Meet the people that make this all happen...
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Ann-Marie PearsonAnn-Marie Pearson comes by rescue honestly. Having picked up every stray dog with her family as a child, dog rescue was certainly in her future. Not long after Ann-Marie moved back to Florida from college she found the first of her beloved Pit Bulls, Manny. This event led her to get involved with an official rescue group and be a Pit Bull advocate. By day, Ann-Marie is the central Florida Account Executive for Pet Angel Memorial Center. Ann-Marie and her husband, Christian, foster every type, size, color and breed of dog, from litters of puppies to 80-lb adult dogs. Their personal pack consists of four rescue pitties – Manny Dean, Zoe, Paddy Cake, and Greta. |
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Melissa Gloger WeitzenfeldMelissa Gloger Weitzenfeld found herself in the rescue world right after moving back to the Tampa area and finding a stray dog in need. Ever since then, Melissa has made it her mission to rescue as many dogs as possible. Melissa has a Master’s Degree and is a pediatric speech language pathologist. The next step for Melissa is weaving together her love for animals with her profession by developing her skills in equine assisted speech therapy. Melissa is responsible for fundraising, marketing, public relations, coordinating volunteers and overseeing operations for Dogma Pet Rescue. Melissa and her husband Hal are owned by a motley crew of five little doggies. |
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Amy HowlandAmy Howland earned her degree in Biology and went to work in the hospital of the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary. After seven years of getting bitten and pooped on by wild birds, Amy transitioned into mortgage banking eventually landing at a law firm. Caring for animals is now a passion, not a profession. Amy and her husband, Chris, have fostered hundreds of dogs over the last five years. Since Amy is no longer being bitten by the animals in her care, she is content to just deal with the poop. Amy has either four or five personal dogs of her own, depending on whether you ask her or Chris. |
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Corey and Randy RosadoCorey and Randy Rosado added their first dog, a cocker spaniel, Roxy, to the family back in 2007, after many months of Corey’s constant nagging. She had always wanted a dog, but unlike Randy, was never allowed to have one as a child. A few months later, they adopted and fell in love with Janie, a Pit Bull with a very sad, abusive past. The Rosado’s saw how much joy Janie brought to everyone’s lives and were grateful to have had the opportunity to rescue her. They realized that there are thousands of dogs out there, just like Janie, who need help finding the perfect family to call their own. They tossed around the idea of fostering, but were thrown into it when a family friend could no longer care for their dog. Randy and Corey were called into action and their fostering began. They linked up with the Dogma girls, who helped them through their first foster. Since then, they’ve continued to welcome many other four legged furbabies into their home. Randy’s dedication to helping dogs also brought him to Hillsborough County Animal Services where he worked, or rather played, with the investigational dogs. The Rosado’s have an affinity for Pit Bulls and are strong advocates for the breed. They’ve vowed to always have a Pit in the family and make it a point to attend local events that raise awareness for the misrepresented breed. Along with Randy and Corey, are their son, Anthony, the furbabies~ Roxy and Echo, a couple frogs and some fish. |
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Cynthia HuberCynthia has loved animals since she was a baby. She has always had dogs as pets, and when she was 3 years old she told her mother that she was going to marry a dog and have puppies! She moved to Tampa to attend USF, and while out at a movie theater one day, saw Greyhound Rescue showing their dogs. When she stopped and talked to them, she learned about fostering dogs and has not looked back since. She now believes that the reason she ended up in Tampa was not because of USF, but was so that she could become involved with animal rescue. She also organizes the group ‘Spay/Neuter Tampa Bay!’ on the social networking site, meetup.com. The group supports all rescue events, and its members promote spaying and neutering for all animals. Her pack includes two of her own dogs, both being failed fostering attempts, and many nieces and nephews through her pet sitting service. She is also currently studying to become a dog trainer. Her goal is to become a trainer of assistance and service dogs, and to get those dogs from the shelters rather than from breeders. She hopes to also encourage others to do the same. |
