When Stewart and his wife, Sunny Ozell, began fostering their first pitbull Ginger they had no idea the impact she would leave on them. Ozell wrote in a heartwarming Facebook post:
” Last March, we had one month left on the lease of our Los Angeles rental home, and it was a perfect place to share with a four-legged friend. Our plan was that when we moved out, so would Ginger, to her forever home. It became clear, pretty much immediately, that Patrick and I were completely naïve. Within forty-eight hours of sharing our home with Ginger, we were head-over-heels in love, and began investigating how we could fold this 62 pounds of red-nosed pibble perfection into our rather hectic lives.”
Sadly they discovered that the laws in the United Kingdom prohibited them from adopting their sweet new family member
“We learned about the UK’s antiquated and tragic breed-specific legislation that includes “pit bulls”. The legislation itself is opaque, draconian, and truly hard to decipher. There aren’t many times when I’m comfortable leveraging the “Pstew Card”, but this was absolutely an instance where I wanted to pull out all the stops. We called the British Consulate and we called the RSPCA. We spoke with every expert we could, and as it became clear that there in fact was no “clear” answer, we realized we just couldn’t take any risk with Ginger’s life. I could go into more detail about how we came to this decision, but the short version is that we chose to do what was best for Ginger.”
The realization that Ginger could not join their family was not the only bad news they would receive about the pup: “Within days of coming to grips with the knowledge that we couldn’t make her a part of our family after all, we learned from our fabulous dog trainer that something was wrong with Ginger’s hind legs. We sent her to an excellent veterinarian, who found that both her rear anterior cruciate ligaments were torn, one much worse than the other.”
Just like any good parents would, the couple jumped into action: “Patrick and I didn’t hesitate; at only two years old, Ginger was a great candidate for surgery, and we decided to get our Gurl fixed up. We didn’t want to pass that burden on to her next family…we wanted to give her the best chance at the brightest future possible. Our great dog trainer is quite experienced with rehabilitating pooches who have had this surgery, and as he and Ginger already had a lovely relationship established, we all decided he would be the man for the job. Ginger had her ACL repaired (the one that was most damaged) back in April, and we can finally report that the surgery was a complete success.”
Ginger had been left in good hands and overcome her surgery with triumph: “Patrick and I braced ourselves for the bittersweet heartache of seeing her, but in fact found only delight in seeing her so happy, and so well. In Ginger’s time with her trainer, she’s been socializing with other doggies and a big, old pussycat. She’s learned that she really likes popcorn (it’s soooo crunchy!) and she’s learning how to swim (it’s a part of her rehab). It was clear to Patrick and I that she’s even more “herself” than before…this may seem a stretch, but she honestly seemed more comfortable in her own doggie skin. And in fact, she probably is, as she’s almost certainly in less pain.”
The actor and his wife continued to check on their fur baby so that she could finally find a home: “We’ve been checking in on her weekly, and will continue to do so. The time is approaching (finally) when we can feel ready to help her find her forever home. Though we have assumed complete responsibility for her, Wags and Walks, the remarkable and saintly rescue organization in Los Angeles who saved Ginger in the first place, is still involved in her future as well. She’s even more perfect than she was before, and we can’t wait to see Ginger settled at last, with a family who is ready for the best pibble snuggles in the world.” While they were sad to say goodbye they were overjoyed when she found a loving new owner.
Stewart’s experience with Ginger did not deter him from fostering again
Meet Emma, Stewarts newest pit bull friend
Emma is a 38-pound pocket pit bull mix. They are a smaller breed of pit that comes from a hybrid of American Pitbull Terrier breeds and the Patterdale Terrier breeds. These dogs are loyal and affectionate towards their families.
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