Director of Donor Relations
marlo slusarski
I met my first “pit bull” in the
spring of 1999. My husband had come home from a friend’s house with a 6
month old brindle puppy named Kaos. I was uneasy about having a dog in
our house, let alone a pit bull type dog. I was mostly concerned with
the many negative things that I had heard about this breed. Before
saying no, I did some research. I was shocked to learn that all of
those horrible things I had read were not typical of a pit bull and in
fact, they had a rock solid temperament and were considered loyal family
members by many. I became fascinated by these so called “vicious”
dogs.
Within weeks, Kaos and I were inseparable. I knew I wouldn’t change
everyone’s opinion of Kaos’ breed but I was determined to try. I
immediately enrolled Kaos in an obedience class and I was told by the
instructor that he was a perfect breed ambassador. My family and
friends who were shocked that I had “one of those dogs” were also
smitten with his charm. Everywhere we went, Kaos made people smile.
While continuing to educate myself about pit bulls, I became more and
more familiar with the wonderful world of rescue. It was then that I
realized the only thing better than one pit bull would be two pit bulls
in our house. My husband and I adopted Polar in the winter of 2006.
Polar had an unfortunate start to life but the transformation that we
saw after rescuing her was almost miraculous.
I met Shana and For the Love of Pits® in 2009. I had seen an email that
was circulating about three puppies that were scheduled to be euthanized
by the Cleveland Kennel because of their breed. Shana pulled the dogs
and was looking for foster homes. We decided to foster Dora, a little
blue and white girl who was found tied to a pole in the basement of a
home. She was very sick but also very grateful for a second chance at
life.
I was so impressed with the knowledge and passion that Shana had for
this breed and I wanted to do more to help her organization. I began by
volunteering with fundraisers. When my beloved Kaos passed away in
2010, in his memory, I became more involved. You can now find me at
nearly every For the Love of Pits events and I also help educate the
public by going to schools with one of our dogs. I work very closely
with Shana in the adoption process and I coordinate most of the
fundraisers which allow us to continue helping these great dogs.
