you know your own self — you know that quote : ‘ To thine own self be true ’— don ’ t be getting no puppy if you can ’ t handle no puppy ! The caring is real ! Hats go off to Michelle and everyone over at Zeus ’ that really care for these animals day to day . And when you ’ re a foster parent and give them love and show them that humans can be trusted then that ’ s a win-win for me because what I get from them is just amazing .”
Letting Cucumber go was bittersweet for Ball , but him getting adopted back at Zeus ’ Rescues made it all worthwhile . “ My best friend has a pit bull , Blue , and Blue and Cucumber loved each other ; oh , they would have been best friends !” says Ball . “ They played and it was so beautiful . I could tell Cucumber was going to be a big ol ’ dog and I was very excited for his growth . I posted online about him and told people they could find him at Zeus ’ and bring him home and people responded to that . The good thing is that when he went back to Zeus ’ he was handed off to someone and he was happy to see her — he already had family there . The next time I saw Cucumber he was excited to see me , but he started talking to me a certain way , like ‘ Is he fussing at me because I brought him back ?’ ( Laughs .) When I went to see him again , somebody had adopted him the day before . I had seen someone playing with him that was really excited about him and I thought , ‘ This is what it ’ s all about .’”
Ball and her three older sisters and brother grew up in New Orleans in an animal-friendly family and she remembers trips to Audubon Zoo and visiting the Louisiana SPCA . “ And also calling the SPCA because somebody was running wild in the neighborhood !” says Ball . “ We always had a puppy . We had Fluffy , Heather , Cocoa , Lucky … I forgot what the hamster ’ s name was … Bubbles . We had two really young puppies ; a neighborhood boy took them away from their mom and everyone heard that rumor that you can ’ t give a dog back to their parents after humans handled them or they ’ ll smell it and kill it , so we had to nurse them with bottles like babies until they were full grown .”
26 Life Unleashed