If you ever have a bad day and need to look at some photos of cute puppies, we have the Instagram account for you.
Leslie Jaime, a native Tucsonan and a team lead at Vantage West Credit Union, has been documenting and sharing photos of pit bull mix dogs, Dice and Daisy, after adopting them from the Pima Animal Care Center in the nick of time.
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Here's what Jamie had to say about her Instagram page, animal adoptions, and why she loves her dogs so dang much:
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How did you meet your dogs?
They were both on the Short Term Rescue list at PACC and were set to be euthanized. Dice came to us first. He was on euthanasia list because he was sick with giardia and kennel cough, and because of that he wasn't getting along with his kennel mates. I saw several posts from PACC volunteers on Facebook with his sad-looking face; it was especially touching because my husband Ruben and I had just said our final goodbyes to our dog, who passed away at an old age.
We were feeling the pain of her being gone, and then I see Dice's face and we both decided we had to do our part to help. We weren't ready to adopt, so we agreed to foster, so he was pulled from the shelter in the nick of time by Bridge Rescue for Dogs, with us as the foster parents. We were meant to get him adopted out, but after a very short time, he wormed his way into our hearts and we decided we couldn't let him go. So we adopted him and now he's a super spoiled mama's boy.
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A month or two later, we decided to foster Daisy, who was surrendered to the shelter by her owners because she had just had puppies and she was overprotective and couldn't get along with dogs or people. At the shelter, she ended up on the euthanasia list because she was very scared and extremely reactive and she was very selective in who she let get close to her. When she came to be with us, she got along well with Dice, but she was very afraid of my husband. For months, I was the only one who she would allow to get close to her. Slowly though, we saw the change in her. After fostering her for about 7 months, we decided to adopt her as well. She's now a HUGE daddy's girl.
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What do you love about your dogs?Β
Where do I begin! They are the most loving, most gracious dogs. Many people who rescue animals from shelters will tell you that these animals just know what you saved them from, and they are so grateful to you.
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Dice especially is the biggest lovebug to everyone that he meets. He does not have a mean bone in his body. A lot of it has to do with the fact that they came to us right after we lost our girl, so they helped to fill that emptiness. We also have had trouble conceiving for about two years now, so these dogs are our kids. They fill that void, especially for me. Whenever I'm sad or frustrated at my fertility situation, I just go home to them and they cuddle with me and look at me with so much love in their eyes, and it truly makes it better for me. I often say that this was a "reversed rescue" in that they rescued me way more than I rescued them.
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What inspired you to start posting photos of your dogs?Β
I'm just like any other parent who posts endless pictures of their children, haha! I know that dogs aren't anything like having children, but that's what they are to me.
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What do you hope people take away from your images?Β
The biggest thing for me is that since adopting these dogs, I have become a huge advocate for the pit bull breed. My hope is that by posting pictures of my dogs, it will help to relieve some of that stigma and fear that people have. The truth is that pit bulls are the most loving dogs ever. All they want to do is please their masters, no matter what the cost is. It's unfortunate that humans take advantage of that loyalty. Stories like breed-specific legislation makes me so sad because these dogs suffer because of misconceptions, fear and ignorance.
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Who else do you like to follow on Instagram?Β
No surprise, but I follow a lot of dog accounts. One of my favorites is @loveabulllisa. Her pittie named Meaty is the cutest thing and he reminds me a lot of my Dice. Other favorites are @RoofusandKilo and @NoelaniIG. The ladies who run those accounts are all pit bull rescuers/fosters like me.
