A Cause For Seadogs
Avast ye Seadogs! Here’s a great cause for ye to lend a hand – whether a share o’ treasure, time or other support, this helps both People & Dogs find new lives. We salute Tia Maria Torres, her Family, Staff & Volunteers!
Ye may have heard o’ Villalobos Rescue Center in New Orleans through their recent TV appearances on Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls & Parolees“; but do ye really know just how much good these folks are doing? Founded by Tia Maria Torres over 20 years ago, in 2012, the Villalobos team moved from outside Los Angeles – with more than 100 rescued dogs – to The Bywater in New Orleans historic 9th Ward neighbourhood. This 501(c)3 is not only the largest Pit Bull Rescue in North America, it is likely one o’ the largest dog rescue centers in the world (they do have many dogs of other breeds at any time) – AND is also giving recent Parolees in New Orleans a chance for hope & redemption back into society. Parolees form an integral part o’ the staff working daily with the dogs, the center, giving tours and more; as the motto says, “Saving Man & His Best Friend”.
New Orleans has become a focal point for abandoned dogs, especially the very misunderstood American Pit Bull Terrier. While Villalobos is certainly not the first such organization in New Orleans, it is the largest. Tia & her family manage a huge facility with an average population o’ 150 dogs! While having a TV show certainly helps create awareness, it’s a small drop when ye add up the costs o’ food, shelter, Vet bills, staff and more that it takes to rescue and repair so many lives. They are in constant need o’ funds, volunteers, dog food, blankets, kennels…and even space at this point.
Just this past year, the Torres family added another business to their roster, the Tayho Tavern in Chalmette. While this seems like stretching themselves a bit thin, Tia has a number o’ years previous experience with such establishments and her family convinced her this would be a good earner to help support their rescue efforts! Many renovations later, they named the tavern with a Cajun word meaning “hungry dog” and opened their doors with live Country music, food & drink…and just down the road from the Chalmette Battlefield! Open Mon – Fri 5pm – 2am, Sat 4pm – 2am and available for any special event/occasion. Certainly an interesting way to support the Rescue Center!
The rescue center does give public tours, so we have definite plans to drop in with our crew. Ye can go by any day Tuesday through Friday 12pm – 3pm and Saturday 12pm – 2pm.
There are many ways ye can help out – not the least o’ which is, spreading the word!
Villalobos Facts
- The average number of dogs in the center at any time is 150
- Our average adoption rate is about 5 dogs a month. Our adoption fee is $200, for which your dog will be spayed/neutered, fully vaccinated, micro-chipped and receive a free lifetime of training sessions with VRC!
- It costs $1000/day to run Villalobos Rescue Center
- We go through 2100 lbs. plus, of dog food a week
- “Unfortunately” we are the largest Pit Bull facility in the world with a daily average of 150 dogs.
- The name “Villalobos” means House of Wolves (in Spanish) as we started off as a wolf rescue back in the early 90’s. We then became a Pit Bull rescue in 1994 and decided to keep the name!
- Now that we are located in Louisiana, the majority of the dogs we are rescuing have HEARTWORM and our IMMEDIATE out of pocket expense is an average of $700.00 per dog. This is for spaying/neutering, shots, microchipping and heartworm treatment.
