Help for Investigation Dogs

Hi Everyone! I am new to blogging and this is my first post to this blog. My name is Stephanie Grimes and I am a pet portrait artist. I am presently involved in a new charity event. There is a group of animals that the rescue groups can not help. They are known as "investigation dogs". These animals are taken from their owners and placed in the county pound facility until after their owners go to trial. They are not allowed off the premises during this time and are not allowed to be adopted or fostered out. Often they are impounded for several months, sometimes even years. The poor creatures must be confined to their pens and often don't even get to see the light of day the entire time.

A lady I know has raised money and gotten sponsors to purchase a piece of land next to the Animal Services facility in Hillsborough county. The land was converted into a small dog park. It is only about the size of a small Florida backyard, but it is a true blessing for these dogs. Now the dogs can have a chance to be dogs again and have a place to run off leash. The park opened up in March of this year. It is called "Jagger Park", named after Karen's dog who passed away from cancer last year. This is the first dog park of it's kind. Hopefully it will catch on elsewhere. They are still in need of funds to provide maintenance of the park and provide the animals with little comforts such as dog beds and healthy snacks.

Yesterday I got the chance to visit with these dogs and see their little dog park. While I was unable to take pictures of the dogs currently benefiting from the park due to legal issues, I arranged to meet some of the dogs who have benefited from the park but have finally been allowed to be adopted. Paintings of these dogs will be featured at the fund raiser. I will be posting images of the paintings on this site as I complete them

I have coordinated with Karen and the owner of the South Shore Gallery, Beth Howard, who has generously offered to host the event in her Apollo Beach gallery. Items up for sale include original dog paintings (Including some of the dogs who have benefited from the park), prints and note cards. All of the proceeds from the event will go to the "investigation dogs". The event will take place on August 30th from 3:00 PM until 5:00 PM.

If you are interested in viewing some of my Pet portrait artwork, click here.