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Rancho Bernardo family adopts dog on TV show

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By Elizabeth Marie Himchak

A Rancho Bernardo family’s process to adopt a dog can be seen on Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls and Parolees” television show.

A rebroadcast of the episode will air at 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16. It was first shown last Saturday on the cable network.

The Feyedelem family — mom, Melissa; dad, Mike; 17-year-old Joseph; and 16-year-old Elise — decided to get their second pit bull through the Villalobos Rescue Center after the first one they adopted from there, a 12-year-old named Dillinger, died due to a tumor on his heart just 11 months after joining the family. Dillinger had been at the rescue center for 10 years before the Feyedelems adopted him.

“They gave us the best dog we ever had,” Melissa said. “Dillinger was the perfect match for our family, so we knew they’d pick the right one for us again.”

They learned about the then-Agua Dulce, Calif.-based rescue because its work is the focus of the television show that shares how founder Tia Torres, her four grown children and the parolees she hires give second chances for a happy life to pit bulls, a breed often feared due to their aggressive reputation. This is the show’s fifth season.

At the time of Dillinger’s adoption, the rescue was in the process of moving from California to New Orleans and he was one of the last dogs Torres had yet to relocate.

Now that they were looking for another dog — one that could be calm and quiet enough for Joseph, whose autism makes him especially sensitive to loud noise — Melissa said they felt the rescue would be able to pick the most suitable dog for them again.

“Because of his sensory issues, he does not like a dog that barks a lot, is high energy or jumps all over,” Melissa said. “We have always taken in senior dogs because they are very mellow and easy going.”

Elise said they did not intend to be on the television show, but because 6-year-old Portia — now named Scout — had such a compelling story (she had been found with her dead canine friend who lay in a deep puddle of water), they were asked to appear.

“Our whole goal for this is to get people to pay attention, to get these dogs adopted,” Melissa said.

“They’re very misunderstood,” Elise said. “In the media you hear about (pit bulls) fighting and being vicious, but they’re really not. If you spend time with these dogs you’ll see they’re loving and great with children.”

Four months after Dillinger’s death, Melissa, Elise and Joseph traveled to New Orleans to meet several dogs. While there they presented Torres with an additional complication. Not only did the dog have to be mellow and quiet for Joseph, but it had to be OK around a tortoise, since they have an 8-year-old one named PJ at their Westwood home. This meant potential dogs had to be put through a tortoise test.

Mike, unable to make the trip last March, said he was confident the trio would pick the right dog for their family. He appears in the episode when Portia is brought to their home for the final inspection.

Portia was renamed soon after joining the family. “When our family looked at Portia (in New Orleans) we hated the name,” Elise said. “It was horrible for a dog. When she came to our house we were sitting around and as a freshman I was reading ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ She was very curious (hence naming her Scout after the main character).”

As for being on a television show, the family is taking the experience in stride. Elise said they did not find out the episode was going to air until Saturday morning, so there was little time to tell her friends at Rancho Bernardo High. Those who found out “have thought it was pretty cool, even though many had not heard of the show,” she said.

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