Forlorn: pitifully sad and abandoned or lonely.
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The word forlorn isn’t one that you would to describe beauty. However, beauty from despair is exactly what Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue strives to create.  FTTF was founded in 2009 after founder Jason Flatt learned the plight of the pit bull. Pit bulls are the breed that even dog lovers love to hate. These dogs are discriminated against, abused, discarded, and forgotten, but we seek to step in and change fate for these pups.

Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue is a volunteer and foster program for pit bull rescue located in Dallas, GA.  We aren’t your typical rescue, we rescue with our hearts and not with our pockets. We search out the dogs that no one else will take: those with major medical issues, behavioral issues, emotional issues, and more.  We see the beautiful in these animals. We know that, more often than not, they just need a little love to make all of the difference. And our foster families step up time and time again to help rehabilitate these dogs so that they can find their forever homes.

There is a tremendous need in our communities regarding pit bulls (and other pups).  We learned quickly that we had to do more. We decided to take a two-pronged approach to helping these animals.  The first prong would be to continue rescuing; we are a pit bull rescue after all. Since we are foster based, we can only take in a limited number of dogs at a time; and because we take in the broken and unwanted, they often stay with us for a while before they go on to their forever homes. Our ultimate goal on this front is to build a shelter.

We want to build a state-of-the-art facility that will allow us to rescue more pit bulls, but also give them a great quality of life while they are in our care. We want to install indoor/outdoor runs (with individual drainage systems to prevent cross contamination), play areas, onsite vet space, conference space, therapy pools, and so much more.  You can learn more about our dream facility at https://www.friendstotheforlorn.org/fttf-shelter-capital-campaign/.  ​

                             Conceptual Shelter Rendering | Credit: Formations Studio

In 2016, our Board finally felt it was time to begin making that dream a reality.  We have begun the capital campaign for funding this beautiful facility. Our goal is $2,000,000 to build this facility and we have raised $478,129 to date.

This grant, if we are so honored to win, would be applied toward the cost of constructing 2 dog runs/kennels.  Kennels are the most important area of our facility. This is what will allow us to be able to rescue more dogs than we can in a foster-based set up.  More kennels allow us to rescue more dogs; and as these dogs find their forever homes, it opens up more space to save another. Kennels are the living space for these dogs and therefore the building blocks of our dream.

But, we are also painstakingly aware that we can’t rescue our way out of the problems that face our community. There is a massive pitbull overpopulation problem occurring and we have to help prevent these dogs from needing to be rescued.  Because we know what it’s like to have our dogs discriminated against in housing, airline travel, dog boarding facilities, stores, and more, we decided that our solution would be non-discriminatory instead. In 2010, we began our Beat the Heat program.  This program provides spay/neuter services, vaccinations, pain medications, and more to animals in our areas at no cost to the owner or the community animal control facilities. Since the program’s inception, we have spayed and neutered over 6,000 ANIMALS- not just pit bulls, but all breeds of dogs and cats. This program was created in a hope that we can reduce the unwanted pet population and maybe one day reduce the need of rescues.
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We continue to chip away at the problem piece by piece.  For the dogs we save, we know that what we do makes such a difference in their lives. And for the dogs that we haven’t been able to save, their fate haunts us. These dogs are why we do what we do.  Their memory is what drives us forward to accomplish the unthinkable. We will never stop. We can do more, and we are going to do more!

To learn more about Friends to the Forlorn, please visit us:
Website: www.savingpitbulls.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsToTheForlornPitbullRescue/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fttfpitbull

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One lone dog bowl, thoughtfully placed next to the sidewalk, was there to rejuvenate and it offered an opportunity to see beautiful. Providing water for passer-by dogs wasn't expected. In fact, it was the fact that the dog bowl was absent from other driveways that made it such a striking act of thoughtfulness. What's even more beautiful? When walking through the neighborhood on the equally-hot-next day, the dog bowl was there again, and this time, there was ice in the bowl. That's right, ice! The dog bowl with water was one thing, the ice, well that kindness is just beautiful! Someone wanted to make sure it was just the right temperature for our puppy companions who aimlessly try to please us in this world.

What if you did something unexpectedly nice today, for animals or humans? What if you set out a dog bowl (water or ice-filled)? Held open an elevator? Bought the person's lunch behind you in the drive through? Helped someone carry his/her groceries to the car? This list is endless. The opportunities are beautiful. There's beauty in the unexpected. Who knew an ice-filled dog bowl could help one see it and then inspire? Wow, it did.