THE NEW BARKER 45 www.TheNewBarker.com Kevin named the little guy Ezra and their first trip together was to a pet store, where he purchased everything he thought his new- found dog would need.And then some.“I also bought him a red and black checkered jacket, which he still has. Within a couple of days I had taken him to the veterinarian and to the groomer.” Other than ear mites, Ezra was in good shape.“After he was groomed, I put the jacket on him, took his first photo and posted on my Facebook page, introducing him to my friends.” Most responses, questioned Kevin’s sanity.” Kevin, his spouse Robert and Ezra moved to the Tampa Bay area in 2016 where Kevin is the Supervisor of Radiology at Tampa General Hospital. He continued to photograph Ezra in outfits with props and post to social media. Ezra’s fan base grew. When Kevin entered Ezra’s photo in a cal- endar contest that Paula Deen was hosting, he received an email that Paula personally selected Ezra’s photo. “We won a year’s worth of dog food - 12 giant bags - which we didn’t need.” Kevin contacted the SPCA Tampa Bay, who was low on food at the time,and offered to deliver it to the shelter. Soon after,Ezra was invited by the shelter to be one of its ambassadors. His duties have includ- ed participating as a celebrity judge during the shelter’s annual PetWalk event atVinoy Park in St. Pete, and being on the SPCA Tampa Bay float during the 2018 St. Pete Pride Parade. “There were hundreds of thousands of people and it was loud. But I could hear fans of Ezra yelling out his name,” Kevin said, still surprised at the phenomenon. Ezra has his own room that Kevin and Robert have set up, mainly to do the social media photos. There are bins of outfits, hats and props. Kevin builds most of the elaborate sets himself. It’s become something more than just a simple hobby of taking photos of Ezra, though. “When I started getting messages from people, telling me how much Ezra’s posts meant to them, it surprised me,” said Kevin. One woman wrote to say that she’d just lost her husband.Seeing Ezra’s happy face with fun messages gave her something to look forward to.Someone else wrote that she was bedridden from knee surgery and Ezra’s posts lifted her spirits. “Those messages are what motivated me to go from posting Ezra’s photo once a week to almost every day.It’s become quite the project and a lot of work. But we enjoy it.” Kevin never really wanted to know more about Ezra's backstory and his life as a puppy mill dog. "I couldn't bring myself to imagine the horror of his previous life," said Kevin. "But things happen that make us become more aware and once that happens, there is no looking back." “When I was asked by The New Barker to speak up against puppy mills with regards to an ordinance that the city of Dunedin was pro- posing, I decided to do some research.”What Kevin found was a video of the actual puppy mill raid conducted by the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina and the Humane Society of the United States. More than 140 dogs were seized in August 2012.“Ezra was in the video,” said Kevin. “Matted, with feces in his fur, overgrown nails and frightened.” In the video, Sheriff John Ingram was unnerved at seeing rows and rows of metal crates, the waste and the stench of ammonia from urine and dogs clamoring for attention. “I’m shocked. I’ve personally never seen anything like this in my life,” said the Sheriff on camera. The video spurred Kevin to action and he brought Ezra with him to the Dunedin City Commissioner’s meeting to make a brief,com- pelling argument.The vote was unanimous to not allow the retail sale of puppies in stores in Dunedin. "Learning about where Ezra came from has made me even more adamant to help put an end to puppy mills," said Kevin. To be chosen by a dog he didn’t know he was even looking for, there is now a simple elegance in the calm space between Ezra and Kevin. So in-sync when they’re together, that often, when Kevin sighs, Ezra will follow with his own sigh. Ezra’s Adoption Day Photo. To become part of Ezra’s Tampa General Hospital’s Heart Walk/Barks for Hearts team, visit www.TampaBayHeartWalk.org/TGH and search for Team Ezra. Follow the prompts. Ezra as Freddy Krueger. Biking across the Courtney- Campbell Causeway. Ezra in his jazz band. Barks for Hearts Team Ezra. U Y