Design Finalists:

Best Dog Blog Finalists:

Best Pet Humor Blog Finalists:

Best Pet Microblog Finalists:

Best New Pet Blog Finalists:

Best “Unconventional”/”Other” Pet Blog Finalists:

Best Pet Blog Photo Finalists:

Best Written Pet Blog Post Finalists:

Best Pet Blog Video Finalists:

Best Use of Social Media by a 501(c)3 Finalists: