PASADENA, Calif. — The guys on "Rescue Ink" are sort of scary-looking.
Well, not even sort of. They're really scary-looking.
They're big, tough and covered in tattoos. And some of them actually have run into trouble in the past.
But now they're putting their considerable powers of intimidation to good use. As chronicled in their National Geographic Channel series (Fridays, 8 p.m.), they fight for abused animals.
"We don't leave a note on your door or give you a ticket. We stay there until the situation is resolved," said club member Joe Panz. "We have different tactics, let's put it that way."
If members of Rescue Ink show up at your door, it's not a good thing. At least not for you. But it's a very good thing for the abused or neglected animals you're probably harboring.
"Here is a group of home-grown rescuers who were doing something that no other rescue group was doing," executive producer Kim Woodard said. "I think there a lot of groups out there that do rehabilitation and find homeless pets homes. But these guys were actually going to where the problem was, dealing with cases of abuse, and addressing that issue."
The guys are undoubtedly intimidating. Within some degree of reason, of course.
"Our motto is the in-your-face approach on stopping animal abuse and neglect within the means of the law," said Johnny O.
"We have to do everything within the means of the law because we can't be out there rescuing an animal if we are sitting in the jail cell," said Big Ant. "So we have to do what we have to do, but we have to do it the right way."
In other words — they don't beat the bad guys up, but they're not above making the bad guys think they're going to beat them up.
This is not a made-for-TV phenomenon. Rescue Ink was saving animals long before the National Geographic Channel became involved. And the guys rejected the suggestion that the presence of cameras changes what happens when they arrive at a bad guy's door.
"If we showed up at your door, would it matter if we had cameras with us or not?" Panz said. "You are going to do what we say."
"You are … right," added Big Ant. "I don't even think you are going to look at the cameras.
"You should be happy that the cameras are there."
According to Panz, people go to their Web site — rescueink.org — to register a complaint. A volunteer does some preliminary digging, and if the complaint merits further investigation, it's over to a pet investigator, "one of whom is a retired homicide detective." The investigator runs the person's profile to find out "if he has priors, weapons charges, things like that."
"And then we would all talk about it at the clubhouse, and we would dispatch whatever members or all the members to go to the situation to take care of it," Panz said, "because we don't go into any situation unless we know exactly what is going on."
It's the animal abuser who doesn't know what's going on when the guys show up at their door.
"We take the animal out of a bad situation," Panz said.
The animals are checked by veterinarians and, if they're healthy and nonaggressive, Rescue Ink works with other rescue groups to find homes for them.
"However, some dogs cannot be turned around, so we have sanctuaries that we bring those dogs to," Panz said. "Most of this is all out of pocket, but we get some donations and, hopefully, the TV show … will raise awareness for everybody all over the world that this abuse is going on and we get the word out and help put an end to it and make a better place for everybody and their children."
Which is part of the reason NGC became involved.
"These guys get over 100 calls every week. They've saved thousands of animals that would probably have been massacred and murdered," said National Geographic Channel general manager Steve Schiffman. "So, the scale of the good that they are doing in their community is really huge."
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com