00:00So I open the kennel and...
00:02Oh my...
00:03Close the door!
00:06He is giving me his best smile.
00:08Hi!
00:09I can't tell!
00:10He's in a concrete box and he's approaching in this way.
00:14If I smile, maybe these people will take me home with them.
00:17Grace and I have always been dog people.
00:20From when we could walk and talk, we were begging for our first dogs
00:23and our parents were at their wits' end with how many we would try and bring home.
00:27Our mom moved to an island in the Northern Mariana, Saipan,
00:32where there were 21,000 stray dogs.
00:34A vacation of beaches and bikinis and loving the heat and the island weather
00:41turned into getting stuck there as we realized there were so many dogs that needed help.
00:47The second I saw a stray dog walking through the street,
00:50I knew that was exactly what I wanted to do.
00:53Hey, pretty girl!
00:53We started feeding dogs every day and we started ultimately having to take them home
01:00as we would find some that are sick or starving or injured.
01:04Which would not have been possible without the grace that our mom and stepdad ended up showing us
01:09when the animals just kept appearing and appearing and they were like,
01:13what the heck's going on?
01:14These dogs have completely given up.
01:19I just walked over there and scooped them up.
01:23No fight.
01:24There's nothing left in them.
01:26Before we knew it, we were running a whole rescue organization somewhat accidentally.
01:31Social media really launched Boonie Babies because before that,
01:36we were just two girls driving around feeding dogs.
01:39But then we started filming in our adventures out here with the strays.
01:42Oh, you're a good girl!
01:44One of the things that we do as Boonie Babies is we head over to the local municipal animal shelter
01:52and take a peek every week to see what dogs are in need, if there are any that are adoptable
01:57at that point.
01:58Taipan doesn't really have a functioning animal shelter.
02:02Our municipal shelter is simply more of a holding facility for euthanasia.
02:07The euthanasia rate is over 90%, which is the highest in the entire United States
02:12and the highest compared to most other countries as well.
02:17I open this kennel and I see this raggedy little mess on the floor,
02:22missing almost all of his hair and skin and bones.
02:27I can't tell. Are you being nice?
02:29Up until this point, not a single dog has approached.
02:32They're entirely shut down.
02:34So I open the kennel and Mort whips his head over and does that classic smile.
02:40Oh, you're smiling!
02:44You're coming home with me.
02:46Yeah, that's what you're going to do.
02:48You're coming home with me.
02:49Hi!
02:50How could he still have that spirit and that incredible reaction to people
02:56when I'm sure he's gone through hell?
03:02So bros.
03:04You're so bros.
03:07At that point, we have this ratty, mangy, missing all of his hair almost,
03:13you know, covered in gunk dog that we need to bring home and clean up.
03:18A unique thing about Mort is his spirits were always so high,
03:22and I think that was genuine key to success for his quick recovery.
03:26His hair quickly began growing back, and he turned into this beautiful fluffy dog.
03:32But getting to experience all of his firsts with him, like his first haircut
03:37or his first time at the beach or his first pup cup, those are all equally important parts of the
03:43recovery.
03:44And Mort just enjoyed every step of the way as much as we did.
03:48I think it's just such a privilege to have a dog who's in that shelter waiting for death
03:54that is almost 100% certain to still be fighting and smiling like Mort was.
04:00The decision to bring him to the States was one that we really grappled with and went back and forth.
04:09Here he comes.
04:12In the process of taking care of Mort, I ended up falling in love with him.
04:17So that, of course, influenced the decision to fly him out to the States as well,
04:22and I ultimately ended up flying him out to me.
04:26We got to the airport hangar to pick him up,
04:29and I could see his crate through the little gate that they had there.
04:34I'm looking at him and saying, Mort, Mort, Mort, Mort.
04:36That's kind of the best way to get him to smile.
04:39If you just start chirping his name, he usually comes running over with his teeth out.
04:43But poor little thing, he had just traveled across the whole world,
04:45which was like a five-day journey for his.
04:47But it was just so sweet because we ended up getting him to some spot with some grass,
04:52and he comes out and he's sniffing around, and he comes up to me and he goes,
04:56OK, like, I know you.
04:57You could just see him instantly relax.
05:00Hey, how are you, Angel Mort? How's my Angel Mort?
05:07Watching Mort figure out his life in D.C. from remote island to extremely bustling city,
05:15he's seen buses and the metro and crowds and more people than he's ever seen in his entire life,
05:22and he just takes it in stride.
05:24Every time I walk him, I wear my smile like Mort t-shirt.
05:27Look, Mort! That's you!
05:30People see this picture and they can't help but smile.
05:34They just can't help but, like, get this instant grin on their face.
05:39Good boy!
05:41And then I point at Mort and I go, this is him now.
05:44And they can't believe it.
05:47The dog's gratefulness is palpable.
05:49Whether they have that grin on their face or not, you know that they're smiling regardless.
05:54And it's just exactly why we do what we do of taking these dogs after they're starving,
05:59after they're sick, after they're dumped.
06:01Why aren't we addressing the root of the issue and doing prevention
06:06so that we don't have to drown in all these dogs all the time?
06:09We can simply help prevent the problem.
06:11We entered our era of spay and neuter fundraising to do spay and neuter surgeries
06:15and fly out veterinarians on thousands of them instead.
06:19And that was probably the most instrumental and, I would say, the largest impact
06:25that was actually made of helping that prevention and ending the suffering before it begins.
06:31Our primary function right now is to use our amazing social media following
06:36to raise that money and send it right back to where it's going to do the most good.
06:40Do we ever reflect about the work and the lives that we've saved?
06:44I'd say not as often as we should.
06:47This is truly such an emotional job, where even just talking about it makes me tear up,
06:54of the dogs that we have been able to save versus the dogs we haven't.
06:59We are, unfortunately, the only chance that these dogs have,
07:04which is an incredible amount of pressure and responsibility,
07:08and one that we take very seriously.
07:11Although half of it is wonderful and kisses and cuddles as you're playing with puppies,
07:17half of it is working with the reality of living on an island with over 21,000 dogs
07:23and no veterinarians, no functioning animal shelters, and very limited ways to get them off.
07:29So a lot of it is tragic, but it's truly where we thrive.
07:33Stories like Mort are what makes it worth it.
07:38Being able to share his story to bring attention to the other dogs has been the most beautiful thing.
07:46Mort has a great temperament, but his temperament's no different than any of my other dogs.
07:51He's happy, and he's sweet, and your Mort is out there.
