FAST FACTS:

Height: 1.82 metres
Weight: 105 kilograms
Marital status: Newlywed!
Pets: Five dogs
Tattoos: Lots!
Favourite dogs: Rottie
Favourite beverage: Coke in a can
Despised chore: Picking up dog poop

Eric Olsen, 33, is the newest member of Rescue Ink, and came to the team on a mission to help animals when no one else would. With a security background, he is also perhaps one of the most physically imposing: piercing blue eyes, a deep, rough voice, big muscles and a body full of ink. He thinks of himself as his own hero.

On his right arm is a tattoo of a snarling Rottweiler ? admittedly his favourite breed and perhaps inspired because his first dog was a Rottie mix named Marley he adopted as a puppy from the North Shore Animal League. After Marley, Eric next adopted three miniature pinschers, sort of like crosses between Dobermans and mosquitoes: Axel, the hyperactive self-appointed leader; Diesel, who was adopted from a nightclub bouncer; and Kash, the smallest and most laid-back of the trio. Finally, there is Chloe, a Chihuahua mix that his wife Jennifer acquired before they met.

“I have small dogs, it doesn’t bother me,” says Eric about his little ones. “I pick them up and show them affection … I don’t care that my dog’s 7 kilograms. I don’t need a pit bull or a Rottweiler to walk down the street and act tough. That’s not being tough. That’s just like wearing a big necklace to make you look tough!”

Eric — who claims never to relax — came to Rescue Ink because of Axel. He decided that an agility competition (in which dogs navigate an obstacle course with their handlers) would be a great way to channel Axel’s energy. At an outdoor class in the summer of 2008, where obsessively focused border collies scrambled over A-frames and sailed over jumps, Eric ran into someone who noticed his tattoos and mentioned a new rescue group called Rescue Ink. They would be at a fundraising event called “Hounds on the Sound” in a couple of weeks.

Eric was only half-listening: He heard “tattoos,” and thought perhaps these guys were tattoo artists with a soft spot for animals. Because his tattoo guy had moved to Florida, he went to the charity event looking for a replacement artist. Instead, he met the guys, learned they were about rescues first and tattoos second, and left with an invitation to join the group at some future events. Now he is a full-fledged member of the team!