Brynn/Sophie’s Story: More blood on the hands of Milena of Please Don't Kill Me Foundation

Brynn/Sophie and her puppies: A lesson for us all.

In July, Brynn (later renamed Sophie), a female Pit Bull mix, estimated to be about two years old, and who was very pregnant, sat on death row at the San Bernardino City Shelter. She gave birth to 7 beautiful puppies and was pulled the next day, either directly by Milena Popovich (Please Don't Kill Me Foundation) or assisted by her. She posted on 7/13/2013 that she had pulled Brynn/Sophie. It’s clear she was very involved in this rescue. 

Milena: " Please Don't Kill Me " by The Good, the Bad, the Unforgivable of Animal Rescue page provides a full report of Brynn/Sophie’s rescue. This is an excellent article which provides the facts of this case and supporting evidence to illustrate what happened to this poor dog and her babies. 

To summarize the main events, here are some key facts:

Brynn/Sophie was supposed to go to a temporary foster who was only able to keep her for a week but that did not work out and she was placed with a woman who agreed to hold her for 4 hours only. She was never removed from her care, despite the fact that she was not really able to take on this responsibility for an extended period of time based on her own statements.

Brynn/Sophie became very sick and she was not properly treated by a veterinarian. Apparently, she was not given proper medical care by a licensed vet or the diagnostic tests to determine what was wrong. Instead, the people involved attempted to diagnose and treat her themselves, even using Robitussin DM which is contraindicated for dogs with pneumonia. Brynn/Sophie is believed to have had some form of pneumonia. Using an OTC medicine designed for human use without the approval of a licensed vet is foolish and dangerous. Attempting to treat a dog that is so sick she won’t eat or move in such a manner is reprehensible. They could have made another choice. 

Sadly, Brynn/Sophie suffered for many days and then she died, leaving behind her orphaned puppies. Two of her babies also died. 

Could this have been prevented? Who was responsible for the tragic end for this young mother and her babies? 

I think the answers to these questions are pretty obvious. Perhaps there is no way to know for sure that Brynn/Sophie would have survived if she had been properly treated as soon as she showed symptoms but she would have had a fighting chance to live and to raise her babies. She was deprived of that chance. The pulling rescue was ultimately the one who should have made sure these dogs got the care they needed. They failed to live up to what a rescue should be.

Brynn/Sophie and her babies lost their lives and that should mean something to us all. At the very least, lessons should be learned from this and those involved need to commit to doing better in the future. Much, much better.

The parties responsible should be held accountable. 

The animal rescue community needs to say enough is enough and stop believing that repeat offenders who fail to rescue responsibly had good intentions and did the best they could. That is simply not the case much of the time and the proof is in the fact that most don’t learn from their mistakes, they don’t become more responsible, and animals continue to be sacrificed.   

Saving lives involves a lot more than just saving them from death in a shelter. There must be a good rescue plan which provides a safe place for the animals to stay, funds need to be available for vet care and unexpected illnesses, and there needs to be a safety net or back up plan for when things do not go according to plan. Pulling animals and hoping for the best because you want to save them from death in a shelter is not enough. It’s barely the beginning of what a responsible rescue effort requires. 

Please read the full story, Milena: " Please Don't Kill Me " by The Good, the Bad, the Unforgivable of Animal Rescue page. It’s a detailed, easy to follow account of the events that transpired. It proves that Milena has not learned from her past mistakes, such as Buck’s tragic rescue that also ended in great suffering and death. It should be a reminder to us all that she is a careless rescuer who feels no remorse when dogs die on her watch. 

I think this statement says it best: 

"It doesn't matter how many dogs this rescuer has "saved", passed off to others, adopted out. Brynn/Sophie moms deserved so much more than she received. Her pups deserved to have their mom feed and care for them. Someone decided to withhold money and others played veterinarian and it helped to cost Brynn/Sophie her life.  So we have 1 out of 3 grown females that died because of incompetence. Does her life mean anything?   Who is to be held accountable for the lack of vetting/care that this dog was entitled? Her pups will never know her life because of human asininity. There were 4 puppies lost. Do their lives mean anything?
Has anyone yet to see an apology? How about someone owning the mistakes that were made?

After all the suffering that Brynn/Sophie went through, in her final hours she was allowed to go to the emergency vet. Why Milena did not offer to pay it before is the question of the day. How this poor momma of seven must of suffered. To think that rescuers, people committed to ensure the safety and well being of animals could put a beautiful soul through all of this is truly sickening. This was not a mistake. This was someone in my opinion, that wanted to hold onto their money." 
- Milena: " Please Don't Kill Me " 

RIP Brynn/Sophie & the 2 puppies that did not survive. Run free and godspeed little angels. I'm sure Buck and all the other animals there who have been failed in the name of rescue are embracing you in love.

References:
Milena: " Please Don't Kill Me " 
http://goodbadungorgivableofanimalrescue.blogspot.com/2013/09/milena-please-dont-kill-me.html

Brynn/Sophie's shelter FB thread:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4748568486034&set=a.4860008631968.1073741837.1649756531&type=3&theater

Brynn/Sophie - shelter video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FTudgmGsIA

Video of the 5 surviving puppies:
http://youtu.be/iFyIfORRmWU

Fundraiser for Brynn/Sophie's surviving puppies:
http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/the-5-survive-these-pups-need-you-/75597#

Milena Popovich (Please Don't Kill Me Foundation) 

https://www.facebook.com/PleaseDontKillMeFoundation

Buck's Story
http://hopeforbuck.blogspot.com/2013/04/bucks-story.html

Buck's Story

Welcome to Hope For Buck's new blog site. As many of you know, our Facebook page is a controversial one and that will not change. We are proud of the work we do and we will always do our best to live by our convictions and to remember and honor Buck in all that we do. He is why we were all brought together and he lives on in our hearts and our memories. We will never forget Buck, nor will we forget how his rescuers failed him. 

We created this site for a couple of reasons. We are often attacked and have been threatened with legal actions because we speak the truth and those who oppose us (and the truth) would love to see our page removed. If that should ever happen, not only will the page be recreated but this new site serves as a way to preserve some of the important topics we cover. Due to the fact that some people abuse the reporting options on Facebook, this is also a much more secure way of getting our message across. We are never going to all agree with each other on topics related to animal welfare and responsible rescue and we are a very divided community, but we all have the right to express ourselves without being unfairly censored, provided that we are not defaming others by lying or fabricating the facts of the situation. This happens often on Facebook and it has become an environment where bullying, harassment, and stalking thrive. We understand why some people do not like our call it like it is approach but in all honesty, if they are doing things with the best interests of the animals at heart, we are not a threat to them. It's very clear that their behavior is only meant to undermine the message and attempt to discredit the source.

If there is proof and documentation to support claims made or they are purely opinions, there can be no claims to defamation, slander or libel. They know this and that is why the only thing they have come up with is to create hate pages and make up malicious lies about our page and the admins behind it. There is no truth in their hate and this only further proves what kind of integrity they have - none at all. If we have haters then we must be doing something right. We will not be silenced and we will continue to speak the truth... for Buck and for every other animal we advocate for. They are what is most important to us and that is where our focus will always be.

For those who are not familiar with Buck and his story, below is a slightly more detailed version of events adapted from our Facebook page description. We are disappointed that there was no justice for Buck, that the petition created by Tyler Nasise went nowhere, and that the majority of people in rescue seem to have learned nothing from this tragedy. It is also very sad that the people responsible for what happened to Buck are still "rescuing" dogs and that there are still a great number of people supporting and enabling them. They are just as guilty for any other animals failed by these shitty people. Responsible rescue essentially means doing what is in the best interest of the animals, to protect them from harm and ensure that they have healthy, happy lives. Unfortunately, this is apparently a foreign concept to these individuals. If everyone was saving lives responsibly, there would be no animals failed by those who "saved" them and no need for pages like ours.

BUCK'S STORY:

Buck was a blind senior pit bull who was "rescued" from the Carson, CA. shelter. He ended up missing due to a lot of bad decisions by those who were supposed to protect him. Buck was found dead on July 19, 2012. There has not been any justice for Buck and the people who failed him were never held accountable. We advocate for other animals in his honor and above all else, we advocate for animals to be rescued responsibly.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF EVENTS IN BUCK'S FAILED, PATHETIC "RESCUE":

Buck was pulled from the Carson, CA shelter late June, 2012 under false pretenses and the POS people involved in Buck's rescue failed him miserably. The shelter did not know that Milena Popovich was going to give Buck to Audra Audridge, who was already banned from the Carson shelter, which she did immediately after she pulled him. Milena pulled Buck under Bunny World Foundation's 501c3 (ran by Lejla Hadzimuratovic). Buck was then passed around from the foster who complained he barked, Christine Sawaya, to a man who had no permanent home, Robert Cumba, and then Robert gave Buck to someone he knew (their identity is still unknown to us) and then Buck went missing shortly afterward and that is where the story gets murky. No one knows for sure what happened as far as how Buck came to be missing or if they do they are not saying. Lots of theories and no proof either way. Also don't forget the POS people who helped to cover up Buck's disappearance for many days - Audra, Milena, Tina Pollard, Donna DeNunzio, Christine, Robert, perhaps others as well. If they had went public with his disappearance right away, maybe Buck would have been found alive. He went missing on the 7-5-12 and no one knew that publicly until 7-11-12 but most people did not really find out until a couple of days later. There is NO EXCUSE & NO FORGIVENESS for covering up his disappearance for a minimum of 7 days, i.e. REFUSING TO HELP FIND BUCK IN ALL POSSIBLE WAYS.

Many committed people searched for Buck during the week or so that people knew he was missing (after this became public). Finally his body was found and it was clear that he had already been dead for a couple of days. There is also some discrepancy re: when the searchers found out that Buck's body had been discovered. We were told one day/time and yet this same searcher posted publicly that it was a whole day earlier. We did ask that person to reconfirm what they told us and she still gave us the same story. We have no explanation for this. Buck's body was officially found and was removed on 7-19-12 and was sent out to a lab for a necropsy by the LA County Dept of Animal Care and Control. Two necropsies were conducted and the results were reportedly largely inconclusive. It is however apparent that Buck died all alone as a result of already being emaciated, not having regular access to food or water, and being out in the hot weather with no shelter. There could have been other factors as well but they are unknown to us. There are other theories about what happened to Buck as we said, but this seems to be the most logical explanation and there is no proof otherwise. Buck's ashes were given to one of the searchers, Tia Triplett. There is a note on our page detailing this (https://www.facebook.com/notes/hope-for-buck/buck-now-with-tia-forever-/437366086306722).

NOTE: The petition is now closed but there were 11,152 signatures, representing 11,152 people who believed that Buck was failed horribly and wanted justice for his tragic death.

http://www.change.org/petitions/city-attorney-city-of-compton-arrest-charge-audra-aldridge-milena-popovich

The people involved in this "rescue" attempt gone so horribly wrong. None of them are blameless.

Audra Aldridge
https://www.facebook.com/audra.aldridge.3

https://www.facebook.com/audra.aldridgeii

Milena Popovich (Milena Popovich Pleasedontkillme)
https://www.facebook.com/MilenasBoutique

https://www.facebook.com/plsdontkillme

Possible alias or accomplice:
https://www.facebook.com/ar.stark.3

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME, INC.
https://www.facebook.com/PleaseDontKillMeFoundation

Lejla Hadzimuratovic
https://www.facebook.com/lejla.hadzimuratovic

Bunny World Foundation
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bunny-World-Foundation/125339407504490

Robert Cumba
https://www.facebook.com/robert.cumba

Christine Sawaya
http://www.facebook.com/christine.sawaya1

Tina Pollard:
https://www.facebook.com/tina.pollard.3

Donna DeNunzio:
https://www.facebook.com/donna.denunzio

https://www.facebook.com/donna.e.denunzio

Probable alias:
https://www.facebook.com/terri.shea.503