Zach Randolph’s reputation is not exactly the “Mr. Charitable Cause” guy around the league. And early in his career, in his years in Portland and even beyond, he didn’t deserve it. Immature would be a kind word to describe him.
But people grow up. And evolve. And Randolph does have a charitable side, helping out an injured pit bull found in the Memphis area recently. The Memphis Commercial Appeal explains the details of the dog and what happened.The dog was found July 9 in a drainpipe near the Shelby Farms Green Line trail at Waring Road -- scared, weak and suffering from heartworms and several skin infections. MAS officials said he had been trapped there for several days. After hearing about the dog and contacting Villalobos’ owner Tia Torres, whose work is the subject of Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls and Parolees” reality TV show, Randolph said Friday that he donated $10,000 to the center to cover Little Z-Bo’s continued physical and emotional rehabilitation, and will give more if needed.
The breed is close to Randolph’s heart, he said. “I’ve got eight or nine of them, and I breed them and sell pups,” he said. “And I take them to shows.” [...]
“The pit bulls have a bad reputation currently ... as being a fighter. And that’s because that’s what they are trained by some people to do,” he said.
Good for him. If your first instinct is to say “well why doesn’t he spend his money on X?” you miss the point that he is spending it to help a creature other than himself at all. This is a good thing. Good on Z-Bo.
