[upbeat music playing]
[laughs] I'm just trying to say "Hi" real quick.
[narrator] Tonight, on a special episode of Pit Bulls and Parolees...
Oh, you want to go? Okay, okay.
Come, baby girl!
Oh, God!
We'll take Walter to his new home!
[narrator] ...our past becomes present.
[groans]
-[man] i gotta do it. -I know.
[narrator] From the initial spark of rescue...
[woman] Hang on, hang on, hang on.
[narrator] ...to our ever growing mission...
[woman] Okay, someone's screaming.
[dog growling]
[woman] Got her!
[narrator] ...and what lies ahead for our future,
From our highest highs...
Get on, get the [bleep] out of here.
The first thing I grabbed was my baby.
[narrator] ...to our lowest lows.
You're gonna be okay.
Comfortable?
[narrator] It's everything that's made us who we are.
This is the story of the Villalobos.
[upbeat music playing]
[dogs barking]
[Tia] For over 20 years, we have been rescuing
the most maligned breed of dog in the world,
which is the pit bull.
But it all started when I..
took in three dogs that happened to be wolf dog mixes.
Thus, the name Villalobos, which translates to
"village of wolves."
At the time, I did not know
who my godfather was.
My dad whips out an eight by ten,
black and white eight by ten of the Wolf Man.
This exact picture, actually.
And he went on to explain to me that my godfather was Lon Chaney Jr.,
the actor who played the Wolf Man.
And people then began to say "Oh, it's in your blood."
You know, the old movies with Lon Chaney Jr.,
he was very misunderstood in the movies.
You know, he was cursed and he was actually a nice guy.
That's just like a real wolf
I compare it a lot to
how people talk about pit bulls.
They are both victims of the myth.
So, we didn't have much of an adoption rate, back then
So, I thought, well...
let's try something different. Let's take on pit bulls.
[laughs] It's like... [mimics a gunshot] you know. Nobody wanted them, either.
So, here I was, stuck with these two different dogs that, like,
had notorious reputations.
Don't be shy, okay?
You're handsome.
Yeah.
No, he's just... He's bomb proof.
-[both exclaiming] -He's cute.
[speaking foreign language] Yes, you are. You're a trouble maker.
[Tia] I swore I would never get back into the whole wolf and wolf dog thing.
And then, a few years ago...
[Tia speaking]
They're actually in their trucks and he's behind you.
I see he's in his truck up the road.
[Tia] The guy was kind of li a backyard breeder.
He had like 16 or 17 wolf dogs.
He got arrested. His wolf dogs were left in his yard.
And they were all getting loose.
I'm like, no.
I'm not, I'm not doing this I'm not going back down that road.
And she said, "I'm begging y
because law enforcement is here and their shotguns are loaded."
Okay, so they're standing down over there?
Yes.
[Tia] I had until dark to catch all these dogs
or they were going to start taking matters into their own hands.
[Tia] Pull the gate shut! Pull the gate shut!
Run! Get in. Run.
Hold it shut. Hold it tight. Hang on.
Hang on. Hang on.
[man speaking]
-[Tia] Okay, you're okay. Hey, baby. Here, baby. -[dog whimpering]
-Hold on. -[dog whimpering]
Okay.
[man speaking]
[woman 1] Oh, my God, there's four more here.
[woman 2] Four?
So we were there till 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock in the morning. [laughs]
And caught all of them.
And that started us back into it again.
[dogs howling]
[woman speaking]
Mmm. [laughs]
Wow! I'm getting really emotional right now.
[sniffles and sighs]
[upbeat music playing]
[Tia] You know, it's pretty sentimental, you know.
Getting back to where we began.
Kind of slipping back into the wolf dogs again.
For a brief moment...
To bam! We end up in Texas.
[dogs barking]
[sighs] Oh, man.
This is so bad. This is so bad.
About 50 plus wolf dogs were left abandoned.
The man who owned these dog had been there for years.
He was basically like a...
large scale backyard breeder
[dogs barking and snarling]
It's okay.
Those dogs were left alone for a week
to two weeks to fend for themselves.
They got hungry. They got desperate.
[dog whimpering]
Okay, let her down, let her down, let her down a little bit.
There were loose dogs everywhere.
Some had broken out of the enclosures, you know,
trying to survive.
So hot. So humid.
Then it was the terrain.
The trees and the bushes and the weeds.
What the hell, man.
So, it was a mess.
Come on! Oh, there you go. Good boy!
The property in Texas
is now on record as being the largest rescue effort
we've ever done.
[dogs barking]
Okay, someone's screaming.
-[dog snarling] -[woman] That one.
Okay, hold on, hold on.
Some huge idea has to come into my head that just figures this out.
[dog barking]
There we go.
There has to be a miracle.
I basically... signed papers to buy the property.
Got 30 days to raise the money,
but I work well under pressure. [laughs]
When I realized that I was going to have to buy that property in Texas
in order to keep those wolf dogs safe,
I knew I had to raise money
It's literally one t-shirt design,
one t-shirt design.
If not for the public donating money,
couldn't have done it. Could not have done it without them.
So, that is who built Villalobos, Texas.
It is the donors and the fan and the supporters.
Some of the dogs rescued from that situation were
one that Mariah kept, which is Athena.
She was the first dog to be rescued off that property.
They found Athena as a pupp
under a truck, and she had been shot.
I didn't think she was going to make it, but she di
Come here.
[Tia] When you call Mariah on the phone,
"Yeah, Mummy, hold on. Shh! What are you doing? What are you doing? No!"
What?
[gibberish]
She's definitely a handful.
Black was a fan favorite.
Uh, because he started off as this big, scary, like, a werewolf.
I mean, he's a big boy.
[Black barking and howling]
But, now he is like,
the total, total ladies' man
He loves the ladies.
He knew he had to be the protector of that property.
It's like, you can let your guard down now, buddy. We got this.
And, that's how he is now.
You know, we have just enough wolf dogs
that are super social, that we can use for educatio
and for people if they want come tour and volunteer.
[woman makes kissing noises]
[woman] Oh, yeah.
[Tia] And then, the rest that are just not into peopl
They're at the back of the property. They never have to see anybody.
They're going to live a very private life,
a very comfortable life.
That's what that place is fo
It's for them to just know that they have a forever place.
Now, having the location in Texas,
we're back full circle.
We are Villalobos again.
[barks]
[Tia] Get ready to leave, guys! Get ready.
Mom, we're in Louisiana!
[Tia] We didn't come to Louisiana,
like, with blinders on.
Oh, my God!
Maybe it's stuck.
We knew how bad it was.
[woman] Oh, my God!
-[woman] He would have been scratching and infection and-- -[man] Yeah.
[Tia] We just didn't know how bad it was.
[woman speaking]
[Tia] Oh, my God.
[dogs barking]
Hi, Anthony.
[Tia] When we realized we had to move from California,
you know, it was due to several things.
Natural disaster after natural disaster.
Oh, God!
[Tia] It was due to economic
Donations were drying up drastically.
The guidelines and the rule for having a dog kennel were changing drastically.
[man] Our vote is no.
All this combined just...
I said, "We can't, we can't survive here."
Get ready to leave, guys! Get ready.
You know, when thinking about where we were going to
plant ourselves for the res of our lives,
you know, we just kept circling back to the same place.
New Orleans.
It really all began when we took in about sixty dogs
abandoned from Hurricane Katrina.
That experience bonded us to this city.
Mom, we're in Louisiana!
[Tia] You know, we kind of hit the ground running when we got here.
I think the biggest surprise for me was the fact that
we were able to have a pit bull rescue in the middle of New Orleans
We've never had, like, a building.
Everything we did was outdoors.
Oh! Oh, my God it's so cute!
I'm like, I love this place.
Really? Did they make this for us?
All right, everybody! Welcome to our home!
[Tia] There was a pretty amazing transition.
It was, like, so refreshing
But, we didn't come to Louisiana,
like, with blinders on.
Or with rose colored glasses
We knew what we were getting into
because we had helped during the Hurricane Katrina efforts.
So we knew how bad it was...
[Tia] Oh, my gosh.
...but we just didn't know how bad it was.
-[woman 1] Oh, my God. -[woman 2] It's okay, baby, it's stuck. Look.
[kisses]
Hi, babies.
Oh, my God! Wow.
[Tia] I think one of the mai issues that we saw right awa
once we moved to Louisiana,
was the lack of resources available
to people with animals,
um, and to the animals themselves.
It was just, um,
very obvious that we were in a battle of our lifetime
Oh, my God!
-[woman] He would have been scratching and infection and-- -[man] Yeah.
[woman speaking]
Oh, my God.
There's one... there's three of them in here.
No puppies.
-There's six of them. -Ugh.
Uh, what are we going to do with you?
[Tia] It's a kind of a backhanded compliment
when people say, "Oh, your business has grown
Well, for a typical business, that's great.
But for us it's not.
We have about, with us, 28 dogs.
[Tia over phone]
Yeah.
You know, in California, we were in a very remote area,
so we didn't have drop-offs.
Like, we didn't have dogs dropped off to us, ever.
Oh, my God.
Here, in Louisiana, we get dogs dropped off all the time.
-[man] Is he all right? -[woman] Please take her. I do not want her put down.
Um, we have quadrupled the number of dogs that come in to us
because of the amount of need that is out here.
[woman 1 speaking]
[woman 2] Okay.
[woman] Is it breathing? Oh, yeah, it's breathing.
It's just breathing really heavy.
The biggest issue we have when it comes to adoption,
and this is for all the dogs.
It's fricking heartworm.
[vet] It's a really, really high grade murmur.
Sounds like both sides of the heart.
99.999 percent of the dogs we've taken have heartworm.
[vet] His heart is very enlarged from the heartworms.
Now, the dogs are with us for months.
Yeah, it's gonna be a couple of months before we can do anything
-like other testing with them. -[woman] They're gonna be here for a while.
They'll be here for a while.
[Tia] So, as that's happenin
more dogs are coming in.
With more dogs, more manpower is needed.
So, we have more employees.
Now it's not just me and my kids and a couple of parolees.
It's a lot.
[dogs barking]
You know, since moving to Louisiana,
a big part of our rescue is taking in hound dogs.
It's actually harder to get them homes than pit bulls for us.
Which we just joke about it. I'm like, wait, wait, what just happened?
[dogs howling]
[laughing]
Oh, my gosh!
[laughing]
[Tia] Hi, hi, baby.
-This is the best ever. This is so cute. -[laughing]
[Tia] We were first introduced to hounds
when we moved out here to Assumption Parish.
It's a rural area.
People hunt, people fish.
And hound dogs are a part of the culture and the lifestyle out here.
Pardon me, excuse me. No! Back!
Being new to the hound world
you know, you're like, oh, they're so cute. They got the droopy ears
and this and that.
Oh, my gosh, he's so teeny tiny!
Here, Sal!
-[woman 1] Look at how cute-- -[woman 2] Oh, my gosh, she prances!
[woman 1] She's a really cute one.
Hound dogs, all of them are just hairless wolf dogs.
[dogs barking]
[woman] All right, all right [dog barking]
[indistinct chatter]
[Tia] They're just spirited
No. Don't. Oh, jeez
Yes, that's the word when used for them.
Um, they're a lot. [chuckl]
Are you kidding me?
They ate a hole in my house.
You are lucky you are cute.
When we first announced that we were moving here,
everybody in California said, "What are you gonna do about the hurricanes?"
[objects clattering]
As much as we would love to say that we are prepared
every year, every hurricane season,
things change. You have to, like, adjust.
The storm came [chuckles softly] about a day early.
Our New Orleans locations
are all officially under water right now.
With each storm, we learned something new and so
I would have to say with Ida,
even though nobody got hurt
nothing happened as far as the dogs or the humans go,
it was a game changer for us
Lot of storm damage.
Okay, this is a lot.
[sighs] I think I'm gonna over here and cry.
With this past hurricane that came through,
lots of people became displaced
with their dogs and had nowhere to go.
So in a pinch, we opened up our merchandise office in town
for people and their dogs.
It was rough, you know.
So it gave me an idea
and...
Combining an evacuation center with a desire to have,
like, an animal shelter intake location.
We received a very generous donation.
And we used it to purchase
the old fire station here in Napoleonville, Assumption Parish.
It's a super unique building
The setup is really cool.
We are looking so forward in putting this building togeth
We know it's built really sturdy,
it's got a ginormous generator,
big enough to, like, power u the entire town.
I think it's gonna be the ultimate building,
and have so many different functions.
We will be prepared for anything.
[Tia] The million-dollar question I get a lot is,
do you regret leaving California, I said not at all.
The kids still work for .
You know they all found thei significant others out here
which is kinda cool.
After years, I found my new sidekick.
You know, after Duke passed away, you know, years went by, like,
just no dog could compare to him.
And then I find this floppy-eared dog swimming in a canal.
You are not gonna believe this.
I got goosebumps. I've been chasing this dog for weeks.
-Really? -Yes
So if we hadn't moved here,
none of these things would have happened.
So...
Corny as it sounds, everything happens for a reason.
There's is really nothing that you're gonna tell me that's gonna shock me.
As long as you're taking good care of my dogs,
you and I will never have a problem.
I want double kisses.
Double kisses.
[Tia] Besides learning responsibility,
it allows these...
people on parole to get out there into the world.
[man] She's eating my face.
Oh, lord.
[speaking indistinctly]
[laughing]
[country music playing]
[dogs barking]
So way back in 2006,
my now ex-husband, AJ, got out of prison.
And it was AJ's frustration of not being able to find a job.
His parole officer...
He says, "You know, you got that dog place.
Why don't you just have these guys, like, volunteer
and have AJ volunteer and at least learn some skills?"
So, I'm like,
"All right, I will try it."
And that's how it happened.
[Tia] You know, to me, I've always envisioned
this place as being, like, a stepping stone.
The dogs help you heal emotionally and spiritually.
I wanna help you heal, you know, with success.
You know, it's just something that I feel really passionate about.
The first thing I always...
tell guys when they come here, you know,
there's really nothing that you're gonna tell me that's gonna shock me.
As long as you are taking good care of my dogs,
you and I will never have a problem.
You know, we started off with wolves
and you think about the reputation of them.
[man] Easy. Hello, hello.
[Tia] And from there we go to the pit bull.
The most notorious, most maligned
breed of dog in the entire world.
When we started taking on parolees,
it just kinda fit.
Come here, good boy.
[Tia] And the parolees,
they felt very connected.
[man] Ooh, good boy.
The first parolee that we hired
was actually the brother to one of my other employees.
The word got out
and then it just got explode from there.
[country music playing]
[indistinct conversation]
When our show first came out
I remember one of the main questions I used to get asked
by viewers was
"How can you trust those parolees around your kids?"
And I would sit here and go...
"Have you met my oldest daughter?"
[yelling]
[bleep] shut up for a second.
[bleep] Damn it, I gave [bleep].
You can't make your schedule and whatever it is that you wanna take off.
Because you do it quite often and that's [bleep].
Like, she could be a warden at a prison.
-[Tania] Comprende? -Yes
Thank you.
[man speaking]
-[Tania speaking] -[laughs]
[man 1 screaming] Oh, my God. There he comes.
[man 1 screaming]
-[man 1] Oh. -[man 2] There is another one.
[man 1] Get him, Monty. Oh, Monty.
[Tia] I think we are very successful in California
with the amount of parolees we were able to hire.
And in moving to Louisiana,
you know, of course, we continue the tradition
and our mission and we've gotten some really great guys out of it
-Hi. -How you doing?
Come on down here.
What I loved about meeting Earl
and I felt it from the minute I met him.
I said, you know what? He is one of the good ones.
And he was just honest.
-Miss Tia, I'd do anything. -[Tia] Yeah.
You know, it's just...
Give me something to dedicate my time to...
-All right -...I'll be dedicated to you.
There are some people that I just wanna think about it for a minute,
there are some people that I just know.
And you are one of those guys I know.
I'd like to offer you some work here.
-Yes, ma'am. I'd love to be here. -Yeah, yeah.
I'd love to be here.
Come on. You gotta pick your legs up run.
[woman laughs] Oh, my God, Earl.
I'm killing it. [laughs]
[Tia] This is not a job to him.
This is just like his life.
The thing that makes Earl great with the dogs
is because he truly enjoys their company.
-[dog barking] -That's a good boy.
That's a big fella.
I am just so happy.
[Tia] What makes him successful
is that he has fallen down
several times and has gotten back up again.
I think my favorite one is when he got a--
[laughs]
He got arrested right here in Assumption Parish
for a seatbelt ticket that he forget that he had.
And I said, "Earl, that's embarrassing."
But you know what?
He is just like he's got to know he is honest.
Earl keeps tripping over these hurdles
and he keeps getting up and starting over again and he keeps on doing it.
You gonna be sober one day at a time.
[Mariah] What's going on? I heard you've been leaving.
We gotta communicate or else we think people are taking off for no reason.
So you know the drill here. Communicate.
-All right -[Mariah laughs]
I know one of the most difficult things that
my ex, AJ, had was that he didn't have good people skills.
You know, when you're workin with these dogs, like, they don't know that.
And they're so unconditional like, they just, like, "Hey, you're my friend."
I mean, we've caught some of these guys
when they think no one's looking, like,
dancing and singing to the dogs.
Sounds pretty cute.
I want double kisses.
Double kisses.
Yeah.
We deal with the public, we have dogs that go to the vet.
So, you know, besides learning responsibility,
it allows these people on parole to get out there into the world.
You know, you learn to work with your fellow person,
you know, and you learn how to get along
with the outside world.
-[all greeting] -Nice to meet you
Nice to meet you, too.
Well, we are gonna throw you right into it here.
-You're gonna help take some X-rays, okay? -[woman laughs]
[Tia] I hire these parolees unconditionally.
Everybody gets that first shot.
Good boy, man.
[Tia] Throughout the years, we've had,
you know, many parolees that have worked for us,
some have gone on to become successful.
Good job, Kirby.
Some not so much.
We get that question a lot.
"How come you don't hire female parolees?"
I'm like, "We do."
Good morning.
It's morning for you, right?
You know, when I put out this social media post that said,
"Help wanted. Must have criminal record."
Danny was one of the people that answered.
-Hey! -[Danny] Hi! [laughs]
[Tia] Danny will be working with Lizzy when she's out in the city.
And then Danny also wants to help out here in Assumption Parish.
You know, with the hiring of Danny,
it makes her, basically, the first female former felo
So that's kind of an exciting milestone for us.
You know, I'm currently looking to hire some women to work
at our wolf dog sanctuary in Athens, Texas.
[dogs barking]
The wolf dogs are not like
the other dogs, they're very shy.
They're very untrusting.
So the female persona is les threatening to them.
So girl power is on the way.
Parolees, probationers,
former felons, convicts, criminals, inmates,
whatever you wanna call 'em
they will always be a part of what we do.
You know, we kinda make a joke about it.
We say, you know, we are equal opportunity offenders
It's just a... How we feel most comfortable
So, um...
"Help wanted. Must have criminal record." That's us
[speaking indistinctly]
Ella will be special needs. Absolutely.
[Tia] So as the rescue grew.
[Mariah] No, you are coming out.
Stop, stop. You're out. Come on.
[Tia] ...one of the biggest transformations
Is my kids.
[Tania] Got her.
[Tia] There is absolutely no way
that I could run this rescu without them.
[phone ringing]
[Tia] Villalobos rescue center.
[woman over phone]
[Tia] So, back when we lived in California,
we didn't have that many dog
And I had a lot more time.
The paper work.
Computer work, emails, phone calls.
This is Tia. You sent me an email.
I run this ship.
[woman] Hi, mama.
[dog whimpering]
Come here.
[Tia] You know, I look back say, you know, I remember the days
when I had more time to go out on all the rescues
[both exclaiming]
He wants out bad!
[Tia] Handle all the adoptio
This who you like?
[man] Yeah, absolutely.
[Tia] Did it all.
It was a lot.
When was the last time we had a road trip together?
[Tania] Probably when I was born. On my way home from the hospital.
[Tia] That hurt.
It's hard being a single mom.
Two hundred dogs and two kids.
So what's the right thing to do?
Stay home with the kids and go on welfare?
Or work your ass off so they have what they need.
You know, spend as much time with them.
[Tia] So as the rescue grew
it became pretty much impossible for me to
keep up with everything on my own.
So I did have to let some control go
and allow my kids to step in to help me.
Mariah get up.
Now. Up, up.
-Yeah -[dog barking]
Mom, I totally forgot which dog I was supposed to move.
Okay, I'm gonna try and tell two of you,
so one of you will get it right.
-Okay. [laughs] -All right
Make him follow. There you go
Don't [bleep]. It's getting in my shirt.
[woman] Where am I putting him?
[Tia] Ella would be special needs. Absolutely.
-Really -[Tia] Yeah, he is a handful.
[dogs barking]
[Tia] It was quite a wakeup call
when we got here in Louisian
with the amount of dogs that came at us
that I had to let go of som of the control,
and put trust in my kids,
the employees,
the parolees.
There was no way that I could do this alone any longer.
[dog barking]
Like, I can have all the Post-it notes I want
listed in order of importance
of things that have to get done,
and within the first 30 minutes of opening up my eyeballs,
it's gone to hell in a ham basket.
We just have a very chaotic life.
When we moved to New Orleans
not only did the number of rescues go up,
but they seemed to become more difficult
There are a million places for dogs to hide here in the city.
You know, with Hurricane Katrina,
a lot of the neighborhoods are still littered with abandoned houses,
you know, old, torn-up buildings.
It just makes it almost impossible to find these dogs.
[dog barking]
[Tia] Come on up, come on up, come on up.
There were so many things that became quite the obstac for us
to overcome, learn from, and work around and then, eventually, work with.
[whispering] Get ready. Like, if she comes backward,
so she comes backward...
Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. It's on.
Over her. It's on.
Right at her. Right at her.
Okay. Now. Now. Now.
You know, as the rescues became more complicated, uh, became more intense,
our rescue team had to grow.
[Mariah] No, no. Here, coming out. Stop. stop. Yeah, come on.
Let's go! Let's go!
[Tia] That included my kids.
Come on, baby. It's okay.
Earl, and Toney Converse, and just, the list goes on.
And then, there were times when it included, like, every employee we had
to rescue one dog.
Lizzy is here?
[woman] I can see her.
[Tia] Push her in, don't let her come out this way. Just kind of get closed in.
So I need you guys, yeah. All up along on the fence.
All on the... right here.
And when she sticks her head out, you'll grab her.
[woman] Okay.
I got her.
Yeah, you're okay, Mama.
Doesn't take that many people to catch a pit bull.
When I had my accident and I shattered my entire leg,
you know, my kids and some of the employees,
you know, they just... they jumped right in.
And... just, you know, handled business.
People are looking to us to give them the perfect addition to their family.
And that's a lot of pressure.
[woman] Brian in the back and Jordan's by himself.
And then everyone else, I think, has someone working with them.
My kids have grown up in this life.
And, so, they've learned so much.
Uh, so much that they are able to determine
what rescue technique is going to work the best.
You want some cheese?
Got her!
Go, go, go, go, go.
I'm stressing out right now.
Yes. Oh, my God! Yes!
Whoo!
Hi, baby!
Look, we're gonna put this around you... Hi, baby girl!
[Tia] We learn as we go.
These past six years, one o the biggest transformations
is... my kids.
Well, earlier in California, we had around, like, 200 dogs.
-It's completely doubled, we have almost 400 dogs now. -Wow.
[Tia] There is absolutely no way
that I could run this rescu without them.
Is there a specific type of energy level that you guys are looking for?
[Tia] They have come along so far since Season One.
I have to believe that this lifestyle that I've chosen for my kids,
and that my kids have agree to stay by my side with,
will make them stronger...
...make them more compassionate for life
and we're doing this for a reason.
[speaking indistinctly]
[Tia] Anybody who runs one of these small rural shelters,
I'll tell ya, they are the ultimate heroes.
[man] Oh, yeah.
[Tia] I really love to be ab to give them hope.
[upbeat music playing]
[Tia] You know, when we moved to New Orleans,
of course, our main goal was to help the dogs.
But, part of our mission was also to help the people in the community.
-Hi, I'm Tia. Hi. -Hi. Nice to meet you.
[Tia] I've always been drawn to wanting to help small rural country shelters
Because that's how we starte
In California, our location was so remote.
Like, way down this dirt roa in the middle of the desert So we get it.
And, being able to use the platform of the TV show
to get these smaller shelter the help they need
is something that I really enjoy doing.
Hi, puppies.
Dirt Road Rescue is a name that I gave
toward my efforts to help small rural shelters.
Small shelters that are way in the middle of nowhere
that hardly get donations.
-Look at you, how are you? -Good, good, good.
-[woman] Hi, Mama! -You're okay, you're all right.
-[Tia] When you're low on manpower... -[man] Yeah.
[Tia] ...I mean, it's just hard.
That debris is just falling on a daily basis.
[man] Oh, yeah.
[woman] Holy moly!
No wonder they needed help.
Anybody who runs one of these small rural shelters,
I'll tell ya, they are the ultimate heroes.
It's gotta be so frustratin for them.
You know, they don't have..
...the foot traffic that some of these bigger metropolitan shelters have,
you know, in these big cities.
-Oh, some take longer than others. -[Tia] Yeah.
-You got a variety of people, so... -[Tia laughs]
[Tia] I want to be able to go to these small shelter and pair them up
with a bigger shelter, in a bigger city.
Then on a regular basis, you can keep pulling dogs from them. To give them hope.
[woman speaking]
-Okay, very good. -[man laughing]
[speaking indistinctly]
[Tia] You know, I try to help the ones that I can, but...
you know, every day is a struggle for us as well.
So, I really love to highlight them when I can
It is overwhelming, but, you know, here you can see..
really how much of a difference you make.
[Mariah] I can help you do her shots, and do other stuff.
[man talking indistinctly]
-No, no, no. You're not gonna pay for any of this. -All right.
Out here, like, this entire parishes that don't have any shelter.
[woman] This is kind of a new endeavor for this parish
'cause they never had an animal control.
They were stacked to the ceiling in wire crates.
Everybody was two-plus to a kennel. Some kennels were three and four, like--
[Tia] Yeah, it's just... this is it.
People that have never been here,
and you're on Facebook, and you're talking all your crap about,
"All they have to do is just get their dogs spayed and neutered
then we wouldn't have this problem."
Some of these places... There's not a vet for a million miles.
We've learned not to be judgmental. We've learned to listen,
and just try to help and educate.
Unless you're here and you see it,
you have no idea what you're talking about.
I want you to get a really good look
that makes me very emotional to...
see what we're up against.
You know, the life of an animal rescuer, period It's a tough one.
-[Tia] Hi. -[Donna] Hi, Tia, I'm Donna.
[Tia] Hi, Donna.
[Tia] You know, there's some good days, but I alway tell everybody.
There's more bad than good. And that's just the truth.
So, we've been able to visit these smaller shelters
and do, like, Facebook live giving them exposure, tryin to get their dogs homes,
offering what we can to help them,
and just giving them the support that they need.
I just took on another little project, here in Assumption Parish.
Having a brand-new, beautifu custom-built, mobile vet clinic built for us
where we will be able to go around to the small rural areas
and do free spay and neuter programs.
We are super excited about this spay and neuter mobile,
because these small towns, a lot of them,
don't have an animal sheltering system, or a local vet.
So, to be able to drive from small town to small tow
and spay and neuter people's dogs for free...
I... I can't even tell you how excited I am.
I wanna thank everybody for coming out right now
to the Villalobos Rescue Center fundraiser.
-[water splashing] -[people laughing]
[Tia] Non-profit animal rescues will not make it without donations.
Plain and simple.
-[indistinct chatter] -[woman] Thank you.
-[people cheering] -[bell ringing]
We are now open for business.
[Tia] You do have to think outside the box, be super creative.
[Tia] Non-profit animal rescues will not make it without donations.
Just plain and simple.
-[indistinct chatter] -[woman] Thank you.
[Tia] Without...
the public's help, fundraising, social media,
without grants, without private donors, all that.
They're not gonna make it.
Every. Single. Day.
Every single day.
When I wake up, my mind is already, like, picking up something to do.
To raise money.
You okay? You're okay.
You're okay.
Let me try to get the leash out of the way.
When you break down
what it cost Villalobos a year to survive,
it averages out to $13,000 a day.
That's what, like, it costs the rescue to operate.
We have tried various ways to raise money.
We have been secretly working to create a incredibly large-scale event.
And, uh, we're gonna give you all the money.
Wow!
From having a banquet fundraising event in Las Vegas...
[man] We would like to present you, Tia...
-with this check from us. -Oh... [laughs]
For the small fee of $25,000.
[Tia] ...to having a mini carnival.
First and foremost, we wanna thank everybody for coming out right now
to the Villalobos Rescue Center fundraiser.
-[water splashing] -[people cheering]
[Tia] Uh, another way that we raised some extra funds was through doing calendars
Oh, yeah.
[screams]
[man and woman laughing]
[Tia] She's falling off her shoes.
People love them.
When I have people come to m and ask for advice
on how to be successful in keeping their, you know, dog rescue going,
you need to treat it like a business.
Because if you don't, you will sink.
So you do have to think outside the box,
be super creative.
We met this guy who owns a bar in Chaumet
and we were thinking that it might be a good idea to take it over.
So, the Tahyo Tavern, we came up with a little mission statement,
little motto, that said, "You drink, they eat."
-[all cheering] -[bell dinging]
[woman cheering]
[Tia] Hey, it's New Orleans Alcohol is one of the main food groups.
So, you drink, you feed the dogs.
So, that's when we came up with the idea to open up our souvenir shop.
[woman] Can I get some of these treats for my dog, please?
[all laughing]
And, our restaurant in the French Quarter.
I saw that we have, like, the outdoor dog seating and stuff,
but, do we have any, like, we don't have any, like,
-dog stuff, right, on the menu? -No.
[Tia] I wanted to be able t have outside businesses...
I made doggie cupcakes.
[Tia] ...that would help raise money to put towards the rescue.
All right, he's into it.
Once the pandemic hit, we were scared.
Yeah, we started hearing things on the news, actually
How non-profits were gonna suffer, especiall and I'm just like...
Oh, my gosh.
People lost their businesses, people couldn't go to work.
Why donate your last dollar to us?
It got real scary. It got real scary.
Time to hook up all grandpas and grandmas.
[Tia] I did manage to come u with one program that did help
at least keep my restaurant staff going.
And that was the program we called the Doggie Bag.
This is Toney Converse from Villalobos Rescue Center who is bringing you some food.
[Tia] When you donated to the Doggie Bag program,
it paid for a meal that we prepared,
that we then donated to the senior community
down the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans.
How you doing?
[Earl] Yeah, I think that's a full chop.
[Tia] Earl and Toney Convers really took the Doggie Bag program to heart.
They are in New Orleans, born and bred. Like, they kn the area.
They're both so great with people in general.
They didn't just bring a hot meal to somebody,
but they brought happiness. And hope!
When the Covid pandemic hit,
we couldn't afford to keep paying rent.
We made a very, very painfu decision to close our doors
So, we had to come up with, like, a plan B.
See the old door?
[woman] I want these candles in my house.
-[indistinct conversation] -[laughing]
[Tia] Many years ago when I first came to Assumption Parish,
one of the first things I noticed was this amazing old building.
So, I got a donation that helped me buy this old building,
and we are now getting it fixed up,
and turning into a little cafe.
We're using the equipment from the tavern that we clos down in the French Quarter,
and knowing that when you do spend money there,
it will go to take care of the animals here in the parish.
We're pretty close to being able to open up to the public.
I think at this point with Villalobos,
my plans are just to restructure it.
We're making some moves,
both literally and figuratively.
It's cute, right?
We're trying to improve, and make things better for the dogs,
and, um... and the people.
My opening mission statement I still say it.
I still hope that one day I do not have to rescue.
Not because I won't want to
but because there are no more dogs that need help
You know, a girl can dream, I guess.