A look at life: dogs, circus elephants and Doris Day...

Though we have wintry temperatures in Texas today, Readlarrypowell.com has an autumnal cornucopia of info and opportunities today. It’s a roundup of rescues, missing dogs, a return by a beloved star and a very touching tribute to a beloved dog named Shiloh.
We’ll even have a note about PETA’s successful investigation of the way the "Greatest Show on Earth" treated elephants and other animals – in violation of the Animal Welfare Act. Bullhooks and beatings. Read on:
AND NOW, A MAKEOVER: Oh, this makeover didn’t occur in the most ideal of situations, but the fact that it occurred at all is a bit of a miracle.
What you see here is a little dog who is in the custody of the rescue group Mazie’s Mission and has been all cleaned up! Now she just needs a place to go.
Veteran rescuer Patty Sprong explains that Mazie’s Mission (the rescue started by Dr. Erin Shults) “took 9 of the dogs that were seized in Collin County recently... We have a bunch of Chihuahuas now, along with a Pom, a Yorkie and a Boston Terrier. All of them are on their way to a better life.
“One Lhasa Apso or Shih Tzu mix was horribly matted and had an awful ear infection. You can see her before and after pictures. She must be in heaven now!
“Connie Eppley  at Custer-McDermott Animal Hospital donated her time to groom all the dogs we pulled! We are so grateful to her.”
This particular little dog will need some extra care, perhaps, because of the ear infection which was allowed to rage – she probably has suffered hearing loss, but she is on the rebound, Patty says.
To ask about adopting any animal via the Frisco-based rescue, go to www.maziesmission.org.
MEMORIES OF SHILOH: Our Prayers and Passages page (click on that button in the upper right corner of this page) has a tribute to Shiloh by his human, Lynn Gatlin. Regular readers recognize her name because she and hubby Tony are the rescuers at Project Pawz in Corsicana and we’ve written about them and their efforts for years. The whole time they’ve been working with other animals, they’ve had a constant canine, Shiloh. Last Friday, they lost Shiloh to natural causes and, Lynn says, “We’re both beyond heartbroken. Only other dog people truly understand the emptiness you feel when you lose one of your own.  We can only hope Shiloh knew how much we loved him and was at peace, feeling he had a life fulfilled when he passed.  Oh how we loved that boy.”
Go to Prayers & Passages and take a box of tissue with you. Be sure to come back and read about opportunities to help other animals.
BE ON THE LOOKOUT: Two Weimeraners have been missing in Dallas’ North Oak Cliff for nearly two weeks, but there have been sightings, says their human Ryan Hall.
He’s papered the neighborhood, cyber-papered the internet and brought in Doggone Pet Detectives to track the dogs. To see the flyer with phone numbers, click here.
If you know the whereabouts of these two dogs, e-mail ryanhall66@gmail.com or call 214-228 3053  214-810-0248.
Ryan says the dogs are Maggie and Emma and “we've had confirmed sightings at Sylvan and Fort Worth Avenue, and at Vilbig around the Police Impound yard. The last sighting was [Sunday] and tracking dogs put them around Hampton between Commerce and Singleton.”
(Larry aside: You may recall that last week the on-the-lam dog Wigs was believed to have been in the vicinity of the Dallas auto pound on Vilbig on the north side of I-30, but was found  a couple of miles away at Kidd Springs Park on the southside of the freeway. The message is, I guess, dogs keep moving sometimes.)
According to Ryan, “Emma is 2 and has lived here since she was 10 weeks.  She is the Blue Weim.  Maggie is the silver, is 9, and has lived here for 6 years.  They know the neighborhood pretty well, but the trackers and spottings have all happened outside of what I would consider the neighborhood.”
There is a reward for their safe return.
They appear to have wandered into a tougher neighborhood than they should be in – the West Dallas area that is known for rough treatment of animals. Ryan feels this hurts their chances of recovery because people are not as sensitive to their needs. As many rescuers can attest, his fears are well-founded.
WHEN THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN: The next time the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus comes to Dallas and Fort Worth – a visit to each city each summer for decades – there’ll should be a new staffer with the show. This person --- employed by the circus as per a settlement with the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- is to be assigned exclusively to make certain the circus follows the regulations of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act,, according to Delcianna Winders, the Director of Captive Animal Law Enforcement for PETA (People For Ethical Treatment of Animals).
PETA announced yesterday that because of its years long investigation into the use of bullhooks and other painful training methods on elephants, Feld Entertainment Inc., parent company of the famous circus, had been fined $270,000 – most ever -- for “violations of the Animal Welfare Act dating from June 2007 to August 2011.”
[Aside: The fine was an administrative settlement and not the result of a court case.]
Director Winders says Feld has already paid the fine – “They would not have paid the fine if they were innocent,” she says. The money goes into the U.S. general treasury – it is not earmarked for animal protection.
While none of the specific evidence presented to the USDA was from appearances in Dallas or Fort Worth, Director Winders says the illegal methods cited were employed throughout the circus’ tour. Also cited was the training method used on baby elephants at circus headquarters in Florida and treatment of other animals, including using the same scoop for feces as for food for the big cats.
And, in case you wondered, bullhooks look like fireplace pokers and have a big nasty hook that is used to yank the animals into a desired position or influence them to perform.
You can see elephant training and beating videotaped by PETA operatives at the website www.ringlingbeatsanimals.com.
You will wince.
And, just FYI, PETA’s Captive Law Enforcement Division also monitors zoos.
CONTEMPLATIONS: From an organization infamous for exploiting captive animals we move to a star famous for helping them, Doris Day. Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d get to type: Doris Day is releasing a new album. The legendary movie star/singer and animal welfare angel has compiled a new album of songs and it’ll be in stores and available online on Dec. 2—that’s Friday. The announcement is all over the World Wide Web, so just Google Doris Day and new album and it’ll show you what’s on the “platter,” as we used to say in the old days. In the meantime, enjoy this Doris Day recording HERE. ... I’ve always found the circus boring – almost as big a crime as beating and mistreating the animals. (Went to the big one once -- that was enough.) Always thought it would be more exciting to have everybody work without nets, including the guy shot out of the cannon who, if there is justice, would be one of those bullhook beaters aimed into a big cage of irritated lions and tigers. Now, THAT would be a great show and answere the question, "How fast can a human climb out of a cage?" ... I think I’m going to go wake up the dogs and hug them, pick up the cats and rub their tummies.  If idiots turned elephants loose in Kiest Park near our house, I’m sure we’d have the city limit on those guys, too.
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