Intentional Walk Pet Services

10/10/2026

Pet sitting out of town this weekend, hanging out with my friends Annie and Rosie ❤️

10/06/2026

Yesterday I fulfilled a promise to Moana. 🌈💔

Moana was never the cat who needed to be in the middle of everything. She was independent, aloof, reclusive, and very particular about when (and how) she wanted affection. She had her favorite hiding places, her routines, and, of course, her own “personal” recliner. She lived life on her terms.

And I loved her exactly that way.

Moana came to me as a hurricane foster in 2020 from the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast. I picked her up from Pet Supplies Plus, "just until the storm passed". She hid the entire time she was with me. I was concerned that because of her extreme shyness, she might never be adopted. So she became my cat.

We exchanged pleasantries over the next 6 years, and on occasion she would allow me to pet her. She had funny little quirks and habits that I would observe from a distance. She was the quintessential cat.

Two days before I was scheduled to fly out to visit my mom for a week, I discovered a large tumor on her underside. The vet believed it was a mammary chain tumor, and it grew frighteningly fast, eventually ulcerating and bleeding. I knew the kindest thing I could do was make sure Moana never reached the point where her bad days completely replaced the good ones.

But Moana gave me one final gift that I will never forget.

Earlier this week, I gave her a warm bath to gently wash the dried blood from her legs and hopefully give her a little relief. Usually cats HATE water, but she seemed to enjoy the warmth. I wrapped her gently in a towel, dried her off and fully expected her to disappear back into one of her usual hiding places.

Instead, she jumped onto my bed.

In all the years I've had Moana, she had never slept in my bed with me. Not ONCE.

That night, she stayed.

She slept beside me all night.

I don't know why she chose that particular night, and maybe I'm not supposed to know. Maybe she was simply warm and comfortable. Maybe she wasn't feeling well and wanted to feel safe. Maybe, in her own very Moana way, she just needed me.
Whatever the reason, I'll treasure that night for the rest of my life.

Yesterday, Sunday, October 4th, I kept my final promise to her. I didn't wait until she couldn't eat. I didn't wait until she couldn't walk. I didn't wait until there was nothing left for her to enjoy. As heartbreaking as it was, I loved her enough to say, “you don't have to get any sicker than this.”

And now, her personal recliner is empty. That hurts.

But somewhere beyond the Rainbow Bridge, I hope my beautiful, stubborn, independent girl has already found herself another chair with one of my family members in heaven who knows how much I loved her.

Thank you for choosing my bed that one night, Moana.

Thank you for letting me take care of you.

Rest easy, sweet Moana Jean. You don't hurt anymore, and I'll see you again one day 🌈🐾❤️

P.S. Thank you to my friend Jon Antonelli for caring for her while I was out of town, to my friends at the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast for gently sending her to the Rainbow Bridge, and to a dear family friend whose text on Sunday morning gave me the courage to stick to my promise to Moana

09/17/2026

09/09/2026

104 dogs unaccounted for from Cane-9 Rescue & Sanctuary (located in Ashland City TN) and its founders are currently facing criminal animal cruelty charges following investigations in which authorities removed dozens of animals and discovered the remains of several others.

Many of these dogs were pulled from Clayton County (GA) Animal Control over a 4-month period between February and June 2026, with more than $56,000 reportedly in donations linked to the dogs the rescue pulled.

These dogs weren't numbers on a spreadsheet.

They were dogs whose photos were shared. Dogs whose stories inspired people to donate. Dogs that people believed had been "saved."

And now, the whereabouts of 104 of them remain unaccounted for.

Were they adopted?
Transferred to other rescues?
Placed in foster homes?
Are they still alive?

There should be records. There should be names, dates, destinations and outcomes.

Every one of those 104 dogs deserves to be accounted for.

And every person who donated money believing they were helping save them deserves answers.

104 dogs.

Until we know what happened to them, we should keep asking:

WHERE ARE THEY???



Source: RescueMeAtl

08/30/2026

🐾 The Stork Has Arrived! Special Delivery: CORNBREAD! 💛🚗

I got to play “stork” today for SouthEast Beagle Rescue, and my very special delivery was none other than Cornbread, a 3-year-old Beagle headed HOME to his new family!

And seriously…with a name like Cornbread, how could you NOT love him?

There’s just something about doing rescue transports that I love. For a little while, this dog who has no idea who I am or what’s happening climbs into my car, and I get to be one small link in the chain of people helping move him toward his forever home.

Today, my job was simple: get Cornbread from Melbourne to Palm City.

Of course, when your passenger is a Beagle though, you can safely assume his priorities are slightly different:

👃 Smell ALL the smells.
🦴 Determine whether the driver has snacks.
🚗 Supervise navigation.

Mission accomplished.

There’s something incredibly special about knowing that when a rescue dog gets into your car, he’s still waiting for his happily-ever-after...and when he gets out, his new family is standing there waiting for him.

Today I didn't just transport a dog.

I got to "stork" Cornbread home.

Happy life, sweet Cornbread. May your new chapter be filled with soft beds, long sniffy walks, plenty of treats, and all the love you deserve.

08/19/2026

“Anytime you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.” - Roberto Clemente

(Roberto Clemente with his dog in front of his house after winning the World Series in 1960)

08/19/2026

Tune in to petrescueradio.org starting at 9am for the most invaluable Pet Welfare Tips EVERY 15 minutes. It all begins at 9am (EST) with the 7 secrets of walking your Dog. Then, keep listening every 15 minutes for more welfare tips and the best variety of commercial-free music in between. Just go to the link and click on "Listen Live". If you are a pet lover, you'll be happy you did and please spread the word and repost

08/18/2026

🔥 FLORIDA IS FREAKING HOT 🔥

And by hot, I mean why-do-we-live-here hot 🥵🌴

While we're complaining about the heat, please remember our pets feel it too — and they’re depending on us to keep them safe.

🐾 Check the pavement before walking your dog. If it’s too hot for your hand, it’s too hot for their paws.

🐾 Keep walks short and save longer outings for early morning or later in the evening.

🐾 Bring water. Even on a quick trip.

🐾 Watch for overheating — excessive panting, drooling, weakness, confusion, vomiting, or collapse can be signs of an emergency.

🐾 Never, EVER leave a pet in a parked car. Not for five minutes. Not with the windows cracked. Not “just while I run inside.”

🐾 And remember that senior pets, puppies, flat-faced breeds, overweight animals, and pets with medical conditions can be especially vulnerable to the heat.

Florida in August is basically the surface of the sun with palm trees. 🌴☀️🔥

Keep those paws off the hot pavement, keep the water bowls full, crank up the A/C, and keep our four-legged Floridians safe.

They can't tell us when it's too much — so we have to pay attention for them.

08/17/2026

Yesterday during my volunteer shift at the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, I had the opportunity to see a few of the 36 Border Collies rescued from the Martin County hoarding case with my own eyes.

And smell them with my own nose.

Nothing I had read or seen in the news could have prepared me for the reality of standing in front of them. It was beyond heartbreaking.

And it 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗽.

I've seen a lot over the years working with shelter animals. I've seen animals come through the doors frightened, neglected, injured and confused. I've heard stories that stayed with me long after I've gone home.

But yesterday was different.

I found myself thinking about those dogs long after I left. Because when you actually stand there and look into their faces — and smell the conditions that are still literally clinging to their bodies — the words animal hoarding and neglect stop being words in a news story. They become very, very real.

Some were friendly and seemed almost relieved as they were being bathed — as though they could recognize that, for perhaps the first time in a very long time, human hands were making them feel better.

Others were absolutely terrified.

They backed away. They froze. They didn't understand that the people reaching for them were there to help. For some of these dogs, even kindness is frightening right now.

And despite the tremendous effort being made to clean and care for them, the effects of how they lived don't disappear with one bath.

These dogs are not housebroken. They don't understand that there's a difference between where they sleep and where they eliminate. Their kennels can be cleaned, their bedding changed and their bodies bathed, only for them to walk through or lie in their own waste again. It gets on them all over again - in their feet, tails, legs and coats.

And this is where I need to say something about the people caring for them.

The shelter employees and staff doing this work are heroes.

Not the kind of heroes who get a dramatic moment and then go home.

These are the people coming back the next morning and doing it all over again.

They're cleaning kennels that may be soiled again minutes later. They're changing bedding. They're bathing dogs who may immediately become dirty again. They're patiently handling animals who are terrified of them. They're dealing with the smell, the mess, the emotional toll and the enormous amount of physical work involved in caring for this many traumatized animals — while still caring for all of the other animals who were already depending on them.

They are showing these dogs, over and over and over again, that humans can be kind.

The dogs being rescued was an event. Recovery is going to be a process.

They're going to have to learn things most dogs learn as puppies — that there is a proper place to go potty, that a leash can mean going outside, that a clean bed is theirs to sleep on, that human hands can be gentle, and that they don't have to be afraid of everything that is new.

There will be setbacks.

A freshly bathed dog may be dirty again an hour later. A dog who approaches someone today may hide from that same person tomorrow. A terrified dog may take weeks or months before we see the personality that's been buried underneath fear and neglect.

Please remember that when you see these dogs.

What we're seeing right now isn't necessarily who these dogs are. We're seeing what prolonged neglect did to them.

Thirty-six can easily become a number in a headline. But when you're standing there, it's no longer "36 Border Collies."

It's THIS dog.

And then this one.

And another one.

Thirty-six individual lives. Thirty-six different responses to what they've endured. Thirty-six dogs who now have to learn an entirely different way of living.

They're safe now. But "safe" is only the beginning. And safe doesn't instantly undo the way they've lived for so long.

Someday, I hope the frightened dog I saw trying to disappear into the corner is sleeping sprawled across someone's couch. I hope the dog covered in waste smells like shampoo. I hope one who doesn't understand a leash someday loses its mind with excitement when its person asks, "Want to go for a walk?"

Yesterday, I saw what was done to them.

It shook me. It still does.

But I also saw the people who are helping put them back together.

And someday, when these dogs are clean, confident, loved and living in homes of their own, I hope people remember that there was an exhausted shelter worker behind that transformation — cleaning one more kennel, giving one more bath, speaking softly to one more terrified dog and showing up again the next day to do it all over again.

Those are the heroes in this story.

And I hope someday we get to see who these dogs were always supposed to be. ❤️🐾

If you've been following this story and wondering, "what can I do to help?" — please consider making a monetary donation to the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.

Even a small donation, multiplied by hundreds of people who care, can become something enormous - https://hstc1.org/Emergency-Medical-Fund

Disclaimer: I am sharing this solely from my own experience and perspective. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be interpreted as representing the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, its staff, leadership, volunteers, or any other organization or agency involved in this case.

08/10/2026

Everybody's posting back to school pictures of their kids today, and I'm just excited to have met this good boy named Cooper at work this morning!