Mutt Bus: Awareness Mission
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Have you ever loved a dog? Has a dog ever changed your life? Has a dog ever made you smile when you really needed to? Has cuddling your dog ever made everything feel okay when a second ago it was anything but? Have you rescued a dog, or has a dog rescued you?
Have you ever felt judged for the way you are? Have you felt like you don’t fit in and nobody gets you? Have you felt that judgement and negativity in looks from people you pass on the street? Have you ever felt like a target? Have you lost a dream and felt hopeless? Have you been betrayed by people you trusted? Have you felt utterly and completely alone more often than not? Have you ever felt there is no point? Have you thought about giving up completely?
If any of these questions resonate with you then the Mutt Bus is here for you. My dogs are what get me to tomorrow when I don’t think I will make it; I want to bring that love and support to other people who need it and don’t know that they can find it at the local animal shelter. Animal welfare and mental health are not mutually exclusive issues and I want to raise awareness and work to improve the services for both as we travel the US and Canada.
I have learned through my experience as an anti-BSL (breed specific legislation) activist in Montreal that this is not something a few, or even a few hundred or thousand, people can do alone. Real change will take a community. It will take understanding and compassion. It will take UNITY, which is why my first FB group to fight BSL is named Warriors United Against BSL, and this is my goal. In order to achieve this, we will need a HUGE social media following and an engaged audience. Please follow and share the @muttbus pages. Once we are on the road and I get the disc for iMovie and learn how to use it the content will come steadily and I guarantee it will be entertaining.
In each city or town that we stop I want to engage the community that may not already follow or support certain causes, or don’t know how they can locally. We (my dogs and I) will connect with local shelters or rescues to provide adoptable dogs (and maybe cats too) for an adoption event. I will then find a local business to host the event. I will be looking for businesses with a solid customer base, good foot traffic, an outside area, and not already a pet related so that we can reach new people with the cause and people who need that first dog. I am currently thinking restaurants, bars, and tattoo shops, but I am always open to ideas. I will also get locally owned pet related business involved in the events, because it is all about getting the community more engaged in the causes. I don’t want the adoptions to stop when we leave town. It would be a dream if the businesses continued to host events after we leave.
I am doing all this, because my own life hasn’t gone to plan over and over again. Someone recently asked me what is plan b to this and I responded, “There is no plan b. This is already plan q.” I chose a career path at 19 that I do not like, and I paid a lot for a piece of paper that says that I’m a mining engineer. Unfortunately, I chose a very niche market and I saw almost no way out of it. The last 2 years I have done almost nothing except fight for my dogs. I finally decided to stop putting off finding a way to be happy because of societal expectations to follow a career path that I set in motion as a stupid kid. I am going to be poor; I am going to struggle, but I hope to be happy and I at least know that my dogs and I will always have shelter in the bus.
I will be forming a non-profit called Mutt Life as soon as I can get all the logistics worked out and paperwork filed. The Mutt Bus will be one branch and the mobile headquarters of the Mutt Life non-profit. I am hoping with enough YouTube Views and Instagram followers funds from the social media pages and merchandise sales can support the mission.
I have purchased the bus, but will need from brakes and 6 new tires soon and everything costs more on a diesel. I also need to find an auto electrician to disconnect all the unnecessary wiring now that it is not a school bus and figure out what is draining the battery because it needs to be charged every day.
Tags: Rescue dogs, Mental Health, Animal Adoptions, Mental Illness, DIY, Bus Life, BSL, Pit Bull Advocate, Animal Welfare, charity, non-profit, awareness campaign, animal rescue, community outreach
Have you ever felt judged for the way you are? Have you felt like you don’t fit in and nobody gets you? Have you felt that judgement and negativity in looks from people you pass on the street? Have you ever felt like a target? Have you lost a dream and felt hopeless? Have you been betrayed by people you trusted? Have you felt utterly and completely alone more often than not? Have you ever felt there is no point? Have you thought about giving up completely?
If any of these questions resonate with you then the Mutt Bus is here for you. My dogs are what get me to tomorrow when I don’t think I will make it; I want to bring that love and support to other people who need it and don’t know that they can find it at the local animal shelter. Animal welfare and mental health are not mutually exclusive issues and I want to raise awareness and work to improve the services for both as we travel the US and Canada.
I have learned through my experience as an anti-BSL (breed specific legislation) activist in Montreal that this is not something a few, or even a few hundred or thousand, people can do alone. Real change will take a community. It will take understanding and compassion. It will take UNITY, which is why my first FB group to fight BSL is named Warriors United Against BSL, and this is my goal. In order to achieve this, we will need a HUGE social media following and an engaged audience. Please follow and share the @muttbus pages. Once we are on the road and I get the disc for iMovie and learn how to use it the content will come steadily and I guarantee it will be entertaining.
In each city or town that we stop I want to engage the community that may not already follow or support certain causes, or don’t know how they can locally. We (my dogs and I) will connect with local shelters or rescues to provide adoptable dogs (and maybe cats too) for an adoption event. I will then find a local business to host the event. I will be looking for businesses with a solid customer base, good foot traffic, an outside area, and not already a pet related so that we can reach new people with the cause and people who need that first dog. I am currently thinking restaurants, bars, and tattoo shops, but I am always open to ideas. I will also get locally owned pet related business involved in the events, because it is all about getting the community more engaged in the causes. I don’t want the adoptions to stop when we leave town. It would be a dream if the businesses continued to host events after we leave.
I am doing all this, because my own life hasn’t gone to plan over and over again. Someone recently asked me what is plan b to this and I responded, “There is no plan b. This is already plan q.” I chose a career path at 19 that I do not like, and I paid a lot for a piece of paper that says that I’m a mining engineer. Unfortunately, I chose a very niche market and I saw almost no way out of it. The last 2 years I have done almost nothing except fight for my dogs. I finally decided to stop putting off finding a way to be happy because of societal expectations to follow a career path that I set in motion as a stupid kid. I am going to be poor; I am going to struggle, but I hope to be happy and I at least know that my dogs and I will always have shelter in the bus.
I will be forming a non-profit called Mutt Life as soon as I can get all the logistics worked out and paperwork filed. The Mutt Bus will be one branch and the mobile headquarters of the Mutt Life non-profit. I am hoping with enough YouTube Views and Instagram followers funds from the social media pages and merchandise sales can support the mission.
I have purchased the bus, but will need from brakes and 6 new tires soon and everything costs more on a diesel. I also need to find an auto electrician to disconnect all the unnecessary wiring now that it is not a school bus and figure out what is draining the battery because it needs to be charged every day.
Tags: Rescue dogs, Mental Health, Animal Adoptions, Mental Illness, DIY, Bus Life, BSL, Pit Bull Advocate, Animal Welfare, charity, non-profit, awareness campaign, animal rescue, community outreach
Organizer
Andrew Garrity
Organizer
Cape Cottage, ME