Sky Valencia and Pit Bull puppy Charity. Charity was rescued from being a breeding machine.
It all started when Sky Valencia adopted her first Pit Bull puppy and named her Roxy. Roxy was the joy of her life.
One tragic day, Roxy was poisoned. Sky felt that Roxy was murdered because she was a Pit Bull.
Sky decided to turn her sorrow into action. Her mission: to help protect all Pit Bulls.
In 1999, Sky founded the Saint Martin's Animal Foundation (SMAF). The City of Los Angeles hired Sky to spearhead an outreach program in its suburbs ranked high in both dog fighting and overbreeding. After six months of detective work, Sky diagnosed the problem.
Gang members and drug dealers, in the Los Angeles-area, bred Pit Bulls and forced the puppies to be aggressive. They trained these dogs to fight despite the fact that dog fighting is a felony in the U.S.
The Los Angeles-area Pit Bull breeding program deliberately bred aggressive dogs for the sole purpose of dog fighting. Lax laws and a lack of enforcement made matters even worse.
Sky and animal rights attorney, Bob Ferber, assembled an anti-cruelty task-force. They combined the Department of Animal Regulations with the Los Angeles Police Department; these agencies came down on the offenders like a ton of bricks.
In addition, Sky started a humane outreach program for students, educating them on proper pet care as well as animal compassion.
Actor Brandon Liberati poses with rescued Pit Bull Minnie for the anti-dog fighting billboards.
SMAF is launching an anti-dog fighting campaign. Celebrities will be featured on billboards in Los Angeles suburbs prone to deadly dog fighting. There will be a hotline for citizens to report this horrid and illegal form of animal torture.
California is determined to end this terrible injustice to Pit Bulls. Stiff jail sentences and punitive fines have already been handed down to some perpetrators. SMAF is working with attorneys and judges to end these awful and cruel dogfights once and for all.
SMAF needs your help to open a new rescue facility this year for abused dogs. Please donate to their important fundraiser https://www.gofundme.com/utahanimalhaven
Dr Reese Halter’s upcoming books are: Save Nature Now & Love Nature.