Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Telesmanic.
Barbara, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’m a transplant from Bergen County, NJ, we moved out to southern California in 2007 and I live with my husband and three dogs in the rural east county and we love it! I’ve been a nurse for just about 17 years and I specialize in pediatric oncology and currently work at Rady Children’s Hospital. My in-laws live a stone’s throw away from us and we spend lots of time with our 2 and 4-year-old nieces.
I met my co-founder, Corinne D’Ambrosio, back when we were both volunteering for Pinups for Pitbulls and after realizing we shared the same vision to help dogs locally, we formed our own 501c3 non-profit SoCal Pitbull TEAM. We are an advocacy group and have met and worked with so many amazing people along our journey, in 2018 our organization celebrated its 5 year anniversary. Our group of volunteers has grown as well as our outreach programs.
We started out by speaking on behalf of pit bull type dogs at city councils, bringing my therapy dog to schools and providing canine compassion classes for kids in OC, working with the Long Beach girl scouts helping them achieve their “agents of change” and “power of community” badges by promoting adoption, responsible dog ownership and reward based training. We try to always have some form of dog safety demos for the kids at our outdoor events as well as promoting spay/neuter for all dogs. We do lots of fundraising which is then allocated to rescues and like-minded organizations.
Our biggest donation to date was to the Humane Society of Imperial County, we raised $9,000 and helped fix one of their ancillary buildings by installing new floors, painting and supplying new kennels. “It takes a village” is our motto and we encourage our followers and volunteers to help out when we do our doggie “walk and wash” events at that same shelter, in addition to attending many of our fundraising events; which as of late have been graciously hosted by our friends at True Fit Tattoo.
One of the things I’m most proud of is our Youth Advocate Award, it’s an award we give annually to a deserving kid who portrays kindness as well as promotes awareness for animal welfare. We are most excited for our upcoming venture where we are teaming up with ipittythebull and Lucky Dog Humane Education to provide presentations that discourage discrimination and bullying as well as encouraging children to not only be kind to animals but to one another as well.
Our first collaboration project will be in August for teens going through cancer treatment. Our ultimate goal is to finally see an end to breed specific legislation (BLS), a decades-long discriminatory practice that unfortunately still exists in some cities and states. The good news is, it is on the decline, big time. With the advent of canine DNA analysis, the dogs most frequently labeled as “pit bulls” are essentially just mutts or mixed breeds and the science, studies and experts have chimed in to debunk the myths and misconceptions of the past.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
We are not artists but work with some amazing ones! Tomas Archuleta from True Fit Tattoo has designed our newest clothing line and we couldn’t be happier. It’s an homage to the So Cal vibe and caters to local pittie parents. We want to promote the happy, goofy, loyal and adorable side of blocky headed dogs, so we show that through imagery on our website, social media and our swag.
As far as how we “create”, I feel we create safer communities, happier dogs and a sense of camaraderie through education, inclusion, advocacy and celebrating all dogs, regardless of their appearance or perceived breed.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
Our organization always supports local artists as well as eateries, groups, events, people and dogs. The very essence of our TEAM is to support and help dogs as well as people locally, it’s in our Vision and Mission.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can support us by sharing our fundraising events, checking out our amazing swag, promoting pit bull adoption and speaking up on behalf of all dogs because like us, all dogs are individuals.
Also, we are providing American Kennel Club, Canine Good Citizen (AKC/CGC) and therapy dog scholarships this summer. Go to our website for details.
Contact Info:
- Website: socalpitbull.org
- Email: pittyluvhb@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/socalpitbull#
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/SoCalPitbullTeam
- Twitter: @socal_pitbull
- Others: https://vimeo.com/153050321
Image Credit:
Corinne D’Ambrosio
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