Pitting the realities of pit bulls with educated, loving owners at Bmore Dog

There’s not much you won’t do for your dog but we all know the stories of what others have done to lose care of their animals and Erin Scott of Bmore Dog is here to educate, support and provide help for dog lovers in under-served communities. She joined Nestor for “A Cup Of Soup Or Bowl” at El Guapo in Catonsville and emphasized the importance of teaching pet owners and children about animal care and safety.

Erin Scott from Bmore Dog discussed the organization’s mission to improve the lives of pit bulls and other animals in Baltimore. Founded in 2008, Bmore Dog conducts wellness clinics, providing veterinary care, vaccinations, pet food, grooming, and nail trims in underserved communities. They collaborate with the Maryland SPCA to prevent pet abandonment. Scott emphasized the importance of educating pet owners and children about animal care and safety. The organization also offers resources for veterinary payments and emergency grants. Bmore Dog relies on volunteers and donations to continue their work.

Action Items

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Give the scratch-off ticket (Merrill number 54) to the Be More Dog guest during the show
• [ ] Respond to incoming emails from community members requesting help and case-manage pet-related requests (reply as soon as possible)
• [ ] Provide clinic location and schedule information to people who reach out so volunteers and community members know where and when pop-up clinics will be held
• [ ] Post and maintain volunteer opportunities and clinic/event information on the organization website and Facebook to recruit volunteers and inform the community

Outline

Introduction and Segment Overview

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning various sponsors and upcoming events.
• Nestor highlights the charity community series, including locations and giveaways.
• Nestor introduces the first guest, Erin Scott, from Bmore Dog, who is passionate about pit bulls and animal welfare.
• Nestor shares his personal connection to animals, mentioning his wife’s love for all creatures.

Erin Scott’s Background and Bmore Dog’s Mission

• Erin Scott discusses her background with pit bulls and the misconceptions surrounding them.
• Erin explains the evolution of Bmore Dog from a pit bull advocacy organization to a comprehensive animal welfare initiative.
• The organization started in 2008-2009, shortly after the Michael Vick dog fighting scandal, to provide community education and resources.
• Bmore Dog conducts wellness clinics in various Baltimore communities, offering veterinary care, vaccinations, and other essential services.

Community Outreach and Veterinary Services

• Bmore Dog collaborates with the Maryland SPCA to provide pet food banks at their clinics.
• The organization offers grooming, nail trims, and other necessary services to pet owners who lack access to veterinary care.
• Erin emphasizes the importance of keeping pets in their homes and preventing them from entering shelters due to financial constraints.
• Bmore Dog provides resources and emergency grants to help pet owners afford veterinary care and pet food.

Challenges and Solutions for Pet Owners

• Nestor and Erin discuss the financial struggles pet owners face, including the high cost of veterinary care and pet food.
• Erin shares stories of pet owners who cannot afford to keep their pets due to financial difficulties.
• Bmore Dog aims to help pet owners maintain their pets by offering on-site treatments and resources.
• The organization provides information on how to diagnose and treat common pet health issues without the need for expensive veterinary visits.

Education and Prevention Programs

• Bmore Dog conducts humane education programs in schools and community groups to teach children about responsible pet ownership.
• The organization teaches kids how to safely interact with dogs and the importance of leashing and securing pets.
• Erin discusses the impact of animal cruelty events on their humane education initiatives.
• Bmore Dog collaborates with other organizations to provide additional support and resources for pet owners.

Personal Stories and Experiences

• Nestor and Erin share personal stories about their experiences with pets and animal encounters.
• Erin explains how her fear of dogs was overcome through exposure and education.
• Nestor recounts his own traumatic experiences with dogs and how they have shaped his perception of pit bulls.
• The conversation highlights the importance of understanding and addressing fears related to dogs.

Advice for Pet Owners and Community Involvement

• Erin provides advice on how to safely interact with dogs and prevent bites.
• Bmore Dog offers resources and tips for pet owners on their website, including information on finding free or reduced-cost veterinary care.
• The organization encourages community involvement through volunteering at their clinics and events.
• Erin emphasizes the importance of keeping pets in their homes and providing them with the necessary care and support.

Final Thoughts and Contact Information

• Nestor and Erin discuss the importance of educating young people about animal welfare and responsible pet ownership.
• Bmore Dog aims to fill the gap in animal welfare services by providing comprehensive support and resources.
• Erin shares information about her personal pets and their names.
• Nestor concludes the segment by promoting upcoming events and thanking Erin for her participation.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Pit bulls, Bmore Dog, animal welfare, Baltimore, veterinary care, pet food bank, community education, humane education, pet resources, veterinary deserts, pet ownership, animal cruelty, pet training, volunteer opportunities, pet health.

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SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Erin Scott

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. We are positively here at El Guapo. We are in Catonsville. Life is great. The 21228, it’s all brought to my friends at the Maryland lottery. I have the candy cane cash giveaway. I just went out to the bar here. And guys like, I want 10 bucks. Like, good, good, good. That’s the whole idea. Our friends at GBMC also putting us out on the road. It is a cup of soup or bowl. It is our charity community series all week long. We’re not out in Santa Clara, but we are in Catonsville. We’ll be in lauraville On Wednesday, Koco’s Pub. Ko for Koco’s. Thursday, we’re going to be pizza John’s in Essex. I’m Koco for pizza John’s as well. And on Friday, we’ll be at Costas Inn in in Timonium, we’ll be giving away the candy cane cash giveaways, not just 10 bucks. We had $100 winner. Cost us in Dundalk last month. And final segment from El Guapo today. We have great guests coming along, and this is the first one. I wish my wife were here for this, because my wife loves animals and loves dogs and cats and cats and dogs and deer and raccoons and Fox and birds and chipmunks. I don’t think I left anything out, maybe possum too, but she feeds them all out in the woods. Aaron Scott is here. She is the dog mom. She is with being more dog. Aaron is obsessed with finding solutions to your pet parent problems so you and your dogs can live their happiest and healthiest lives together. Your dog, lady, I am, you are. I’m gonna get you up on Mike there. You’re fine. How are you? Thanks for coming out. Thanks for having us. What’s your favorite kind of dog? What kind of dog do you have? Well, I’m a pit bull girl. Are you? Yes. Um, they are misunderstood, right? Very much.

Erin Scott  01:36

This was the basis of our organization, although it has evolved, evolved into much more than that over the years.

Nestor Aparicio  01:43

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All right, so what is the basis of all of this? My first dog was an English Springer Spaniel, Bridget, 1974 I haven’t had a dog in my adulthood. I’ve had three cats in my adulthood. I’m a cat guy, because cats, they pee and poop in the boxes. You know the difference and all that love my cat so much, but I don’t know anybody that’s a dog person that doesn’t absolutely adore their dogs. And I, having lost pets, there is a familial part for all of this, for people who love animals, that America loves animals. So somebody out there right now wants to help you. So let’s, let’s learn about be more

Erin Scott  02:21

dog Yes, yes. Well, the organization started as people who wanted to help give a better story for pit bulls in the Baltimore area and just do like some community education. But as we started, this was back in 2008 2009 time period.

Nestor Aparicio  02:37

That was Michael Vick dog fighting

Erin Scott  02:39

that it was right after that. Yeah. And so we started just going to community events, talking to people, learning and really finding out that people need resources and they need access to veterinarians and they need access to care. And so we started our be more dog wellness clinics. And so we actually bring vet care into communities around Baltimore, and we do, sort of like, pop up in a park, and we have a vet there, and we provide leashes and collars and vaccines, and we can treat a lot of things with like, if we can do antibiotics, we can treat that right on site, give you your take home meds. We also have a great partnership with Maryland SPCA, where they bring their pet food bank out so people can go home with pet food for the month. And we try to just bring all the resources that you might need for your dog. We do grooming and nail trims and anything that you might need. We try to bring it right into communities where people don’t have access or transportation, or, you know, there’s like veterinary deserts, like there’s grocery deserts. So we try to bring it to communities. Well, we

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Nestor Aparicio  03:40

hear about service animals and for animals for people’s heart and companionship, and I don’t think there’s anything that breaks me more than what somebody can’t afford their animal, right? Yeah, like, literally, this is their child, and a lot of times it’s they are alone in their own way, and the animal is their companion. And, you know, I remember when my cat took sick, it was really expensive to bury her. Literally, she died in us trying to save her. It was very expensive to try to save her, and we were in a position to be able to do that, but we would not have been able to in a position to do that as younger people, or where we were, or even made that kind of a difficult decision, to put your animal down, or have try to keep your animal alive. Or, more than that, your animal is fine and you’re fine, but you don’t have the finances to just provide food for your animal. I had a friend who went through a divorce in recent times and literally could not afford to keep her cats because she just couldn’t afford the money to feed them. Literally. I mean, I’m sure you see all sorts of things like that

Erin Scott  04:45

we do. And I guess one of our goals is we hear so much about the animals that are going into the shelter. We know barks and Maryland SPCA are taking in animals every day, and

Nestor Aparicio  04:53

hopefully people are taking them home and loving them. Hopefully, yes, hopefully.

Erin Scott  04:58

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But we, what we have found is. So many people don’t want to be giving up their pets to the shelter in the first place. It’s just a lack of resources. And so our goal is to try to help people keep their pets in their home to the extent that we can, whether it’s networking to find some kind of, you know, emergency grant, or, you know, find a vet that will do payment things, we have all kinds of resources on our website for different options for veterinary payments. But to the extent that you know, it’s an ear infection, we can usually treat that on site. You know, to the extent that it’s allergies, we can give you something to help. You know, right on right on site, at our clinics,

Nestor Aparicio  05:33

well, I’m diagnosing an animal because they don’t speak right, right? They’re itching their ear. They don’t say I have an ear problem, right? You’re like my animals not behaving properly is discomforted. At what point do you take to a vet and be able to afford it, or not be able to afford it, or maybe reach to you? So how can people reach to you? Aaron, so

Erin Scott  05:53

you can find us at be more dog.org We have a ton of resources on our website to try to answer any

Nestor Aparicio  05:59

back to the website here. And so when you say resources like, let’s, let’s talk about things that you do and things that are very common for people out there, and ways where people can help,

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Erin Scott  06:07

sure, like finding vaccines. You know, if we don’t have a physical clinic near you in the near future, we have a list of places where you can get them free or reduced costs. If you do have something that you need that’s beyond that, you know, just email us and we will get back to you as soon as we possibly can and try to, you know, kind of case, manage things as they come in that way.

Nestor Aparicio  06:28

How many years for you doing

Erin Scott  06:29

this? Oh my gosh, since 2008

Nestor Aparicio  06:32

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Okay, so we’re gonna 20 years be more dogs been here this long, correct? What did you do before then? Were you a volunteer at SPCA or different places like that.

Erin Scott  06:41

I did walk dogs for a while at the Harford County shelter. Okay, yeah, but pit bulls, it’s my thing. And how did it become your thing? So it’s all my husband’s fault. Okay? It always is. I have the opposite problem. I did not grow up with pets in my house at all. In fact, I was kind of freaked out by dogs. I thought they were like, these muddy, scary creatures. And I got

Nestor Aparicio  07:04

bitten by a dog, a colleague that looked like Lassie, my name, my my neighbors had a dog, and that dog bit me like, and I can feel it right now. Bit Me on the back of my my calf when I was a boy, hurt like, I mean, just bit me. Just came up, you know, like I didn’t, I didn’t do anything, and then the dog bit me again, like a few years later, and I can say to you, like I haven’t, I haven’t had a dog in my adulthood, like I’ve had cats, but and I do have a general and my wife would confirm this. I mean, I remember walking through the streets of Amsterdam one day and seeing a dog and saying, wild animal, and she makes fun of me because of that, right? And my wife has never met a dog. She won’t go and attack, yeah. And I’m like, that dog might bite. My kid got bitten by a dog one time, but he was being dumb, because the person said, this dog will bite you. And my good, boom, next thing, I’m at the hospital. He’s getting shots, and I’m and I’m like, they told you the dog bit, bites, right? But he was 14, that’s way what. But when I think I’m telling you trauma stories right out loud, things that have happened in my time, don’t trust dogs. That’s not true. Obviously we know that. But there is a thing about pit bulls that if a pit bull came in here right now, I would be a little bit more than sticking my hand out, I would be more like, I don’t want to touch that one today, right now here, right? And so you’re talking to people like me that would and like you, apparently, before to say there was a little bit of a fear because of something may have happened, some drama, right?

Erin Scott  08:34

Yeah, I didn’t have, like, a trauma. I just had, didn’t have the exposure. But, yeah, I do understand that people have bad experiences. And, you know, I’ve actually had more negative experience with those little yappy anchor boy, any kind of big dog. But you know, there is a body language. You know, you said dogs don’t speak through their words, but you know, there is a body language to it. And and we actually have some resources on the website.

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Nestor Aparicio  09:00

I want to talk about that because you’re trying to teach kids to be good. Yes. Well, what would your advice be that the pit Bull’s not there to bite you? I know that instinctively, but that doesn’t mean I’m not afraid of it to some degree.

Erin Scott  09:15

Well, we actually do a thing called be a tree where, if you stand very still and don’t draw attention to yourself. That makes dogs lose interest in you. It’s when you’re running and being crazy and like, oh my god, there’s a dog and I’m trying to get away. That’s when they think it’s a game and want to chase you and come after you, you know.

Nestor Aparicio  09:32

So I do a lot of yoga, so I’m good with tree.

Erin Scott  09:35

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I can do the tree, but, yeah, just like, stand and, you know, be still, and dogs are usually, you know, if you’re scared of a dog, you know, they’ll kind of sniff you and move on. It’s when you’re being really exciting that they think there’s something

Nestor Aparicio  09:48

where they come over and they sniff that for that moment, I got bitten by that dog in 1978 then I’m like, Oh, shit, I hope this doesn’t, you know, like, I’m trying to be the good dog. I hear, even though I’m a little uncomfortable with all this, some people are uncomfortable public speaking and afraid of my radio show, so they look at me like the pit bull, you know, so, but I do think with dogs, we all it’s you big. We all come in contact with dogs like, you know, they’re somebody’s walking one right by right now, and especially with this kind of weather, taking your dog and just get it in and out with the dog this time of year, and take caring for an animal when they don’t want to be outside, they don’t want to deal with the cold. But pets versus adoptive versus I have a pet and my pet sick and I don’t have the money to care for my pet. You’re doing a whole bunch of different things here, right?

Erin Scott  10:37

We do we do the humane Ed piece. We talk to kids in school we love we have a lot of brownie troops and Girl Scout troops that we come and see every year. And we also teach how to positively meet a dog and, you know, to ask permission before you approach and and we also talk to owners about, let’s keep our dogs leashed and in our yard and patch the hole in the fence where they keep getting out so that they aren’t chasing kids down the street and things like that, and and we actually have some other partner organizations throughout Baltimore that’ll help people with things like securing their funds and things like that. Because, you know, we want everyone to be safe and have positive interactions. And if there’s something that we can do, you know, to kind of help a situation, we really do our best to at least get you to the right place, if it’s not us well.

Nestor Aparicio  11:23

And there’s also the responsibility of training your animal and keeping your animal on a leash and and secure the dog park good acclimation skills for the animal, right? I mean, the animal needs that too. Yes, absolutely, yes. So it doesn’t want to bite me exactly. Anything you could do about my cat screaming at one o’clock in the morning at my house, where she’s already been fed.

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Erin Scott  11:45

I understand that that’s just what they do. She’s a Howler.

Nestor Aparicio  11:48

The last couple of nights, I had to chase her out last night, you know. But I love my animal. Aaron. Is here. She is with be more dog. You can find her out on the internet. I certainly did. So how can people help you? What can they donate to you, time, money, things, expertise, in any way. How can people

Erin Scott  12:06

help you? Yeah, well, we would love volunteers to come out and help at our clinics, you know. Where are they? Where are you based? So we’re kind of virtual, and we have, we have, like, pop up events, you know, throughout different neighborhood, like parks throughout Baltimore City, you know. And once you reach out to us, you know, we can provide the information of where we’ll be in when city and county, mostly

Nestor Aparicio  12:26

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city, mostly city. Okay, now, was that part of educating young people about injuring animals and hurting animals?

Erin Scott  12:33

Yes, we that actually is what started our humane education. Was some animal cruelty events that had happened in the city, but this is going back 10 or 15 years ago now.

Nestor Aparicio  12:42

But do you honestly believe we have through Michael Vick, through education, through programs like yours? Do you feel like there’s less instance of animal abuse that’s going on in Baltimore City, as you know it to be? Do you feel like there’s less of that than there was 10 or 15 years ago.

Erin Scott  13:04

I will say that we don’t see a lot of active abuse. I think sometimes what we see more of is inadvertent neglect, and that’s where I guess we try to educate, for instance, just something like grooming a dog, if you aren’t grooming your dog properly, and they’re so overgrown that they can’t even walk or really move, like, that’s not just a esthetic issue, it’s a health issue, it’s a comfort issue. That’s something that could make them bite, you know? And so we do often see very matted dogs, and we try to work to say, like, oh, you know, we this is why it’s important. It’s not just getting them a haircut, like, it’s actually like a physical health and safety issue, you know. So that’s the kind of stuff that we see. I really think a lot of people really love their dogs, and there’s a lot that people don’t know. And we are always a resource for that. And we, you know, want to approach with open arms, without judgment, with you know, we’re all here to just, you know, make your life and your dog’s life as happy and healthy as possible, keep them in your home, keep them out of the shelters. So that’s what we see.

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Nestor Aparicio  14:11

Well, you’ll be proud to know my my wife, before we got our first cat in the early part of our marriage, she was a faithful Saturday, all day long. Caesar Milan, guy, right? So all of the dogs, and then we moved to Jackson Galaxy. We moved to cats after that. So I do feel like I’ve become better educated about animals and animal awareness, and more than that, the psychology of animals, right? Like just trying to make them comfortable and give them what they want, being a being a good as I say, Kitty daddy, as I am for my cat, but maybe one day I will have a dog tell folks how to find you out on the internet. You are virtual, so they can just reach to you online, right? And participate and come out and be part of

Erin Scott  14:53

what you’re doing. Yes, absolutely. We have these clinics throughout the year. People say it’s a great day. It’s a long day, but it’s. Great way to meet your neighbors, you know, give back to the community. You know, see a lot of cute dogs, see dogs that that people love, and we’re really providing a helpful service. So we’re at be more dog.org you can find us. We’re most active on Facebook at, you know, at be more dog. And yeah, shoot us an email. And like said, we have tons of links and resources on the website to try to help you problem solve whatever you might have going on that you need help with, with your pets, because people love their pets, and we want to help keep them in their homes.

Nestor Aparicio  15:28

I must say that my my wife, lost her she’s an aunt to a dog that passed away about three weeks ago. Her mom’s dog got a little older and and passed away within the last month in this calendar year. And my wife, when she would visit her mom, would always walk that dog. And, you know, so it was sort of her dog when she was on vacation in Florida with but her dog sister, dog, yeah, dog, sister, I don’t, yeah, I guess right, it is right, because there’s mom’s dog, right? I don’t know all the all that, but for my wife, you know, walking dogs and doing that. My wife absolutely loves animals in that way. So she’s the kind of person that would participate in that. And the one thing she told me, she was with her sister back during Christmas, and they live in Concord, New Hampshire, so it’s a foot of snow all the time. She says, Every dog in New Hampshire has little footies. Oh, the little booty, little booties, right? So we need booties here for doggies this time of year. We haven’t needed them in the last couple of years, but I’ve seen the dogs on my street the last 10 days with a foot of snow. Little booties are like a really, that’s a thing for dogs that I didn’t know about Dundalk growing up, that I think if I had a dog right now, and being a good kitty daddy as I am, if I had a dog, I’d have a little booties for him right now. So that’s me wagging my finger at every dog. Get your dog some booties.

Erin Scott  16:47

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Well, you know why? Because the salt the sidewalk salt is harmful to their paw. Terrible. Yes, dries them out. Yes. So either use a paw, wax a paw bomb, or protect with booties.

Nestor Aparicio  16:59

Yeah. See, I got a good kitty mommy, doggy mommy. Here, Aaron’s. Here she is with be more dog. Go help her out. Keep it helping all of our people. At by the way, I got to give you a scratch off for the Merrill number 54 for you there. Lucky for you, for the pit bull lady, we’re gonna be doing this again at Koco’s on Wednesday. We’re gonna be doing again on Thursday at Pete’s, John’s in Essex, and on Friday, we’ll be at Costa Senate Timonium. I think Luke’s gonna come out talk some football and baseball with us. As well, if you want well, if you want some candy cane. Cash off, scratch off. So the Maryland lot off lottery, come on out. GBMC sending us out on the road as well. And our newest sponsor, Farner of Farnan and Dermer. I knew I was gonna mess that up. I got the hats and the shirts that get all that the comfort guys, as we call them, they’re out, literally, yeah, right now, they had a four o’clock appointment in my house, out today, take care of my HVAC and my furnace on a 20 degree dates, gonna warm up, right?

Erin Scott  17:48

It feels homey today compared to yesterday.

Nestor Aparicio  17:51

Yeah, I, I went out, like, with just the shirt, like a jacket on today, and my hands, they get cold or anything. So, you know, it’s 25

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Erin Scott  17:58

degrees, yeah, yeah, it was like three less, like

Nestor Aparicio  18:01

spring better, right? Oh, absolutely, yeah. Wag my tongue thinking about that. Well, thank you for coming out. We do a lot of things with animals and rescues and shelters. Your thing seems to be a little bit more comprehensive in the regard to fill the gap educating young people about being nice to animals.

Erin Scott  18:18

Yeah, we try to fill the gap. You know, we didn’t want to just be another rescue or, you know, we didn’t have the, you know, I don’t have the bandwidth to have another dog in my house, you know, but, but I can do that

Nestor Aparicio  18:27

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dog, yeah, too. All right, both pit bulls, yep. All right, how old

Erin Scott  18:31

I have old man, who’s about 12 years old. And then we have our new kid, who’s about four names, Nino is the old man, and Daisy girl as the young kid,

Nestor Aparicio  18:41

my little girl is no, like, we call her booger

Erin Scott  18:45

books bunny, that’s what she’s little. Yeah, we have Nina and Daisy girl.

Nestor Aparicio  18:49

You can show me your dogs. We get done here. All right, we’ll guapo. I’m gonna sign off here. Luke will be back. We had Joe Flacco on the show this week. We’re doing all sorts of charity stuff and staying up on all things Jesse Minter and the real Super Bowl that’s out in Santa Clara, but that’s the Super Bowl. This is better. This is a cup of Super Bowl. Back for more. We are W N st am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore. Positive. Stay with us.