b"Why Not? A beautiful chandelierhangs in the lobby of Polk County BullyProject offices.The team: Standing, left to right: Angela Lorio, Michele Penland, Felicity Pointer,Caroline Pointer, Shannon Medina. Front row: Kathryn Hinton and Kriss Hall with Duke.Theyhavesupportfromtheirhusbands,itwasn'talways that way. We arent the types to ask permission, said Medina. Lorio jumped in to add, But, we often ask for forgivenessafterwards!Whenmyhusbandmetme,Ihadadog,Medinaexplained. I went to college with a dog. But, with rescuework, he wasnt keen on the idea of rescuing Pit Bulls. He isa doctor and hes seen his share of injuries to children fromdog bites and dog attacks. Through the work were doing,though, he has since come to realize its more about bad peo-ple, not bad dogs. Medinarecallsthepregnantdogwhoneededasafeplace to have her puppies. Her husband wasnt going to behome for a few days, so she decided to pull the dog fromAnimal Control and bring her home. Well, he returnedhome earlier than expected. And I couldnt hide the noisescoming from his home office. Hes not a fan of surprises.But, Im in rescue, so its pretty much always all about sur-prises. Its what we do, and from that standpoint, he is veryunderstanding.Duke was a new arrival the morning we visited Polk County Bully Where some women shop, then hide their newfoundProject. His face was full of scars, and he seemed a little sad, but purchasesfromtheirhusbands,MedinaandLorioadmithe was so gentle. The Project partners with other rescue groupsand foster volunteers. Duke is being fostered by Florida Big Dog they hide dogs from their husbands. Theyve been known toRescue in Plant City. His name is now Miles. hand out hush money to their kids.44 THE NEW BARKER"