Fun

Family Pulls Out All The Stops To Celebrate Their Rescue Pittie’s ‘Gotcha Day’

Written by: Arin Greenwood

February 1, 2016

Last weekend, Holly got the kind of party every kid, and Pibble, dreams of: cake, friends, and presents.

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Her family and pals were celebrating something better than a birthday — it was a joyous observation of Holly’s “gotcha” day, the day this good girl joined her family.

Holly’s human, dog advocate and oncology nurse Maritza Martinez says:

Nothing is more rewarding than rescuing a dog from a shelter, especially a Pit Bull. I’m a very proud mommy.

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Holly was found a little over a year ago covered in green paint, on the streets of Jersey City, New Jersey. She was extremely skittish and fearful when she arrived at the Liberty Humane Society.

Martinez says:

It took days for the shelter workers to even get her out for her run.

Martinez saw a plea on Facebook for someone to foster the dog. She had the feeling that Holly would make a good companion to her other pit, Scooby – who’d been a solo pup since Martinez’ other Pit Bull Payton died earlier that year.

It took a couple of days for Holly to come out of her shell, and for Scooby to accept Holly in his space. But once the two of them came around, says Martinez:

I knew it was a perfect fit.

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This past weekend’s party celebrated the day Holly came in as a foster and many esteemed humans and canine guests were in attendance. But she has another big day coming in the spring in honor of her adoption papers being signed.

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The special guests included Martinez’ sister, niece and four cousins, along with Martinez’ sister’s poodle mixes, Sophie and Zoey.

We are true believers of celebrating our dogs’ lives, as we know their lives are so short.

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The cake was from Carvel, which is a tradition in this household. The hats were an unusual touch; generally, these dogs won’t stand for such costumery.

Martinez told us:

For some reason for this party, they all seemed to cooperate and pose for the camera and leave their hats on.

We’re so glad they did!

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After the cake was eaten, the paper hats were removed, and the guests had gone home, Holly was given her gotcha day present — a brand new squeaky toy.

Joy being huge, but fleeting, Holly and Scooby thoroughly vanquished the toy within an hour. Then the two lucky dogs took a nap together.

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All photos via Maritza Martinez.

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Written by: Arin Greenwood

February 1, 2016

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A themed collection of BARK-designed toys, treats, and chews.