This past Christmas, the hubby and I took a road trip to Los Angeles with some friends of ours. We’d been hearing about these beagles who’d been flown over from Spain and rescued from an animal testing facility. 40 of them! There was a woman named Shannon Keith who started an organization called the Beagle Freedom Project and took on the responsibility of finding homes for all these angels. It turned out that a friend of ours who lived in LA had agreed to fostering a couple of these precious pups. We decided to make a special stop to meet them while we were in town.

When we first arrived to meet Frederick and Douglass, you could tell something was amiss. We sat and listened to the heart breaking stories of their former lives. Many of the dogs had gone directly from a commercial breeder to the lab. They had never felt a blade of grass under their feet or felt the warmth of the sun on their skin. They lived in cages with steel wire floors that penetrated their tender paws and they had learned to become fearful of people from a lifetime in confinement and being restrained. Some had been surgically de-barked by the breeder and all of them had horrifying ID numbers tattooed in their ears as if they were property instead of living, breathing, beings.

Sitting on the grass just a few feet away, looking into those deep brown eyes, I tried to imagine the agony these creatures had endured. I watched as they hesitantly circled us, hiding behind bushes and trees, poking their timid little noses out every so often to assess the situation. As my sadness and frustration passed, I began to feel a sense of relief and joy for them. Knowing that there were people out there who cared about these animals enough to devote their time, money, patience, and effort to rehabilitating them brought a sort of comfort to my heart.

Gradually, they seemed to inch their way toward us as the time passed. By the hours end, curiosity seemed to have gotten the best of Frederick and Douglass and we’d all become friends.

When we think of Valentines day, we usually relate it to romance, material goods, love letters, things of that sort. Rarely, do we find ourselves celebrating true, genuine, selfless love. Inspired by Frederick and Douglass’ story, we couldn’t help but feel insane amounts of love and gratitude for them and the people who had come to their rescue. This year, in their honor and in the spirt of love, we have decided to donate $5 for every online order purchased now through February 9th to the Beagle Freedom Project .

Instead of giving the normal overly processed candies, or flowers and diamonds laced with cruelty, we encourage you to send your sweetie a box of delicious, handmade cinnamon rolls packaged with the utmost TLC from our little bakery. Our first 50 orders will include a beautiful, customizable, letter pressed card made locally by the ever-so-talented illustrator, Rigel Stuhmiller. Her work has been featured in Sunset Magazine, BARK magazine, Wired.com, Salon.com, Daily Candy, The Today Show, Apartment Therapy, Town and Country, and mentioned on NPR. We’ve also ordered some pretty darn cute tissue paper to top it off!

You’re probably thinking this story can’t get any more loveable, right? Well, you’re wrong.

When we contacted Rigel about ordering these adorable cards, she told us that the beagle who was featured, was actually a lab rescue also! She and her sister Maxine, were adopted by a loving couple and now reside in Emeryville, CA. It’s been reported that their progress since their rescue has been phenomenal.

Oh, and as for Frederick and Douglass? It turned out that in the end, their foster situation happily became their permanent home.

XOXO Happy Valentines Day! XOXO