The Beauty In The Beast

This is the story of a princess who falls in love with the prince of her dreams. Though he does not ride in on a beautiful white steed, he does bare a lovely white coat himself. This story has a fairytale beginning and a fairytale ending.

Mariah met L.A. in December 1996. He was a confiscated dog brought in to the shelter by L.A.P.D. and animal control. Like so many other Pit Bulls in Los Angeles, he was one of many taken from a staged dog fighting situation. After spending many weeks in the shelter while the courts battled against each other, L.A. was finally free to leave. The animal shelter asked if we could come down and see this very “special” dog. They said he had a gentle soul.

I didn’t necessarily bring him home for Mariah. He was actually here to get a home, but when she saw him, little hearts fluttered over her head. She never once noticed that one of his ears was missing or that the other one was nothing but a torn little nub. She never once made a comment or asked about the huge, deep gashes and scars all over his face. She was only 4 years old and so was he. It was truly love at first sight. Their first night together was spent in the bathtub filled with bubbles and him kissing her all over her cookie stained face.

From that moment they were inseparable. You never saw one without the other. Timmy and Lassie would've been jealous. He went with me to take her to school and pick her up. They slept together, practiced on the piano together, ate together and shared every breathing moment together. It never occurred to Mariah that she now owned a breed of dog, that the rest of the world condemned "just because". To her, he was the world. She proved this in the Spring of 1999, when she got in front of a crowd of 350 with L.A. at her side and spoke out against the breeding of dogs. When the tiny little blonde haired girl with freckles walked up to the podium and realized that the microphone was too tall, she jumped up on a chair and L.A. like any gentleman would do, sat right next to her. The end to her speech, had people on their feet, cheering with tears in their eyes.

"You see, just because I'm a kid, I don't need to breed my dog to see the miracle of birth. I only need to go to the shelters with my Mom and see the tragedy of death." That was the day that Mariah and L.A. made a huge impact on the city of Los Angeles.

Only weeks later, they were both asked to be guests on "The Leeza Show". The segment was about Pit Bulls, dog fighting, etc. One only needed to watch the final moments of the show as they left the audience with the final shot of a pretty little girl in a purple dress with flowers, kissing and hugging her snowy white, scar faced dog, who reciprocated her love with a wet tongue.

A short time later, they were invited to Paramount Studios to participate in a fund raiser where they were awarded the "Best Couple". They are true role models for all dog owners as one has to only watch them for a short time, to see the relationship between the two. Mariah trained L.A. all by herself and she has no hesitation in "showing off" his sit, down, crawl, stay, come, and all off leash in front of a crowd of unruly dogs.

Recently, L.A. has been diagnosed with cancer and with each cancerous tumor we remove, a piece of Mariah's heart goes with it. They are both 17 years old now and Mariah realizes that all fairytales have an ending. But for now they still go bike riding together, talk on the phone together like any pre-teen does, and the piano has been replaced by a computer.

Both remain in good spirits and continue to live in their own little world, where only they know what each other is thinking. They are both living each moment like it's the last and like any prince he kneels by her side at night to let her know that he will protect her from all evil.

To Mariah and L.A., this is their kingdom.

And for now, they will continue to live happily ever after.

Both 17 years old and still going strong

Mariah and L.A. adding a new little family member