THANK GOD FOR NOSY NEIGHBORS: LILY THE PIT BULL

Rescued by Pennsylvania SPCA Animal Cops when the TV show Animal Cops: Philadelphia showed up at her house because a neighbor had called and reported the abuse going on!

The American Dog reports
Photos by Alexandra Golaszewska

Alexandra Golaszewska first heard about Lily from her brother who was working on the show Animal Cops: Philadelphia. He had emailed her asking if she would be interested in fostering a dog they had just rescued filming a show. From the information gathered, Alexandra says, “Someone had called the humane law enforcement because there was a dead dog in a neighbor’s backyard (an autopsy later showed that he had died of starvation). The caller said that they had originally seen the dog alive, and there were also other pets in the house. When the Pennsylvania SPCA Animal Cops (and the TV crew) arrived, they found Lily and another dog alive in the house.”

Before Alexandra chose Lily, the PSPCA had tested her with some cats to see whether they got along, and Lily did fine. “When I brought her home, she immediately befriended my cat Scout—they touched noses within an hour. I had some work to do, so I sat down at my desk, and Lily promptly curled up at my feet and went to sleep. It seemed that she had never been trained, because she didn’t know any commands; she had no idea what ‘sit’ meant, but she had such a great disposition,” Alexandra says.

“She just loves my cat Scout. When they play, Lily tries to play like a cat—it’s really cute! Some of her other close friends are a Puggle named Molly, a Curly-Coated Retriever named Marley, and a Greyhound named Sarenka.” Alexandra explains that Lily gets to see her friends a lot because they live in a neighborhood with so many dogs, and almost all of them are walked outside of their yards. “Lily also gets invited to many dog birthday parties, and my neighbor Leslie is always giving Lily bones. She is crazy about those bones. She probably has two dozen of them by now, and she likes to have 6 or 8 out at a time. Also, tennis balls are a favorite too,” Alexandra says.

Since Alexandra is a social media consultant, she saw an opportunity to show the other side of Pit Bulls through a Facebook page for Lily (www.face-book.com/LilyThePitBull). “This is a place for the positive stories of Pitties that don’t make the news. Lily now has 5000+ fans, and I hear all the time from people that they used to be afraid of Pit Bulls, but they aren’t any more! The positive images they see on social media sites like Facebook has had a lot to do with changing the negative stereotype of Pits. Some of these people have since adopted Pit Bulls for themselves, or are planning to do it,” Alexandra says.

Lily has passed her Canine Good Citizen test and is now certified as a therapy dog—she passed both tests on the first try! Alexandra says, “About once a month we visit a nursing home, but I’ve also taken Lily to meet students who were learning about why dog fighting is bad.”

Become a fan at:
www.facebook.com/LilyThePitBull