Tough guys … with a soft side

“You don’t want to just give the animal to just anybody,” Long Beach resident and Rescue Ink co-founder John Orlandini, better known as “Johhny O,” said as he cared for an American Staffordshire mix that was taken to the Long Beach Animal Shelter recently after the dog jumped out of a second-floor window and was hit by a car in the West End.

“The owner didn’t want to pay for her veterinary care, so she was brought to us,” Orlandini explained, adding that the animal, since renamed Joan Jett, is currently up for adoption. “We try to find the right place for the animal, the right match. You want to make sure that the animal is as comfortable as they can be in the right home.”

Joan Jett is one of nearly 30 dogs, cats and other animals that the nonprofit Rescue Ink has taken in since it took over the defunct animal shelter in November. Last June, the organization — best known for its reality series on the National Geographic Channel — was given the green light by the city to run the shelter, which closed about five years ago.

To date, 18 cats, five dogs and three puppies have been adopted, according to Orlandini. “Some shelters struggle to do that many adoptions in a year,” he said. “We’ve already taken [the shelter] to a whole new level. One of our biggest goals is that the animals are in a comfortable atmosphere and setting, so their transition to an adoptive home will move smoothly. They have a lot of running and playing time here.”

Orlandini and the other members of Rescue Ink — a tough, tattooed bunch who, in addition to the series “Rescue Ink: Unleashed,” were featured in a self-titled book in 2009 — founded the group six years ago. Its volunteers include police officers, former military personnel and private investigators who look into cases of animal abuse in the tri-state area and around the world.

With the reopening of the shelter, the group — once based in Island Park — has made Long Beach its home base. “It puts us in a greater position — now we can have more programs out there,” said co-founder Anthony “Big Ant” Rosario. “In the summer we’re going to go on the boardwalk and provide training tips and show people how to handle an animal and take care of an animal.”

Setting up shop in Long Beach