I dont often open my mouth, but when I feel strongly about something, I grab my pen. Cross-posted on BAAC members page. In July, 2009 I interviewed Cindy Peregolise for an article that was to be published in a national biker magazine. Unfortunately, I didnt get it to the editor and it has been lost in my email files ever since. Five years ago (shortly before I initiated this interview) was when I finally joined Bikers Against Animal Cruelty, even though I had known Cindy and a few of the other founding members since my early twenties (well just say that was a LONG time ago). I no longer had a biker husband and felt like I would be a poser if I got involved. But in bikers true non-judgemental nature, I was, of course, welcomed. I followed the natural progression that most members did: I went to the events, I started to volunteer, I became a member of the B.A.A.C. Up Crew (non-riding members), and ultimately was voted in as the membership coordinator a year ago. It was pretty cool to find applications in my in-box from people I had seen at events. B.A.A.C was growing (at last count, there are 100 members and volunteers). Earlier this year, Cindy and VJ Peregolise selflessly stepped down from their positions as President and Vice President of Bikers Against Animal Cruelty in the hopes that the organization would attract an even wider variety of bikers and animal supporters. This bummed me (and many of the long-time members) out big-time, but I respected their decision and, with Cindys encouragement, remained with the group. I made the decision a few weeks ago to step down from my position on the board. I will likely remain as a volunteer because I still believe that there is so much good that can be done. Why, if I like the organization so much, am I distancing myself? Ultimately , its about respect. While Cindy and VJ arent looking for acknowledgment, the fact that they are not mentioned on the website and that new members dont know who they are, is, in my opinion, despicable. Its fine that B.A.A.C. has entered a new era, but to ignore the history is disrespectful, and as a non-riding biker, respect is pretty damn important to me. And so, since the history has been hidden, Id like to share it with you for a few reasons: 1. Its seriously impressive, 2. As a part of Bikers Against Animal Cruelty, you should know its initial grassroots roots, and 3. Respect. Interview with Cindy Peregolise, July 21, 2009: B.A.A.C. was formed by VJ and I, the Founders, who reached out to 22 of our friends with the same interest to be the Founding Members at the first meeting of B.A.A.C. on Sept. 22, 2007 held in our patio. We currently have 3 rescued dogs, all bully breed mixes and 2 adopted cockatiels, oh, and some tropical fish that are relaxing to watch. B.A.A.C. had 40+ members mainly in CT, 2 in Texas and 1 in FL. After adopting 2 littermate pit bulls from a rescue in NYC, we were opened to the horrors of animal cruelty and the world of rescue. We created a website pitbullsaloon to share our interests in our pets as well as motorcycles back in 2003. We did what we could with transporting pets from high-kill shelters (mostly from down south) to no-kill rescues. We also posted and networked cruelty and neglect cases on our website to help raise awareness and to the various rescue groups Ive come to know through the website. I then created a forum where we began to network out more and met more people w/ our common interests. Working a full time job as a Network/Security Administrator and managing B.A.A.C. takes up every waking moment, I find that I have NO extra time at all. I run errands during lunch if needed or right after I get out of work, but need to get home to take care of my own animals. I have to check this e-mail daily, otherwise its too overwhelming to go through. It can take me from 1 - 3 hours to go through all the e-mails. I do this at night after dinner usually. I have to read each and every e-mail to pick which cases we will help and network out the rest on our forum. We only contribute towards cruelty and neglect cases and prefer to pay the vet office directly. I, as most of the members, volunteer our weekends to the animals or anything B.A.A.C. related. Our first event that B.A.A.C. had setup a table at as an organization was Pit Bull Awareness Day in 2007 which I was very active in organizing. It was the first of the national annual event started by Bless the Bullys in TN. We continue to host this event with 2 other organizations, the Friends of the New Haven Animal Shelter and Hot Water Rescue, each year and I have also created a website specifically for this annual event in CT (ctnpad). We also just created a program called Maxs Project. Max was a 10 mo. old hound/boxer mix that we pulled from a NC high-kill shelter. His owner was arrested for animal cruelty. Max had 2 severely embedded collars full of maggots, was extremely emaciated and had some intestinal worms. After many amazing people assisted in pulling Max from the shelter and heped arrange his transport to CT, which myself and his foster mom drove to Maryland to meet, Max unfortunately passed away at our vets office during surgery to suture his neck to prevent further infection. The severity of the neglect was discovered after an autopsy was performed. (His story can be found here: bikersagainstanimalcruelty.org/MaxNC.html). To honor Max and all that he taught us, we decided to use his story to educate others. We sent letters to all the Animal Control Officers in CT offering doghouses for any dog they may come across that meets the minimum requirements just short of neglect when being left outside, but may not have an appropriate doghouse to contain their body heat. The program is in its infancy, but our hopes will also be to educate people on the damage tethering a dog does mentally and physically as well as ensuring that collars are properly fitted and needs to be checked regularly as your dog grows. Earlier in 2007, a pit bull by the name of Game had been stolen from the New Haven Animal Shelter. A bunch of members on our forum discussed a desire to help, I reached out to the Friends of the New Haven Animal Shelter and discussed how this could happen and what we could do to prevent it in the future. We were surprised to hear the facility didnt have camera system, so we held a Cinco de Mayo fundraiser to purchase a camera surveillance camera for the New Haven Animal Shelter. During that same time, the Meriden Humane Society was at risk of being shut down for lack of funds. The Meriden Humane Society is one of the states largest no-kill shelters, and the work they do for the animals was priceless, so we included them as a beneficiary for the fundraiser. It was such a success and everyone had the warm & fuzzies afterward, we discussed doing it again next year. But through out the year, so many stories of cruelty and neglect caught our attention that we felt as a group, we could be doing so much more. In creating B.A.A.C. I was hoping to involve my two major interests in life (riding and helping animals in need) with other bikers in fun activities that would benefit animals that truly need it and at the same time, raise awareness and educate on being responsible pet owners. I was hoping that the organization would spread out nationally, and that is becoming more of a realization as we have two very involved members in Texas and Florida that are out there, rescuing and networking in their areas as well as holding their own events. All proceeds go towards cruelty and neglect cases from all over the country. Sadly, a majority of our cases do come from down south.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 01:37:36 +0000
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