Changing the Bully Breed Narrative One Dog at a Time
Marika Meeks’s battle against Stage 3 breast cancer wasn’t her only fight. After falling in love with Stella, a pit bull puppy up for adoption at a local pet supply store, the late Valley resident made the decision to change the negative narrative of the bully breed one dog at a time.
Meeks founded Stella’s Rescue Rehab, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) since 2019, that advocates for pit bulls through education, rescue and adoption to bring awareness to the breed’s loving nature and ultimately break the stereotypes around pit bulls.
Together, Meeks and Stella started the concept that the world knows as Incredibull Stella, wrote a book, traveled across the U.S. and were guests on multiple TV and radio shows. Soon, the story of how Stella’s loving and nurturing character rescued a family began to change the lives of pit bulls and dog owners around the world.
Today, Incredibull Stella has over 100,000 followers on social media and has rescued upwards of 600 dogs through its unique one-dog-at-a-time adoption process, which is now run by Meeks’s close friend and Valley resident, Erica Cartwright. Cartwright and her dog, Cookie, a rescue Staffordshire terrier, have continued to follow in her friend’s footsteps to carry on her legacy and work toward redefining the image of pit bulls. Meeks’s husband, Brian, her two daughters and, of course, the now eight-year-old Stella are very much involved and a part of the rescue.
“We’re unique in that we only take one dog at a time,” says Cartwright, director of Incredibull Stella. “We don’t do a foster-based system. We really focus on one dog– we get to know it, train it, post it on social media and online, and the world falls in love with it.”
During the adoption process, Cartwright gets to know each potential adopter during a phone call that can sometimes last an hour before inviting them to meet the dog in person if they hadn’t yet met at an event or out in public. If it’s a right fit, the next step is introducing the rescue to other dogs in the family and completing a training session to ensure the transition is as smooth as possible into the dog’s new home.
“Each dog must have a training session as part of the process, which really is just a training session for the humans,” laughed Cartwright.
“One of Marika’s dreams was to have a high-end, luxury kennel,” adds Cartwright. “So I wanted to make that a reality since she never got to see that dream realized. We’ve called it ‘Marika’s Corner’ and it’s a guest house on my property that we have converted to a dog house. You can come meet and hang out with the dogs, get your selfie with the dogs and just spend time in a calm and loving home environment. We do our training out there and have even fostered other rescue dogs short term.”
In addition to finding dogs forever loving homes, Incredibull Stella participates in community events and programs advocating for pit bulls, supports and promotes other nonprofits, and aids dog owners and rescues in spay and neuter programs.
To be a part of ending the miss-use and miss-education of the bully breed, Cartwright says it’s as simple as adopting instead of shopping, getting your dog into training, being an educated and a kind advocate in person and online, plus fostering, volunteering and donating your time and money to reputable programs.
“They’re loving and amazing dogs,” she adds. “If you just give them a chance, they’ll give you everything.”
Learn more at www.incredibullstella.com, @incredibullstella.
This story appeared in the AZ Foothills Innovators 2023 issue. Read the full issue here.
