Rescue Ink

Ever heard of Rescue Ink? Well, you should have (no, neither had we) because they are the epitome of inspirational and just plain fantastic human beings. I’ll tell you why…
Rescue Ink is a group of people – well, men, for the most part -  almost all heavily tattooed, who work out of Long Island, NY to rescue animals from abusers. Their motto is: “Abusers are losers”. In their own words from their own website, they are: “a bunch of tattooed, motorcycle-riding tough guys who have joined together to fight animal cruelty, educate abusers and help resolve situations other rescue groups can’t – or won’t – handle themselves.”
I see them as the Sea Shepherd of the domesticated animal world. These guys are all people who have been in need of a second chance themselves at some point in their lives. They are all street savvy and know how things actually work in the down dirty reality of animal abuse.?
Mary Fayet is the unlikely gravity pull that holds the group together. She is pretty much the boss from all we can see. Especially wonderful when you realise how tiny she is compared to the men whose work she organises and directs. Go Mary!
The group members include a former restaurant manager, a bodyguard, a retired cop, a firefighter, a landscaper… some are martial arts experts, others just very, very big. Their names range from Junior to Angel to just plain ‘G’ (Ok, so you try calling him George and see what happens…). Batso in particular is a special character in the mix. This 75 year old power lifter makes natural soaps and his body is a shrine to the art of tattoo art. One thing that binds all these men and the others to each is their deep love and affection for animals as well as their deep and abiding fury at the way animals are sometimes treated.
Rescue Ink got their message out in a National Geographic program aired on TV last moth but their popularity and respect for their work had already inspired dozens to sign up online to a blog promising to be tattooed if the Inks would come clean their town of animal cruelty.
“A visit from the badass guys of Rescue Ink would generate the momentum to really get an animal-protection movement off the ground,” said an employee of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. She offered to get a tattoo of her pitbull’s paw print and 55 other people pledged to do the same.
As one member of Rescue Ink so eloquently states: “You can …be a tough guy and a badass, but you can do the right things.”