Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Book Review: My Life among the Underdogs (pit bulls, dog rescue, family, Pit Bulls & Parolees)


My Life Among the Underdogs, by Tia Torres (of Animal Planet’s Pit Bulls& Parolees) (Harper Collins, 2019,288 pages, $26.99)



Nine Inspiring Dogs, Nine Inspiring Stories

Tia Torres has put together her life, more or less chronologically, by following nine of her family dogs through their years – lovely pit bulls with built-in smiles who arrived on her doorstep as a last resort. And she took them in and loved them and made them well again and they, in turn, taught her about life – lessons that she shares with us.

In the Beginning. . . .

Torres found herself with her two toddlers playing hide and seek outside an animal shelter when an animal control officer brought in a pit bull who managed to lose the leash and escape towards the little girls. Panic ensued among the adults but the little dog immediately floored and kissed the girls who giggled with glee. Torres ended up taking that little dog home and that was the beginning of a new life for all concerned.

Meet the Underdogs!

There is Junkyard Joe, the delinquent dog who became a star narcotics detection canine, and we have Bluie who saved the life of Torres’ daughter. Read about the dog who started Torres on her life’s mission, Tatanka. And then we have a dog named Monster.

Underdogs could easily have been titled Dogs Who Saved the World One Human at a Time after those same dogs were tossed aside by two-legged creatures. Torres took in the dogs nobody wanted and made them whole.

This is the story of the Villalobos Rescue Center of California, which relocated to Louisiana. The story of four kids, countless throwaway dogs (and other animals) and one plucky woman who started it all.

If you watch Pit Bulls & Parolees on Animal Planet, you will want to read Torres’ book. If you don’t watch it yet, you will want to. And there is always Wikipedia for more details.

But, . . . .

The only thing missing is photos of the dogs!
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For more fantastic books about this smiley breed:








Caveat: This book was purchased for review.

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