Lifestyle

'Nobody’s coming’ for L.A.’s doomed shelter dogs. This volunteer superstar is changing that

Published

2 years ago

February 9, 2024

'Nobody’s coming’ for L.A.’s doomed shelter dogs. This volunteer superstar is changing that

“Grandfather! Look over here!” calls Rita Earl Blackwell, her New York accent dissolving into the whipping wind. Wearing an electric blue jacket emblazoned with the words “Tell Your Dog I Said Hi,” she crouches low to film a dawdling old pug named Jojo with her iPhone.

On this blustery morning, Jojo wears a hooded jacket topped with a redundant pair of ears that flop, to comedic effect, over his own. He sniffs and pees like a guy without a care in the world. Jojo has no idea how narrowly he just escaped euthanasia, thanks to Blackwell and the engaged community she’s built on Instagram.

Blackwell has mastered the art of the shelter dog post as a volunteer predominantly at Lancaster Animal Care Center, which looks a bit like a preschool with its colorful murals of flowers and pets. Yet it also has one of the highest euthanasia rates across L.A. County. Her posts get the attention of celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and good Samaritans such as Terri Jackson, who stands by to transport Jojo to Frosted Faces Foundation, a San Diego-area rescue.

Rita Earl Blackwell films a video of a dog named Bullet at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

“I saw Rita’s post about this little guy and just couldn’t let him die,” says Jackson. She is not an adopter or volunteer, but she saw Blackwell’s Instagram post about Jojo being cleared for euthanasia and was moved to act. She contacted Frosted Faces, which had an opening if Jojo could find a ride. “I’m driving a 300-mile loop today,” she says, squelching tears.

This is exactly the outcome Blackwell hopes for. “I create the post, but it’s the community, sharing, commenting and tagging, which gets the Instagram algorithm moving,” she says. “Now Terri goes home knowing she saved a life!”

But first, Blackwell must capture Jojo’s “freedom walk.”

In dog rescue parlance, a “freedom walk” is when an animal is seen exiting the shelter because it has been adopted by someone, or taken on by a rescue organization that will ensure its safety and care until it finds its forever home. Blackwell is known on Instagram for her signature freedom walks — always triumphant, life-affirming and beautifully shot. “If I get a million views or more, it’s always with freedom walks,” she says.

“Her social media is brilliant,” says Hillary Rosen of A Purposeful Rescue, who routinely works with Blackwell. “Rita is so personable and good with dogs, but also extremely creative. She has a way of making people feel connected.”

Creating that connection is essential to saving these dogs’ lives.

Rita Earl Blackwell spends time with Bean at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

A professional photographer by trade, Blackwell’s current medium is video because she wants to show “that wiggle” or “wonky tail,” and “how happy these dogs are just to have somebody talking to them.”

She films herself interacting with the dogs, her long dark hair obscuring her face as she pours love onto the lucky pup of the moment. Her videos reveal moving expressions of interspecies bonding, with dogs voraciously licking her face, or melting into her lap as she massages them. “I want people to imagine the dog in their home, on their couch,” she says, “so I’m always rolling around on the grass, making out with all of these dogs!”

After a full day at the shelter, Blackwell spends hours at home crafting posts: editing video, adding music and liaising with the shelter staff to gather details. Some dogs never make it onto her feed because, with her many rescue organization relationships, she can matchmake offline. For the dogs that do appear on Instagram, her more than 100,000 followers share them far and wide, to Oregon for instance, where a family saw a post and hopped on a plane just hours later to save a German shepherd named Brenda. (“That was crazy!” Blackwell says.) Another post reached an A-list celebrity, who reposted. “That dog got adopted immediately! Thank you, Jennifer Aniston!” gushes Blackwell.

From impending euthanasia to glorious safety in a matter of hours, sometimes minutes — these are the extreme lows and highs at Lancaster and other local shelters drowning in the current overpopulation crisis. The problem is largely one of simple math: the number of dogs coming in far exceeds the number of dogs going out by adoption and rescue. Lancaster has only 176 dog kennels, but from October to December of 2023, an average of 821 dogs came in each month, making euthanasia for space a regular occurrence, even among highly adoptable, healthy, social dogs.

Rita Earl Blackwell walks to the play yard with a dog named Raven at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

Rita Earl Blackwell connects with Raven in the play yard at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

In the past, the public would adopt these easygoing dogs, so rescues could focus on saving animals with medical or behavioral issues, Blackwell explains. Now, there are just too many dogs and not enough adopters. “Nobody’s coming, even for these great, happy dogs,” she says.

Embracing this sadness, Blackwell holds space for the euthanized dogs she’s known by posting “RIP” compilations, despite losing hundreds of Instagram followers each time she does. “People don’t want to know this part, but these dogs are my friends,” she says, her voice catching. “I want to honor them, and report the reality that we need help.”

Still, Blackwell focuses on the positive. She artfully maintains emotional balance on Instagram, where the three current “RIP” compilations are buoyed by 12 joyous “freedom walk” montages. At times exasperation bleeds through in her captions, but she counters with inclusive calls to action. A recent post ends in a polite plea: “I beg you to please consider adopting your next dog from the shelter.”

Blackwell is often asked how she remains positive under such dire circumstances. All of her responses boil down the same: it’s what’s best for the dogs.

There are way more dogs than available space at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

Rita Earl Blackwell interacts with Missy at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

This clarity of mission contributes to her reputation as a volunteer superstar. “Rita does not get caught up in the drama and sadness of the shelter system,” says Kelly Smíšek, co-founder of Frosted Faces, who’s known Blackwell for over a decade. Don Belton, an L.A. County animal control spokesperson, calls Blackwell “an inspiration.”

Blackwell insists it’s not all altruistic. “Are you kidding me? I get to hang out with all of these gorgeous dogs.”

Born into a large family in Staten Island, N.Y., Blackwell ascribes her extreme dog love to never having had a childhood pet. “My mom was like, ‘No dogs!’ so I feel like maybe that’s why I’m obsessed,” she says.

Living in Los Angeles years later, she adopted a brown pit bull named Cherry from a rescue and realized she could help by photographing the organization’s dogs. This led to her “basically stalking every rescue in L.A.” to offer the same. Now she works for Paws For Life K9 Rescue and volunteers at the shelter in her downtime. “I don’t really have time for photography work anymore because I want to be at the shelter all the time,” she says.

How to help overcrowded shelters

While her obvious aim is to save lives, Blackwell also recognizes the importance of making life as good as possible for the dogs during their time at the shelter. “Spending 20 minutes with a dog can make their day,” she says. These small moments of kindness and connection matter, perhaps most for the ones that don’t make it out.

“Rita works with dogs she knows will be euthanized, just so they can have some love and affection,” says Erica Fox of Wags & Walks rescue. “She faces this more head-on than anybody I know.”

Adoption and rescue alone will not end the overpopulation crisis — Blackwell acknowledges this. Policy and public perception about animal stewardship must change. “Can somebody else please work on that?” she asks, half laughing, half not. “If you need me I’ll be here with the dogs, doing the part I know how to do.”

This reminds Blackwell that there are several dogs whose faces she wants to “scroonch” before she leaves the shelter that day.

Walking the kennels with Blackwell feels like arriving at a surprise party with an exceptionally gregarious guest of honor.

Tiles decorate a play yard at the Lancaster Animal Care Center.

Rita Earl Blackwell reaches her fingers through the bars to give Tina the dog some scratches.

“Oh my god, hello!” she trills at rows of dogs who respond with matched enthusiasm.

“Good morning, babies!” she says with a Fozzie Bear voice, feeding chunks of Pup-peroni to two yowling huskies and a wiggly black lab.

To a matted poodle: “Sweet love, what are you?” To a bouncy boxer: “Where have you been all my life?!”

Blackwell pauses, the cacophony of dogs barking “pick me, pick me!” swelling around her. “If we just put our hearts aside, and think about theirs instead,” she says, flicking a piece of Pup-peroni from her thumb, “we can find all of this love.”

Lifestyle

Street Style Look of the Week: Airy Beachy Clothes

Published

11 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Street Style Look of the Week: Airy Beachy Clothes

“She’s like a female Willy Wonka,” Sakief Baron, 36, said about Kendra Austin, 32, after she explained that her personal style had a playful and cartoonish spirit.

Dressed in loose, oversize layers in blue and neutral shades, the couple were walking on the Upper East Side of Manhattan when I noticed them on a Saturday in April. There was a symmetry to their ensembles, so it wasn’t too surprising when she noted that he had influenced her fashion sense.

Before they met, she said, she was “less sure” about her wardrobe choices. “I also have lost 100 pounds in the time we’ve been together,” she added, which she said had helped her to recalibrate her relationship with clothes.

His style has been influenced by hip-hop culture, basketball players like Allen Iverson and his mother’s Finnish background. “I just take all these pieces and then it kind of comes together,” he said.

Both described themselves as multidisciplinary artists; he also has a job at a youth center, mentoring children. “I want to make sure that I look like someone they want to aspire to be every time they see me,” he said.

Lifestyle

What are Angelenos giving away in one Buy Nothing group? All this treasured stuff

Published

12 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

What are Angelenos giving away in one Buy Nothing group? All this treasured stuff

In my L.A. Buy Nothing group, I started noticing how some objects, given for free from neighbor to neighbor, carry emotional weight. An item was more than it appeared. It was a piece of personal history, perhaps one with generational memories.

From one person’s hands to another’s, objects find new life through the free gift economy on Facebook or the Buy Nothing app. Buy Nothing Project, a public benefit corporation, reports having 14 million members across more than 50 countries who give away 2.6 million items a month. There are more than 100 groups in Los Angeles alone.

Buy Nothing reduces waste by keeping items out of landfills. It also builds community. When our lives are increasingly online, Buy Nothing encourages us to get out of our cars and make connections with neighbors, even if the interaction is no more than a wave when picking something up left by a doorstep. Researchers have found that even small social interactions can foster a sense of belonging.

Still, Buy Nothing has its challenges. For years, some have complained that the groups shouldn’t be limited to neighborhoods, but rather have more open borders. Last year, many longtime members complained about the project enforcing its trademark, leading Facebook to shut down unregistered groups even if they were serving people under economic strain. Critics saw the tattling as a shift from mutual aid toward control and branding. For its part, Buy Nothing says its decisions are based on building community, trust and safety.

Despite those disagreements, Buy Nothing offers a platform for special connections. As much as there are jokes about people offering half-eaten cake, many have passed along treasured items. Buy Nothing items may feel too valuable for the trash or too personal for Goodwill. The interaction between giver and receiver becomes just as meaningful as the object itself.

I set out to document these quiet exchanges in my Buy Nothing group, drawn to the question of why people choose to pass their belongings from one neighbor to another.

Tiny builders, big exchange

Lidia Butcher gives a toolbox and worktable her two sons used to Chelsea Ward for her 17-month-old son.

“We’ve had the toolbox and worktable for the last 10 years, it’s been very special. When I told my youngest son we were going to give it away, he was a little sad. He said he was still playing with it, but then I explained that it’s been sitting untouched for a year and that if we gave it to someone else, maybe someone else would be happy about it. So he felt joy about giving it to another child who would want to play with it. I have this little emotional feeling letting it go, but at the same time, it’s a good feeling. Like a new beginning.”

— Lidia Butcher, 35, joined the group several years ago when someone told her a person in the group once asked for a cup of sugar.

“We’re getting a worktable. Benji is now old enough to be interested in playing with tools. I’m going to move my drafting table out of his room. His bedroom is my office. So that will go into storage or the Buy Nothing group and the worktable will go in its place. We live in an apartment, and as he’s growing, his needs change but our space doesn’t. Buy Nothing is really helpful to be able to cycle out of stuff.”

— Chelsea Ward, 38, has found the Buy Nothing group extremely helpful since becoming a mom.

Something borrowed

Abby Rodriguez lends Sophie Janinet a veil for her wedding.

“Sophie had asked for a wedding veil on our Buy Nothing group and I’m lending it to her because I wanted it to have a second life. I hate the idea that precious things just sit there and never get touched. My wedding day was one of the best days of my life. At one point the power went out and now we have this amazing picture with my husband and I and everyone using their phone to light up the dance floor.”

— Abby Rodriguez, 40, discovered Buy Nothing when she moved to her northeast L.A. neighborhood in 2020.

“I moved to Los Angeles from France four years ago. The day I joined Buy Nothing was the first time I felt connected to the community. It played a huge role in my adapting to life here. I’m receiving a veil because I want my wedding to look and feel like my values. I thrifted my dress, I chose a local seamstress to alter the dress but when I tried it on, I felt something was missing. I wanted a veil but I didn’t want to buy new because I didn’t want to add anything to the landfill. So I posted a request for the veil on Buy Nothing.”

— Sophie Janinet, 37, is recreating the low-waste, slower-paced values she once lived by in France through her local Buy Nothing community.

2 Two women sit on steps with a fake owl.

1. Abby Rodriguez, left, holds her wedding veil that she is lending Sophie Janinet, right, for her upcoming wedding. 2. Michele Sawers, left stands with Beth Penn, right, while giving her a decorative owl.

A pigeon-spooking owl gets a second life

Michele Sawers gives Beth Penn a decorative owl.

“Coming from a place of luck, now I have plenty to give. The owl has been with me for 26 years. I bought the owl soon after I bought this house. The owl was purchased because I had a pigeon problem, they would camp out under my eves and I would have bird poop everywhere. The owl must have worked because they’re gone and they haven’t come back.”

— Michele Sawers, 58, uses Buy Nothing regularly to connect with her community and support her low-consumption values.

“There are things I don’t want to own. So borrowing those things on Buy Nothing is really nice. There is a person who I borrowed their cooler twice and their ladder twice so I feel like they are my neighbor even though they are not [right next door]. We get these birds that poop on the deck and the recommendation online was to get a fake owl. When it was posted on Buy Nothing, I thought, ‘I have to have that owl!’ It’s going to have a good home with me on the deck with some cats, a dog and some kids.”

— Beth Penn, 47, once helped build her local Buy Nothing group and now experiences it from the other side, as a member.

Stuffed toys find a new purpose

Two women stand in front of a green plant holding stuffed dolls and a bag of ball pit balls.

Magaly Leyva gives stuffed toys and plastic play balls to Tatiana Lonny.

“My mother-in-law gave the dolls and plastic play balls to my daughter, but she has so much. My daughter is not going to play with them with the same intent that another kid would, because she’s really little. I’d rather another kid use these things.”

— Magaly Leyva, 35, joined Buy Nothing nearly four years ago to find clothes for her nephew.

“I’m taking these new items to a township called Langa in South Africa. I know the kids there will be so happy. They have so little there. I’m doing this all by myself, I’m just collecting a GoFundMe for the suitcase fee at the airport.”

— Tatiana Lonny, 51, began using Buy Nothing in hopes of finding resources to support the animals she rescues.

A second helping

Laura Cherkas gives Aurora Sanchez a cast iron pan.

“Buy Nothing gives me the freedom to let go of things because I know that they will stay in the community and the neighborhood. I’m giving a couple of cast iron items that my husband and I got when we were on a cast iron kick, probably during COVID. We determined that we don’t actually use these particular pans and they were just making our drawers heavy. So we decided to let someone else get some use out of them.

“I hate throwing things away. I want to see things have another life. Sometimes I take things to a donation center, but I like the personal connection with Buy Nothing and that you know that there is someone who definitely wants your item.”

— Laura Cherkas, 40, has built connections with other moms through Buy Nothing and values it as a way to cycle toys in and out for her child.

Two women stand by a gate at night holding cast iron pans.

“I wanted a cast iron pan because I cook a lot of grilled meat. I’m excited to try this style of cooking out and it will help me when I cook for only one or two people. I got lucky because I was chosen to receive it.”

— Aurora Sanchez, 54, has spent the past two years engaging with Buy Nothing, finding in it a sense of neighborly support that makes her feel valued while strengthening her connection to the community.

Next player up

A man poses next to a basketball hoop in front of his garage.

Joe Zeni first offered a basketball hoop on Buy Nothing in 2023, where it remains unclaimed.

“I’m giving away a Huffy basketball freestanding hoop because it’s just taking up space. We used to play horse and shoot baskets together. My son is now 35, he doesn’t live here anymore.”

— Joe Zeni, 70, uses Buy Nothing often to give items away, believing many of the things he no longer needs still have purpose.

Lifestyle

Armani Goes Back to the Archive

Published

23 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

In the year since his death, there has been no hard pivot at Armani. The shadow of the founder has stayed in place over the Milan HQ, where the brand seems happy to leave it. Armani is not just plumbing the past for continued inspiration, it’s reselling it.

Today, Giorgio Armani is announcing Archivio, a grouping of 13 men’s and women’s looks, plucked from the brand’s back catalog and remade for today. (And, yes, at today’s prices.) There’s a jacket in pinstriped alpaca of 1979 vintage; a buttery one-and-a-half breasted jacket with a maitre d’s flair that first appeared in 1987; and an unstructured silk-linen suit that will activate ’90s flashbacks for die-hard Armani clients and those who want to capture that era’s nostalgia. The advertising campaign was shot and styled by Eli Russell Linnetz, who has his own label, ERL, but always seems to be the first call brands make when they want sultry photos with the aura of Details magazine circa 1995. (He did a similar thing for Guess recently.)

Linnetz’s images are a reminder of how Armani’s work still reverberates decades later.

Archivio is also a canny recognition of what shoppers crave now. On the resale market, Armani wares are as coveted as can be. Every week it seems as if I get an email from Ndwc0, a British vintage store, announcing a new drop of meaty-shouldered ’90s Armani power suits. They sell for less than $500. At Sorbara’s in Brooklyn, you can buy a tan Giorgio Armani vest for $225.

That vintage-mad audience is in Armani’s sights: To introduce the collection, it’s staging an installation, opening today, at Giorgio Armani’s Milan boutique. It will feature the hosts of “Throwing Fits,” a New York-based podcast whose hosts wear vintage Armani button-ups and shout out stores like Sorbara’s.

It’s prudent, if a bit disconnected. Part of the charm of old Armani is that it can be found on the cheap. I’m wearing a pair of vintage Giorgio Armani corduroys as I write this. I bought them for $76 on eBay. Archivio is reverent, but its prices, which range from $1,025 to $12,000, may scare off shoppers willing to do the searching themselves.

If you ask me, the next frontier of this archive fixation is that a brand — and a big one — will release a mountain of genuine vintage pieces. J. Crew and Banana Republic have tried this at a small scale, but a luxury house like Armani hasn’t gone there. Yet. Eventually, Armani (or a brand like it) is going to grab hold of the market that exists around its brand, but through which it gets no cut.