Bitsy Update
Sadly, despite our best efforts, Bitsy did not make the top four:
Good Morning to All,Little Bitsy was not chosen as one of the 4 Finalists for the Cutest Dog Competition. I had such high hopes that she would be chosen by the judges. But I know that she IS the Cutest Dog and has been the perfect poster dog for animal welfare in our area.
I would like to personally thank everyone who worked so hard to get her chosen as Week 12 winner and I cannot tell you how many positive things have occurred as a result of her being in the contest. A special thanks to Sylvia and Barney Evans for giving Little Bitsy should a wonderful and loving home and for spearheading her being a contestant.
The Balloon-Juice (initiated by Laura Winzler), the Flybabies (initiated by Marla Cilley), the Don’t Bully My Breed groups were so instrumental in helping get votes. Sean Trapp at the Transylvania Times ran front page stories. Our local radio station, WSQL interviewed Little Bitsy and gave regular updates. The Asheville Citizens Times ran a story. Asheville TV station had a featured story.My granddaughters, Lauren and Kaytlin, had Little Bitsy on Face Book as did Sylvia’s daughter, Rachel, and my daughter Heather too. And of course, our dear Erma Rhodes and Cherie Henderson spent countless hours on the computer spreading the word. Debbie Deaver at Steve Owen and Associates helped bring all of us at work closer together. Brevard Board of REALTORS spread the word to all real estate agents. I could go on and on and know that I am surely leaving out so many others who helped. It was definitely a community effort.
Our goal of creating a 501c3 non profit for animal rescue work is progressing. Brian Philips, Attorney and John Moore, CPA, are working on it now. It will be called Charlie’s Angels Animal Rescue in honor of my Daddy, Charlie Powers, and Gault Beeson who loved his Gault’s Angels, his beagles.
With heartfelt thanks to all..Please send this on to others that you know are interested in knowing the results.
Oh, well. We tried.
November 12, 2009 8:50 am
Posted in: Open Thread
56 Comments
56 Responses
Demo Woman - November 12, 2009 | 8:53 am · Link
She’s a special dog and should have won. I blame Carrie Prejean.
funluvn - November 12, 2009 | 8:58 am · Link
Bitsy was a little beauty and would have been quite an ambassador for the cause. So sorry she didn’t quite make it this time.
Jean - November 12, 2009 | 8:58 am · Link
Not in the top four? That’s just so wrong.
gogol's wife - November 12, 2009 | 9:10 am · Link
I’m sorry. But Bitsy’s beautiful spirit has touched us all.
RedKitten - November 12, 2009 | 9:14 am · Link
Well, that blows. Still, it was fun for us to rally behind a cause again—this group is pretty great at getting out the vote, or the donation, or whatever needs to be done to effect change.
soonergrunt - November 12, 2009 | 9:19 am · Link
@Demo Woman:
Everything is her fault. If she hadn’t made that video, we’d be celebrating right now.
Shell - November 12, 2009 | 9:22 am · Link
Dammit, it wasn’t one of those Peke’s, was it?
I say we get the Supreme Court involved!
Punchy - November 12, 2009 | 9:22 am · Link
OT:
To those of us who work in the pharmaceutical field, I have to sadly say that this is absolutely not a suprise in the least.
Anything—and I mean ANYTHING—for fat profits.
Michael D. - November 12, 2009 | 9:27 am · Link
Well, at least Bitsy’s loss vastly reduces the chance that the “Bitsy sex tape” will surface in the coming weeks.
You know it’s out there. You do.
ellaesther - November 12, 2009 | 9:27 am · Link
Oy, John, man, how’s your head today, sweetie…?
And I have a feeling that Bitsy—and the folks here who helped out—has had a real impact for good already, and we’re not done hearing about it.
Skepticat - November 12, 2009 | 9:38 am · Link
But Bitsy has won—a lot of hearts. I hope that apart from the contest, this attention will lead to wonderful things for Charlie’s Angels. Please keep us updated.
JenJen - November 12, 2009 | 9:44 am · Link
Well, crap. :-(
burnspbesq - November 12, 2009 | 9:45 am · Link
@Punchy:
The way pharma companies try dance right up to the edge of “marketing” off-label indications without seeking FDA approval gives me the creeps. I’m not sure how to deal with it, short of criminalizing somebody in the supply chain’s behavior – whether that be the doctor who prescribes it or the pharmacist who knows or should know that the scrip he or she is filling is for an off-label indication, or both, ah dunno.
Comrade Mary - November 12, 2009 | 9:47 am · Link
What, was she insufficiently fluffy or something?
Bitsy’s a real charmer and a real winner. Good luck with the 501c3 launch, too!
slag - November 12, 2009 | 9:47 am · Link
Looking at the four finalists, it appears the judges have a thing for fluffballs. No accounting for taste.
Bitsy’s still a winner.
Comrade Darkness - November 12, 2009 | 9:49 am · Link
Don’t let the Photoshopped Pomeranians get you down, Bitsy. You valiantly held up the torch of the non-fluffy, and are to be commended for it.
John Cole - November 12, 2009 | 9:50 am · Link
@ellaesther: Oh, I’m fine. I stopped after +7, drank a bunch of water, and went to bed like a good boy.
Max - November 12, 2009 | 9:51 am · Link
Drat. I was pulling for Little Bitsy.
So, it turns out that CNN is giving John King the Lou Dobbs spot. Well, yet another reason why I don’t watch CNN.
John King = GOP talking points and that dumb map
He’s already got like 12 hours on Sunday. He must have pictures of someone doing something.
The talent pool is pretty shallow at CNN, so I guess they went with their biggest name. I was sort of hoping they thought outside the box, like Jeffrey Toobin.
Brick Oven Bill - November 12, 2009 | 9:53 am · Link
Gee, she was doing so well for a couple of days. I wonder what happened?
GReynoldsCT00 - November 12, 2009 | 9:55 am · Link
I’m sorry about Little Bitsy… we did try.
John I was fully expecting your first post to be a bleg for hangover remedies
Morbo - November 12, 2009 | 9:57 am · Link
@Max: Would’ve been nice if the dog judges thought outside the box, too. It was a good effort, and well worth it.
Violet - November 12, 2009 | 9:58 am · Link
Oh, shoot. I really thought she had a chance. I just checked the website for the finalists, and sheesh, they’re all toy fluffballs. BORING.
I’m so glad Bitsy’s publicity is still helping other animals who need help, just like her. It was fun to help.
Comrade Darkness - November 12, 2009 | 9:59 am · Link
Okay, looking over the finalists, Tuffy is probably a wire-hair, but brushed fluffy. So if you don’t want fluffy, vote Tuffy.
Max - November 12, 2009 | 10:11 am · Link
It appears all of the finalists are of the toy breed variety.
Sizeist!
ellaesther - November 12, 2009 | 10:13 am · Link
@John Cole: Phew! When I came back this morning and saw “+whatever,” I thought: oooh, that has gotta hurt. So glad that I was wrong!
And btw, what I wrote yesterday about Balloon Juice being a community of curmudgeons was very sincere. Thanks for that. ‘Cause it’s you, man, our Curmudgeon in Chief. It’s all you.
/flies curmudgeon flag high/
The Grand Panjandrum - November 12, 2009 | 10:14 am · Link
The Charleston County South Carolina GOP has censured Lindsay Graham for working against Bitsy’s efforts to help rescued critters. Or maybe it was because Graham tried to actually work with a Democrat? I dunno kinda hard to tell what’s the crazier answer these days.
Just Some Fuckhead - November 12, 2009 | 10:17 am · Link
This is bullshit. I’m never buying the sponsor’s products and I’m going to dedicate the rest of my life to the eradication of so-called cute dogs- ya know, the 16 oz or less rat dogs that do nothing but bark and shit. You may recognize them from the cutestdogcompetition’s home page. Who will pledge support for the founding of an all-kill shelter?
I blame Laura for the terrible emotional pain we are experiencing right now.
Roger Moore - November 12, 2009 | 10:18 am · Link
@burnspbesq:
Nuke ‘em from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
More seriously, the only way of dealing with this is to stop the drug companies from being able to advertise their drugs. Not to the public, not to doctors. If they can’t legally advertise any uses, they can’t advertise off-label uses. Doctors will have to go back to learning about which drugs are effective for what by gasp taking classes instead of taking bribes.
GReynoldsCT00 - November 12, 2009 | 10:25 am · Link
@Just Some Fuckhead:
such poetry, thanks for the belly laughs, I needed some this morning
They Live By Night - November 12, 2009 | 10:35 am · Link
This is good news for conservatives.
eastriver - November 12, 2009 | 10:37 am · Link
Life, Get A
Just Some Fuckhead - November 12, 2009 | 10:40 am · Link
@The Grand Panjandrum: How long until Lindsey Graham is accused of being a union sympathizer?
Comrade Darkness - November 12, 2009 | 10:40 am · Link
@Max: Their pseudo-scientific definition of cute doesn’t directly say small, but it dances around the concept. Large eyes set low in a large face is the standard for an infant human, so large and cute are a tough combo within that very narrow definition. Were they going to use that definition, it may have been honest of them to just set a weight limit at the outset. Or run a “handsome” dog competition at the same time for people with real dogs.
You’d think though as a dog food company . . . which dogs eat the most? Come on.
MysticalChick - November 12, 2009 | 11:21 am · Link
@Redkitten My thoughts exactly! It was fun to check in and see where Bitsy was each day and it created even more of a sense of community here.
Bummer about not making the top 4 but I suspect some good things happened just because of the word getting out. Who knows what all that set in motion, eh?
Persia - November 12, 2009 | 11:22 am · Link
@Comrade Darkness: You’d think though as a dog food company . . . which dogs eat the most? Come on.
That’s what I was thinking!
Cain - November 12, 2009 | 11:23 am · Link
@Just Some Fuckhead:
Me too… bitsy was my.. LIFE for those heady last week of the contest. How?! HOW!? Can this happen.. Damn poms! Rot in hades
cain
SGEW - November 12, 2009 | 11:29 am · Link
I haz a sad, now.
We tried so hard!
Just Some Fuckhead - November 12, 2009 | 11:30 am · Link
@Cain: Now that my hopes that were pinned on a Bitsy victory have been crushed like the testicles on a Guantanamo prisoner, it occurs to me that Bitsy is a very ugly dog. What in the hell were we thinking? God bless Sylvia or whoever it was that adopted that unfortunate looking dog. I can’t help but wonder now how far we would have gotten with a picture of Bitsy with a bag on her head.
WereBear - November 12, 2009 | 11:39 am · Link
Awwww! Poor Bitsy! She broke the mold! I thought she was wonderful.
But hey, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I stand ready for the next project.
bystander - November 12, 2009 | 11:42 am · Link
Bummer. This really sucks.
But, if Balloon Juice does a fundraiser for the 501c3 Charlie’s Angels, once established, count me in.
beabea - November 12, 2009 | 12:03 pm · Link
Awww dammit!!
I was so sure she’d make the final four. I’m not even gonna go look at the fluffball finalists because that would be like validating that decision, like saying “Oh, let me go see who was deemed cuter than Little Bitsy.” Nagadoit.
But at least John is here and apparently none the worse for wear. The steadily ratcheting-up +numbers last night had me wondering what we might find this morning.
@Bystander
Great idea.
Svensker - November 12, 2009 | 12:25 pm · Link
Bum mer.
Be sure to let us know how we can contribute to the shelter project.
Mark S. - November 12, 2009 | 12:41 pm · Link
Well, of those four, I like Mozart.
asiangrrlMN - November 12, 2009 | 12:45 pm · Link
Well, fuck. Now I haz a sad. Count me in on the shelter project, though.
Just Some Fuckhead - November 12, 2009 | 12:57 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN:
Thank you. You can email me privately for details.
Nathan R - November 12, 2009 | 1:01 pm · Link
That’s definitely too bad, but did that note say that she was interviewed by a local radio station? Everyone knows talking dogs are far cuter than the non-talking variety!
beabea - November 12, 2009 | 1:51 pm · Link
@ Nathan R
Not to mention that whatever Little Bitsy had to say during her interview, was no doubt far more intelligent than the CW-laden blatherings emanating from your typical panel o’ pundits on cable news.
sylvia - November 12, 2009 | 2:15 pm · Link
It is sad… of course it is all about selling dog food and they picked a dog from California, one from Arizona, Brooklyn,NY and then that left one in the South and Mozart from New Orleans beat us out. Darn it!
Bitsy has no idea she wasn’t chosen – thank goodess.
She thinks she is the number 1 dog!
Elizabelle - November 12, 2009 | 2:31 pm · Link
Bitsy rules!
And she did a great job promoting her local dog rescue/shelter.
And just plain looking cute on that outdoor furniture.
Bitsy is a winner in my book.
trollhattan - November 12, 2009 | 3:11 pm · Link
Ouch, I thought Bitsy had the big mo (or the headwind at her back), what with winning the contest’s last week and all. Now I look at the four finalists—when did it cease being a dog contest?
If Bitsy is out due to her being an actual dog, then she survives with her dignity fully intact. This is a good thing. Seconded on the best wished starting up the 501©(3). A lot of good will come out of this effort in addition to Bitsy now assured of a good life.
Laura W - November 12, 2009 | 3:32 pm · Link
@sylvia: What seems totally whack to me is that Bitsy was abandoned (presumably, or she hated her old home) and was found very undernourished, with the broken hind leg. I recall you stated how many pounds she’s gained in a few months.
How on earth can this not be the perfect backstory for a dog food?
I don’t mean to be negative about the four winners because they are all cute, IMO, but not too many look like they’ve missed many meals or grooming appointments.
I concur with MysticalChick @34 and ellaesther @10, of course. Nothing but Good has been set in motion here and I doubt BJ has heard the last of Bitsy.
(Fuckhead…there are just no words. Really. None.)
sylvia - November 12, 2009 | 4:03 pm · Link
You’re right Laura – I think Bitsy’s story is the perfect story to sell healthy dog food. I think it probably came down to the South and New Orleans is a possible bigger sale area. Of course Mozart is cute too!
Just Some Fuckhead - November 12, 2009 | 5:11 pm · Link
@Laura W:
Yer just saying that because Sylvia is here.
robertdsc - November 12, 2009 | 5:56 pm · Link
Bitsy fo lyfe, cuzz.
It was a pleasure voting for her every single day.
mclaren - November 13, 2009 | 2:34 am · Link
So I guess the losers all get sent to a Vietnamese restaurant to be broasted and served with Kung Pao sauce, right?
Chris Johnson - November 13, 2009 | 11:32 pm · Link
Huh. The one I thought was most cute (and never actually voted for, even once) and the Dr McNinja dog and two others.
Fair enough then I guess… strange world.