Sometimes, to save an animal, it does not need to have the reassuring aspect of a volunteer. It can only be presented at the door with tattoos, muscles and a difficult presence to ignore.
In Long Island, New York, between 2007 and 2008, he formed Rescue Ink, a very unusual group in the world of animal protection.
Among his members were motorcyclists, bodybuilders, former firefighters, mechanics and safety men. People accustomed to incumbent a certain soggetion, who decided to transform that image into a tool to defend those who could not do it alone.
When a report came for a possible case of abandonment or mistreatment, they were trying to figure out what was happening. Then they went straight to the owners.
They were not police officers or officials of the Animal Control: they intervened directly in the reported situations, declaring to move within the limits of the law and collaborating, when necessary, with the local authorities. Their goal was to ask for better conditions for the animal or convince the owner to voluntarily surrender it.
In the course of their activity they dealt with dogs left to the chain or abandoned, wounded cats, animals linked or suspected of being involved in fighting and even horses.
But taking them away from danger was only the first step.
After the recovery it was necessary to cure them, rehabilitate them and find a safe place where they could start living again.
It was precisely this contrast to make Rescue Ink difficult to forget: men who could seem out of a rally of motorcyclists and who instead appeared to defend a dog or a cat abused.
Their history also drew the attention of National Geographic, which in 2009 dedicated the Rescue Ink Unleashed series to the group, following its investigations and interventions.
But they didn't consider themselves superheroes. They described themselves much more simply as people who loved animals and decided to protect them.
And this is perhaps the most interesting aspect of their history: Rescue Ink reversed in a few moments the meaning of appearances.
For those who were accused of mistreating an animal, finding at the door a group of huge and tattooed men could be rather intimidating.
For the animal on the other side of that door, instead, those same figures could represent the beginning of a second possibility.