Summary Of James Guiliani's Dogfella

In James Guiliani’s autobiography Dogfella, he tells his story about growing up in New York. He became involved in street gangs at a young age, and later joined the Gambino crime family. While growing up, he struggled with alcoholism, substance abuse, and the deaths of many family members. No one was able to change his behavior until he met an abused Shih Tzu named Bruno. Throughout his life, he was faced with many obstacles, but was able to overcome them with positive outcomes. James Guiliani was the fourth of five boys in his family growing up in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York. He described Richmond Hill as a tight-knit neighborhood, where everyone looked out for each other. Every family in the neighborhood was similar to his, Irish
or Italian upbringing, working class, and Catholic. His mother required all her sons to be altar servers from fifth grade until they graduated high school, and to attend The Holy Child Jesus School for elementary school. While in elementary school, Guiliani and three of his friends were known as the troublemakers.
They did everything from being general class clowns, to skipping mass, and smoking in the school yard during recess. The older he got, the more serious his crimes became. In seventh grade, he was suspended for a month after placing graffiti all over the school. Then in eighth grade, he started participating in petty crimes, like stealing anything he was able to get his hands on. Although he was always in trouble, Guiliani never bullied another student. He did the opposite, and came to student’s aid when they were being bullied. This is something he would encounter later in life with coming to the aid of abused
animals. After graduating from The Holy Child Jesus School, Guiliani went to Richmond Hill High School. While there, most of his learning happened outside the classroom with the 112 Nutso Park street gang. When he joined his older brother, Anthony, was the official gang leader. By the age of sixteen, Guiliani had his first taste of cocaine, something he would later become addicted to. In his junior year he met George DiBello, who introduced him to the Gotti crew. After being introduced and accepted into the Gotti crew, he became a member of Our Friends Social Club, which was owned by the Gotti’s. By the age of eighteen, he was working construction jobs on he weekdays, and spending the nights either partying or at Our Friends Social Club. Every dollar he made at work he used towards buying drugs. This would continue to be his life style for years to come.
His actions finally caught up with him, he was arrested and sent to the Riverhead Correctional Facility. He was driving on the Long Island Expressway with two of his other gang members, they were on their way to hijack a truckload of Gameboys. They all had guns and every gun was loaded. Guiliani was driving and was so high on cocaine that he never realized the lack of traffic on the road. He was going 110 miles per hour down the expressway, but a couple of miles after Exit 50, he noticed police cars up ahead and began to slow down. The man that they planned the hijacking with, had been caught during a drug bust a few weeks earlier, and had told the police about the hijacking plan to save himself. Guiliani’s driving under the influence had been ignored but he was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary, kidnapping, and murder. After being interrogated by the FBI, and processed by the Suffolk County Court, his bail was set at $500,000. The attorney he had managed to get him a deal of two years without parole.
When he was released in 1995, it wasn’t long before he went back to his old ways of drugs and alcohol. A few years later in 2002, his life still had not changed and he decided that he no longer wanted to live. He planned to kill himself at the beach once it got dark, but that planned changed when he met a group of girls in their late teens. They wanted something pretty simple from him, to purchase beer for them for a party they were going to. After buying the beer and dropping them off at the party, one of the girls stayed back with him and talked to him. She made him give her his number, so she could give it to a woman she worked, with and made him promise he would not go back to the beach but instead wait for the call. He obeyed this promise, and later that night he received a call from Lena Perrelli.
They stayed on the phone for six hours talking about the problems he was facing. He even planned a dinner date with her for the following week, it didn’t take long for him to move in with her. One of his biggest problems was the amount of cats she had, but she assured him that one day he would love them. Even though he was living with her, he still had rough patches. She kicked him out multiple times because he would get so high and intoxicated that he wouldn’t come home. She gave him the tough love that he needed, and was successful in keeping him away from the life he once knew.
In May of 2006, a couple weeks before Lena and he would open their Diamond Collar Store, he met Bruno, the dog that would save his life. It was about eleven in the morning, when Lena saw something tied onto a pole outside the vet’s office. Lena then made him go look at it, the dog’s hair was flat, and tangled, and his jaw was crooked. His coat was a greenish-yellow, which he later learned was because the dog was kept in such a small spot, he was forced to sleep in his own urine and feces. When the veterinarian refused to help the dog without payment, Guiliani immediately left his credit card with them, and told them to take care of the dog. When he went to pick the dog up, he learned the dog was infested with tumors. When the dog started licking his face he immediately knew he needed this dog. He named the dog Bruno and they became best friends.
Now, Guiliani and his wife Lena still own their dog boutique, and also run a rescue shelter in Brooklyn, New York. Their shelter was named Keno’s Animal Rescue, after a dog Lena had growing up. Keno’s runs on a strict set of rules that include, being a cage less environment, never requiring a fee for adoptions, and making those who adopt promise to return their new pet back to Keno’s if things don’t work out. Their most important rule was that animal would be euthanized. All the expenses at Keno’s are payed for by Lena and James, with the help of fundraisers and donations.
James Guiliani saw himself in Bruno. When he first saw Bruno tied up to the pole scared and alone, it reminded him of how he looked after nights out. There was a major difference though, he inflicted that on himself. Bruno did not abuse himself, someone else did. Bruno was defenseless and could not stop the abuse he endured. Guiliani saw that, and that helped him to transform his life. Becoming sober was a long process, but taking care of Bruno and all the animals he came in contact with has had a positive impact on his journey. He felt he finally had a purpose in life, and has been sober ever since.
Most of the animals James Guiliani rescues have been abandoned or abused by their owners. Animal abuse is a major problem in the world today. Most often the animals that are abused are dogs, cats, horses, and livestock. In 2007 1,880 animal abuse cases were reported to the media. 64.5% involved dogs, 18% involved cats and 25% involved other animals (Animal Cruelty Facts and Statistics). Most animal abuse cases never get reported so the true numbers will never be known.
A controversial issue surrounding abuse is dogfighting.
Dogfighting is a major problem throughout the world today. Dogfighting is when two dogs, who are specifically bred and trained to fight, are put in a pit to fight each other for people’s enjoyment. Dogs receive injuries from these fights, which are often fatal. These dogs’ experience blood loss, dehydration, exhaustion and infections (Dogfighting Fact Sheet). Dogs that will not fight are often killed. Dog fighting is a felony offense in all fifty states and under federal law. NFL quarterback Michael Vick was brought up on federal and state charges related to illegal dogfighting. His operation, “Bad Newz Kennels” trained over fifty pit bulls, ran dog fights, and killed dogs (Animal Fighting Case Study).
James Guiliani puts his rescues through a process to help them move past the abuse they might have endured. This process involves teaching the animals that abuse and people do not go hand in hand. He helps them learn this lesson by showing them that when a hand touches them it is not to hurt them but to pet them. As the animals learn that petting feels good and does not hurt, they become less apprehensive to touch. Through this they learn to trust people again, which can lead to them being
adopted.
The first stage of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory can be used to explain what happens when an animal is abused. The first stage is trust versus mistrust, if the animal is cared for they will ultimately trust their caregiver and others, if the animal is not cared for they will often use caution when around people (McLeod). If an animal is malnourished because the owner doesn’t feed it or is consistently abused, they will not trust their environment. Even if the animal is taken away from their abuser, they will still mistrust other humans they come in contact with. That is why it is important that abused animals go through a conditioning process to assimilate them to people and rebuild the trust they lost.
James Guiliani experienced an extremely hard life. Between drug addiction and alcoholism no one, including himself, thought he was going to make it out alive. They especially did not think he would create a major animal rescue foundation, which helps thousands of animals. While the early parts of James Guiliani’s life is not something most of us would like to experience, I believe many of us would love to experience the joy Guiliani has in his life now. Guiliani has the ability to watch scared and abused animals transform into brand new loving creatures. Without people like James Guiliani animals all over would be euthanized, but because he puts effort into each animal he comes in contact with, they all receive second chances.