I adopted my little dog from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.  Bella had been rescued by Best Friends from a puppy mill in Colorado where she was kept in cage in a laundry room with many other dogs.  She was only used for breeding, she lost her teeth due to neglect, was under weight, and in need of love and medical attention.  Best Friends made sure Bella received all she needed in order to survive. When I met Bella her name was Spicy. I had gone  to Best Friends to volunteer there for a week.  During that week dogs that had been rescued from this puppy mill arrive, and in comes Bella. She was so sweet and loving; I just had to adopt her. Bella is a little five pound Chihuahua. She was driven from Utah to Las Vegas, put on a plane to Newark, NJ, where I picked her up.  Anderson, when I arrived home and put her on the grass, she looked up at the clear blue sky as if to say, “Is all this freedom mine?”  I will never forget that look on her face.  She is our mascot and inspiration for my nonprofit livingforacause.org.  It is my belief that the nonprofit worlds must find that bridge to help each other in any way that we can. Our mission statements are really the same, “To help ease the pain of lost, abandon, and abused animals everywhere and to bring love into their hearts once again.” That is why today I salute “Hope for Paws” for their outstanding work, and love for animals everywhere.