My name is Gizmo.  That wasn’t always my name, I can’t say what it was because it’s not nice.  I used to be in a dogfighting ring in North Carolina.  On a hot summer day last year, some folks from the Humane Society of the United States showed up on my owner’s property with the police and arrested him.  It was a super hot day, I had no water, very little food, but that was my life every day.  I was attached to a giant, heavy tow chain that hung from a tire axle.  I could only go as far as the chain would let me so most days I just walked in circles.  The “people in blue” from HSUS, that’s what I like to call them–LOVE them!  took me to a shelter with all of my other family members and some other dogs I didn’t know.  There were 51 of us.  Really nice people took care of us, I didn’t really trust them then, the only thing I knew about people was that they hurt me and made me do bad things.  I stayed at this shelter until one night when they said someone named “Irene” was coming.  Irene?  I never did meet her but it got really windy, rains came, flooding, our roof was damaged and so I was moved again to another shelter!  I stayed there for a while and learned that people were pretty nice.  Then I learned I was going to Pittsburgh!  Okay, Pittsburgh?  I had to drive there.  The only thing I knew about a car was that I got in one to go to fights.  Was I going to fight in this place Pittsburgh?  The name did have “Pit” in it?  Oh no!  Well, I made the trip, I ended up at a shelter in Western PA!  It was a little scary, but everybody was SO nice.  I loved this place, I loved the people.  I made a BFF there, (I think I met her in North Carolina with those people in blue) she took me to doggy day care, (I’m not a BABY, geez) but it was fun!  I was allowed to play in a yard, but it was the first time I felt grass, and I had NO idea what a fence was.  My head learned the hard way that it makes you STOP and so does a wall!  There were a lot of steps in Pittsburgh.  My BFF taught me to go up but then I had to learn to go down!  SCARY!  I went to obedience classes, made some friends there and reunited with MY MOM GIA!  My Mom is in Pittsburgh too?  She told me that my brother Gremlin lives here too!  Wow.  My BFF showed me what a TV was, some guy named Sidney Crosby was on the tv, it was really scary but now I know who he is and I’m not afraid of the tv anymore.  I learned what a radio was, a dishwasher, water running, toilets flushing, and windshield wipers!  My BFF almost wrecked the car when I jumped on top of her when they moved!  She took me to her house, I made a mess, lots of them. 😦  It was so fun, but then she told me that rugs and pillows were expensive and that I wasn’t allowed to eat them and rip them up.  All I had known in my life was a tow chain, other dogs and a fight pit.  THAT.IS.IT.  Everything was new.  I began to feel pretty good about myself and I was making more friends every day!  I even wore a bow tie (photo attached) and my BFF wore a gown to a party!  I thought about living at this place forever, I loved it and I loved everyone there.  They were my friends.  Then a lady came to see me.  To “adopt” me?  Hmmm.  Okay, my BFF told me this day would come. She seems to like this lady, and I like her too and her son and her dog Lucy!  We played and played, my friend Lacey was there and I KNOW my BFF was watching from a window!  She doesn’t know I saw her.  The lady told me that she was going to take me to her house and promised me that no on would EVER hurt me again.  I left that night riding shotgun, (I insist!) in my nice shiny new car!  I moved into my new house, it’s really nice!  I now have a brother Alex, a dog sister Lucy, and a MOM–Sharon!  She’s AWESOME!  She bought me a beautiful bed, new toys, a new crate, and told me that I also have a house on the beach in Florida!  A giant SANDBOX just for me? My life has changed a whole lot, thanks to a lot of really good people.  I have so much to be thankful for, beginning with ALL the people who showed me what love is.  I will never forget any one of you.  Love, Gizmo