About

This blog started as a way for friends to follow the process of Lillian Mae Kennedy as she went through heartworm treatment. She is now free of those dreaded parasites, so I’ve expanded the blog to talk about the other animals who live at the Kennedy Compound.

In addition, I am writing about pet events in the Birmingham, Alabama, area as well as about my experiences with dog rescue through Peace, Love & Dog Paws Rescue and Alabama Pug Rescue and Adoption.

Lillian Mae is named for my grandmothers: One was Lillian Mae; the other, Mae Lily. I wanted to honor them by naming a very special dog after them. That dog is a wonderful, special black pug that was pulled from the Etowah County Animal Shelter, in Gadsden, Ala., on March 9, 2011. She was picked up as a stray,  lived at the shelter a month and was nearing the date she would be euthanized. A shelter representative got in touch with Diana Brewer at Peace Love & Dog Paws, who agreed to take her.

A veterinarian at Deerfoot Animal Clinic in Trussville conducted a physical exam and found Lillian to be  heartworm positive. She had delivered several litters of puppies based on her stretched tummy and breast area.

Most likely Lillian was a puppy mill dog who served her usefulness and was put out. She never was given proper love or attention, much less necessary health precautions. She was nothing more than a machine.

Those days are over for Lillian, however. Lillian now lives at the Kennedy Compound, a residence on Birmingham’s southside owned by journalists and animal lovers Joey and Veronica Kennedy. She was welcomed with open paws by the other compound inhabitants — Greta, a 9-year-old fawn pug; Sadie Lou and Onslow, sibling fawn pugs that are about 7; Ernest Hemingway, aka Ernie, a 3-year-old Pekinese; Goldilocks, a 20-month-old Chihuahua/pug mix; and Maxine Mieux-Mieux, an 18-year-old domestic longhaired cat.

It’s pretty hectic at the compound, but there’s no doubting the love that’s present.