Holy pumpkinhead, it's October already.
The State Fair is underway, the Dallas Cowboys are winning, the Texas Rangers are beginning their traditional extra-long off-season and life is darned good for most of us.
Why is it good for most of us? Because, unless there's a jailhouse computer somewhere, the folks reading this are not incarcerated. We'll get to incarceration later in this report. In the meantime, here are some opportunities to help some critters and humans, too.
A HOME FOR THE CAT: Well, goodness, to my un-feline sophisticated eye, this cat sure looks like a Maine Coon.
I first heard about her from Michelle Upchurch who was in the gallery at the Mercy trial. Michelle says this cat, named Maggie by Michelle's vet, is unspayed and declawed.
When she was found, she was painfully thin -- nearing the starvation point.
Michelle was walking her dogs and the emaciated cat came out of her hiding place to say hello.
"No wonder she's a skeleton," Michelle says. "In suburbia with no claws!
"She is eating very well and my vet will board her until she puts on some weight. I have a few people willing to help me with the vet bill now and one possible lead on a foster home. Her ex-rays are normal; her blood diagnostics are normal for a cat that is skin and bones. She only weighs 5 pounds. Her will to live is strong -- she deserves a second chance in a loving forever home."
To offer to help, adopt, foster or advise about the next best move for Maggie, e-mail m_upchurch3@hotmail.com or call 281-217-9889.
AN IRONY: In the last few weeks the SPCA of Texas has been involved in the confiscation of more than 300 animals, many of them toy-type dogs. The irony? The SPCA is running a special on big dogs.
October is National Adopt-a-Shelter Dog Month and the SPCA is offering a $50 bargain adoption on large dogs -- any dog 36 pounds or more.
The SPCA's two shelters -- Dallas and McKinney -- are loaded with big dogs, medium dogs, small dogs, cats, guinea pigs, horses, etc. (They're all on the website HERE.)
Now many of those dogs are big ol' black Lab mixes -- happy dogs ready to romp.
Some dogs on the site are classified as "medium" and that brings us to this dog, Hairy, a Husky mix. I was looking for an eye-catching photo to run with this item and right there on the SPCA website in the availables was Hairy who, it suggests, may be housebroken. I picked his picture because I thought he appeared to be demonstrating how he manages to avoid "going" in the house. He is too cute. Hairy the Dog -- a bargain at any price.
HELPING A HUMAN: This note from Janet Henderson of Dallas Animal Services will certainly touch the heart. She reports that the husband of one of the shelter supervisors has been diagnosed with leukemia and must under go chemo. This will put him in a fragile immune state and the family is trying to find homes for their three cats. Janet writes, "She has to get rid of her cats which are her babies, as he cannot have anything around like plants or pets."
The cats are an 8-year-old domestic shorthair with one blue eye and one green eye, a 4-year-old female diluted tortie, and a 7-year-old silver/white polydactyl tabby.
They're all social and up-to-date on their shots. (To offer to help, call Janet at 214-671-0308 or e-mail janet.henderson@dallascityhall.com.)
HELPING A DOG AND A FAMILY IN A SHELTER: Yep, once again, animal people showing they are people people, too. Terry DeGaw of Serenity Springs Animal Rescue and Sanctuary has taken on a project.
"This little 'Lady' is now at Toothacre Kennels where I have been boarding her for almost 3 weeks now. Her owner contacted me from a Family Shelter in McKinney where she is staying with her six children. Lady was living in the car until the police were advised of the situation and I was contacted. The owner's car was reposessed with Lady in it. The man that took the car transported Lady to a 'foster' home but that didn't work out as there was a puppy there that had just been spayed and they were playing too hard and the owner was fearful the sutures would be compromised."
Terry has been in touch with Lady's owner and the woman "would really like to keep her dog. She is still at the family shelter so if we could find a foster home until she can get a job and a home, that would be great."
To contact Terry to help this dog and the family, e-mal serenitysprings@wisewb.com.
WHAT ABOUT CHUCKLES? Good grief, how can a cute dog like Chuckles continually be overlooked? That's the question that our Corsicana tipster Julie Maupin is asking. This calm, sweet, 3-year-old Beagle/Basset mix is leash-trained, working on his potty-training and current on his shots at the Corsicana Animal Shelter. (The Humane Society of Navarro County has spoken up for neutering chuckles and getting him micro-chipped.)
Julie writes, "The Blessing of the Animals will be at St. John's Episcopal Church this Thursday afternoon in Corsicana and Chuckles will be our ambassador. DI sincerely hope that he is unable to attend because he'll already be home!"
You can see Chuckles and other Corsicana critters at www.corsicanapets.com. The shelter is at 612 S. 12th. Call 903-654-4928 to ask about Chuckles.
He does look like he ought to be named Chuckles, doesn't he?
A BURNS FLAT STORY: Relentless rescuer Terry Lynn Fisher of Burns Flat, Okla., sends us a note about these two dogs.
She says they "were starving to death. The owners had money to buy beer and cigarettes but not dog food....Neighbors said they used to sit out back and throw a piece of hot dog in the middle 
and get the enjoyment of watching them fight. Both have little scars on their young faces from trying to get a little scrap of food.
"they have been in a pen together and not fought. I just do not want to leave them alone together right now until they learn they will have food of their own and not have to fight for it.
"I know everyone is so busy right now and full as can be, but, please, after the cruelty they have know, they need to see that people are good and people offer food everyday, not just once in a while."
To offer to adopt or to help these fellows, call Terry Lynn at 580-660-1344.
"When you sit in the kennel," she says, "They actually climb on your lap to be loved. They deserve so much more than the drunken idiots that owned them gave."
CHOWING DOWN FOR CHARITY: Gail Whelan of Companion Animal Network, which took in a dozen new dogs over the weekend, will benefit Tuesday when people dine at the Dickey's Barbecue Pit at 7770 Forest Lane, just west of Central Expressway and across from Medical City.
The restaurant will donate 10 percent of its sales from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. to CAN, Gail says.
A DIFFERENT BREED'S BIG SALE: The folks with A Different Breed are taking a day off from "pure adoption" to host a garage sale on Saturday, we hear from ADB's Caroline Parkhill.
The garage sale's set for 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on the parking lot at the Black-Eyed Pea at 3857 Cedar Springs in Dallas. (The adoption is usually at Pepper Square in North Dallas -- and they'll be back to adoption business at usual there on Oct. 13, we're told.)
Among the things for sale are "lots of great items" from board members and volunteers and "wonderful items that Legacy Trading Company donated" before closing its West Village site.
BULLOWEEN 2007: Goodness, it really is the Halloween season, isn't it. We hear from the folks at Lone Star Bulldog Rescue that the annual Bulloween festival for humans and pets is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at The Cape. Admission is $5 for adults and kits -- pets get in free. The admission includes entry fee in contests and awards and a goody bag.
The Cape is at 2704 Worthington St.
There'll be vendors and the raffling of the Bulldog Rescue quilt (See the photo at the Bulldog site HERE.) There'll be contests and a Bulldog Kissing Booth. (Whoa! Bring a towel!)
And there'll be a bully Cakewalk -- $1 a ticket for a chance to win a cake.
This cartoon bulldog came off the official flyer for Bulloween. It's just too artistic not to use as an attention-grabber for this item.
There'll be costume contests, too, and if I had a bulldog it would be really tempting to dress the rascal like Winston Churchill -- that would be better than trying to dress one as other historical figures such as Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan.
ASSORTED NOTES: If all the buttons have been pushed correctly by me, when you click on the little photo, you'll get a BIG picture of a chained dog and a flyer from Companions For Life explaining that tethering a dog improperly in Texas is against the law. You can print it out and present it to offenders -- you'll be doing them a favor -- helping them avoid a legal problem while saving a dog. There are rules, thanks to the Texas Legislature and the hardworking animal lobby that brought this problem to their attention. Geez, can you imagine living your life on a chain in a yard with little interaction and no good protection from the extremes of weather? You wouldn't do that to a dog -- oh, wait, some people will do that to a dog. Let's either help them behave or help them to the courthouse. ... Husky Haven in Houston is attempting to win $5,000 worth of Purina dog food. All you have to do is go to the Husky Haven site HERE and vote for Rummy, a blind rescued husky. Oh, before you click the site, turn your speakers down -- you don't want to upset every howling dog in your office. .... Rhonda Barrientos of Citizens for Irving Animals tells us that Ghost, the 34-pound cat surrendered to the Irving Animal Shelter last week has been taken in by Furever Friends. ... Our Ohio tipster, Mary O'Connor-Shaver of Columbus, tips us to some good news from New Mexico -- pet people are linked up all over the place. It seems the Farmington city government has established a $500 fine for anybody selling live animals from the curb or the corner or any place that's not sane. (I'm pretty sure that last phrase isn't in the law, but it is within the "spirit" of the law.) Click HERE to read the story in the Farmington Daily News. ... HART (the Humane Animal Rescue Team) is sponsoring a micro-chipping event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Hurst Animal Services, 891 Cannon Drive, in Hurst. Cost is $20 for the HomeAgain Microchip. Call 214-332-9535 for more info. ... Get your clubs. The ISC Group's 2007 Tiger Tournament benefiting In-Sync Exotics in Wylie is scheduled for 8 a.m. Oct. 12 at The Golf Club Castle Hills in Lewisville. Entry fee is $100 and includes green fees, cart, practice balls, lunch and chances to win prizes. To ask about playing, e-mail golf@iscgroup.com or call 214-520-1115.
AFTER THE TRIAL: Though I am elated to be out of a courtroom this week (and I'm sure I'm not alone), it was a privilege to watch Judge Michael Snipes' Criminal Court No. 7 at work.
It was privilege to sit in that room and hear the quick guilty verdict in the animal abuse case that sent Mercy the Dog's killer to prison. He got four years -- maybe he'll have to do all of them. I'd use his name but he doesn't have a number yet. I don't know how he'll pay the $5,000 fine -- there's not a lottery machine in the lockup and I'm not sure he's been saving up for a rainy day.
Whatever the case, animal shelters and rescue groups ought to hand out flyers that remind people that mistreating an animal could put your fanny in the jailhouse. This Mercy case is a first step in teaching bad elements that society intends to enforce its felony animal cruelty law. There will be other cases -- that is the sad state of human nature.
But it is the duty of the animal community now not to just say, "That's over" and move on. It's not over. This decision needs to echo through the years.
Every time someone thinks "I'll tape the dog's legs, throw it into the weeds and drive away" or "I'll bag the kittens and throw them into a trash bin," they need to think first of the fate of the Mercy killer. He is a convict forever.
Sure, that Mercy trial is over -- Judge Michael Snipes has gaveled it done. The trial is over -- but the law continues. It wasn't just aimed at one punk in custody -- it was aimed at anyone who abuses an animal.
Most of us follow the law. Those who won't follow the law must be made to fear the law. They need to know without question that society will use the law against them just as surely as you cannot see a sunrise, a snowfall or bluebonnets from inside a prison cell.
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