Six bands rally Saturday for concert in support of local pit bull rescue

photo Concert proceeds benefit Noahs-Bark, which rescues pit bulls and pit bull mixes in need of a home.

IF YOU GO¦ What: Music for Mutts fundraiser concert featuring Subkonscious, Strata G, Beyond Red, Natural Habitz, Stoneline and headliner Zach Dylan & D-Railed Band.¦ When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8.¦ Where: Rhythm & Brews, 221 Market St.¦ Admission: $10.¦ Phone: 423-267-4644.¦ Website: www.rhythmbrews.com.THE BENEFICIARYNoahs-Bark Animal Rescue & Rehab is a nonprofit, fosterbased animal rescue specializing in pit bulls and pit bull mixes recovered from shelters with high kill rates. According to the organization's website, the rescue animals are spayed/neutered and have ageappropriatemicrochips and vaccinations. For details, visit www.noahsbarkanimalrescue.com.

If the dog world has a black sheep, it is undeniably the pit bull.

Big and muscular, initially bred for dog fighting, pit bulls have a violent reputation. Many communities have gone so far as to issue breed-specific legislation banning pit bulls and bull mixes. Even the dictionary notes their association with "ferocity."

When they end up in shelters, many pit bulls are on the fast track to euthanasia. That's when Noahs-Bark, a local pit bull rescue, steps in.

"Our organization rescues pit bulls from high-kill facilities where they'd otherwise be put to sleep," says founder Terri Collins. "We have foster homes in the area that will take in the animals and calm them and acclimate them to an indoor life while they're waiting for a family. Then we find them homes."

Collins is a lifelong pit bull owner -- she currently has five -- and started Noahs-Bark in 2011 after being inspired by the work of an Atlanta shelter from which she adopted one of her dogs.

To date, Noahs-Bark has found homes for more than 400 pit bulls, but it's an expensive endeavor. Many of the dogs that arrive there are in bad shape. They're often sick; some have been shot, others attacked or abused. Every animal receives medical treatment, and the costs are adding up. Recently, providing a week of care for just two dogs cost $1,500, Collins says.

To help with those costs, Noahs-Bark has been chosen as the beneficiary of the second annual Music for Mutts, a concert hosted by Chattanooga Bands and CB Booking to raise funds for a local animal nonprofit. Last year's recipient was Wally's Friends, a Red Bank-based low-cost spay/neuter clinic.

Five local bands will perform, including rock artists Stoneline, Subkonscious and Beyond Red and hip-hop artists Strata G and Natural Habitz. Calhoun, Tenn.-based country artist Zach Dylan & D-Railed Band will headline. All proceeds from the event will benefit Noahs-Bark, as will $2 of each advance copy sold of Natural Habitz's newest album, "The Keepers Vol. 1: Heroes Rising."

Collins says any help defraying the cost of caring for her canine castoffs will be appreciated, and she hopes that raising awareness of pit bulls' plight might bring in new volunteers. If the amount raised is significant enough, it will be used to help build a permanent shelter to house the dogs, which currently reside in foster care during their transition to a new family.

"If this benefit is what we think it's going to be, that will really help us," she says. "If it's $100 or $5,000, I'm greatly appreciative. We're just honored."

Contact Casey Phillips at cphillips@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6205. Follow him on Twitter at @PhillipsCTFP.

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