Pets In The Hood Pets In The Hood is a program designed exclusively for "high risk" kids and their "high risk" pets. As we go about our day to day activities, it is all too easy to forget or ignore what really goes on in that desperate, hellish place call The Hood. There, our youth are being weaned on the sour milk of hate and violence. As they grow, their teachers in these asphalt classrooms are all too willing drug dealers and gang members. Many other kids are simply in a poverty stricken lifestyle where they see no escape, no future. It isn’t long before the hurt, the pain and then the anger set in. And these children learn very quickly how to hurt. Not only do they hurt each other, but they practice their violent lessons on their subordinates - their pets. Pets In The Hood is currently being conducted within lockdown juvenile facilities. We visit these facilities on a weekly basis and cover various "animal topics" For example: we start off with "Canine History" where the kids get up and front and personal with wolves, the founding ancestors of the dog. We then journey into "Dogs Within Our Society" in which they learn how important dogs are to us in our day to day activities. Our special guests include Police Dogs, Drug Dogs, Therapy Dogs, etc. Along with these seminars, a selected group of individuals are assigned their own "Villalobos" dog and we conduct training classes. This is a two-part success story, as not only do the children learn love, trust, patience and discipline, but the dogs also receive lots of attention and training. This not only gets them out on the town, but makes them more adoptable. With this program, we and by "we" I mean the dogs and our small team of humans, hope to show these kids that love and compassion is only a tail wag away. They just need to lower that hardened shell that they’ve had to put up, and give our little canine buddies a chance to soften them up. For us it’s a chance worth taking. For these animals and these kids... it may be the only chance they have left. By the way, the dogs we take into The Hood are all Pit Bulls that were rescued and then trained by our organization. Picture if you can upbeat rap music playing while sharing stories from the streets, along with seven Pit Bulls running through an audience kissing, licking and jumping into laps. Like money, programs like ours do not grow on trees. One of our never-ending problems is the weekly $350.00 cost of feeding our rescued dogs. Another is the high cost of offering our free, citywide, full-scale training and behavior modification program, for Pit Bulls only, at the various City of L.A. Animal Shelters. Donations are not only needed, they are most gratefully accepted. And if anyone is interested in volunteering for our Pets In The Hood program, please give us a call at (661) 268-0555 Bless The Beasts And The Children. Tia Maria, Founder/Director: Villalobos Rescue Center. 36220 Anthony Rd, Aqua Dulce, CA 91350 redfang13@aol.com | 
