Still, there is more to Rescue Ink than scaring abusers straight and rescuing animals, although that does make up the bulk of their volunteer work. Some of the guys recently returned from "making some noise" in Yates County, NY, where they protested area puppy mills. They've also started tri-state area outreach programs and housing workshops designed to find homes for animals on local shelter death lists. But it's the countless alerts of escaped, stolen or abused animals that bring out the real war stories from this Rescue Ink crew.

"We go everywhere. New York, New Jersey. We even rescued these pigs on Long Island," says George, who starts sharing some of his other stories. "This one time, a slum lord wasn't paying his water bill. So the city shut off the water. He came back to the building to turn it back on and ended up flooding the building. One woman had to go to a hotel and her dogs were abandoned, so he took them and was trying to sell them. We went to his house, which was this huge house in a gated community, and heard dogs. After negotiating with him for an hour and a half in the pouring rain, he threw out the dogs."

Rescue Ink members have fascinating animal rescue stories. Some involve confrontation, some don't. There's the return of a missing Maltese or the time the gang put the squeeze on a known car stereo thief and recovered two show Corgis named Daddy Warbucks and Sammy, valued at $5,000 each. Then there's the story about Biagi, the former boiler mechanic turned expert dog trainer, who crashed through the floor of an abandoned building, a rescued dog landing on his chest as his back hit the next floor down.

"It's part of the rescue. I've been doing rescues for 30 years," he says. "We all go back 15 years from hot rod and tattoo conventions. And we all love animals. We would talk about how we rescued this pitbull or how these guys came at us. We've had a severe case of pitbull fighting and someone selling dogs for drug money. So we got a group together to do this."

Along with Biagi, that group started with Mike Tattoo. An actor best known for his recurring role on the HBO series Oz, his work with animals goes back almost as far as his passion for tattoos, which cover practically every visible inch of his skin. "I got my first tattoos at 14 from that ‘bad guy in the basement.' I would knock on the door and have to say something like ‘Goldilocks sent me, I'm here to see the three bears,'" he remembers. "You had to know the code."

For now, the Rescue Ink crew gathers at Lone Wolf Tattoos in Bellmore, NY. It's a 50s-themed parlor where tattoo artist and Rescue Ink favorite Craig Messina plies his trade. There's a diner down the block and the location has become something of an unofficial headquarters for the guys. It's also where some Rescue Ink members got the ink that represents their various personalities. Like the eastern imagery on Johnny O's arms. Or Big Ant, the colossal 320-pound anchor of the group with brass knuckle tattoos. And Batso, who has a thing for bats and the scalp tats to prove it.

"Everyone here has a specific niche. Biagi is the handler, Johnny O is a martial arts instructor, Batso is very holistic and can calm down the dog, George is an ex-fireman, Ant is like a brick wall, Angel is an ex-detective, Del is a cat guy. I'm the first guy there," says Mike. "This ain't no joke. When we pull up, they're in trouble and it can get very hairy. People come at us with weapons, threaten our lives. It's the world we live in."