The Roadmap Writers founder has spent a decade rescuing abused dogs in Los Angeles’ most ignored neighborhood
Joey Tuccio’s life is wrapped in good deeds and creativity. Every day, through his company Roadmap Writers, he sits down with writers to review stories that have the potential to make it to the big screen. Alongside that, his life as an animal-rights activist takes him to unimaginable places to rescue dogs in vulnerable situations and to collaborate with organizations such as Animal Rescue Mission and Starts With One Today, pursuing his other passion project: saving dogs in and around Skid Row.
“The situation in Los Angeles, particularly in Skid Row, is unsustainable and it seems that everything will get worse,” says Tuccio, who has spent more than ten years participating in rescue efforts and collaborating with different organizations to save dogs from the streets.
Tuccio, a New York native, was always surrounded by dogs during his childhood and youth. In Los Angeles, one day he took some blankets to a shelter, where they invited him inside to see the animals there. He was greeted by Piper, a dog who stole his heart.
“I took her with me; she was my first rescued dog. She was very sweet and loving. What I remember most is how she snored. The first night she spent with me, I realized how loud her snoring was and that I wouldn’t be able to sleep,” he says with a laugh. “Then I got used to it. She loved going on walks, but I had to drive her to the place where we would walk—she didn’t like walking all the way there.”
His mission was already set: rescuing dogs and removing them from situations of pain and violence would become something that has defined him over the years.
Living in Los Angeles, such a wealthy and cosmopolitan city, home to Hollywood, the Lakers, and the Dodgers, has led him to question the reality of Skid Row.
“It’s totally unfair. We see how much money moves through the city, how many success stories there are, and I feel that we’re failing. When we walk through an area like Skid Row, we see people using drugs, a drug dealer on every corner, poverty, violence. I’m convinced that we can’t tell people how they should live after we’ve treated the people and dogs there like they’re worthless,” he says firmly. “They’re abandoned, left to their fate. It seems as if Los Angeles wants to hide this part of the city. To keep them there, forgotten.”
In an interview published on Kingship.com, Tuccio shared how he began his activism in this cause:
“But it wasn’t until maybe a year and a half ago that I got a call from [comedian-activist] Rebecca Corry from Stand Up for Pits about a situation on Skid Row. I’ve been to Skid Row a few times, but never on my own. So, I went, and I saw multiple dogs caged in the direct sunlight, and there was just poop all over the place, pee, bite marks all over them. From there, I opened my eyes to the need in Skid Row and the surrounding area.”
For Tuccio, Skid Row truly contains the real world—the reality that the city and its politicians hide from the rest of the population and from tourists.
“To me, it’s unimaginable that no one sees with their own eyes what happens there. Nearby is Beverly Hills and other affluent neighborhoods. There are many protests held downtown, but people only raise their flags; they don’t walk a few more streets to see the critical situation there. There are hundreds of dogs that are abused, injured, discarded—no one cares. We’ve asked the mayor, councilwoman Ysabel Jurado, supervisor Hilda Solis, and others for help. No one listens, no one does anything. Karen Bass formed a task force to intervene in this situation, but it hasn’t worked. She only did it when a lawsuit was filed over her lack of interest in the issue, and even then, nothing has come of it. We’ve witnessed that this task force hasn’t intervened but has instead denied and even negotiated certain problems with people who sell puppies or beat dogs,” he says.
For Tuccio, living with this reality every day is not easy. It carries an enormous emotional burden, and he has to fight to find some balance. After visiting Skid Row and then sitting down to work, he struggles to set aside—without forgetting—the horrific situations he has witnessed.
“It’s frustrating to see that year after year nothing changes. We can’t be nice anymore. We already know that politicians don’t listen and aren’t interested in solving these problems. It’s time to expose them. Expose Karen Bass, expose Ysabel Jurado, expose Hilda Solis. It’s nothing but meetings, and from them come only empty commitments. We need to send emails, call on the community to say ‘No more!’ We’ve been silent for too long. There’s no more room for paralysis—we have to act,” he adds.
For this activist, it’s necessary for new blood to reach public office.
“I asked Ysabel for help; she told me she would help, that I should send an email to her office. I supported her, asked people to vote for her. After the elections, I never heard from her again. She never answered emails or calls. Meanwhile, dogs are being sold, suffering, being tortured—and that’s unacceptable. We need a solution… now!” he adds.
At night, Tuccio has a strategy so he can sleep—he needs it. After seeing so much during the day, coming home and finding peace is not easy.
“Every morning I think twice before checking my phone. There are always messages about dogs that need help of all kinds—you have to start again, take action. I sleep as best I can because I know I’m doing something to fight this situation. If I weren’t, then I really would have trouble sleeping,” he says, concluding the conversation.
