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As we move toward a holiday...

What is the first bird you think of at this time of year?
Yes, the tofurkey comes to mind. But tofurkey is, I’ve decided, an acquired taste. Even the free range tofurkey has a lingering outdoorsy flavor and you always have to look out for the birdshot.
Having long been a vegetarian, I annually eschew chewing the American Gobbler on the American Holiday.
I only bring this up because I know there are readers who will be leaving today for a week away from their computers, a week spent in celebration of a genuine family holiday and, of course, football.
Travel safely and return and, while you are gone, find a computer and click on Readlarrypowell.com. We need the holiday hits.
That photo? That is a picture of really young Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas and our family link to Thanksgiving. This is the passport photo he used on his voyage with the Pilgrims and it was later converted into his ID for his library card.
Now, on with today’s report. which will include a Grand Prairie Earhound named Lola:
MEANWHILE, AT DALLAS ANIMAL SERVICES: This is going to be kind of a stream of consciousness report on Thursday’s Dallas Animal Shelter Commission meeting – not comprehensive, but perhaps the high points. (FYI: The meeting drew 3 ½ audience members – the half being a reporter who left early, Remember, always plenty of room for citizen/spectators to witness democracy at work.)
 Here we go with some of the things gleaned from the 3-hour meeting in 6E South, the coldest room at Dallas City Hall:
--Speaking of Thanksgiving, we can’t say for certain that there is a turkey at Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center today, but soon we might be able to tell right away.
How’s that? As we learned at Thursday’s meeting, the shelter will soon be listed on Petharbor.com, a national system that allows people to look at animals in a shelter. The shelter will remain on Petfinder.com, also. Among the differences between the two: PetHarbor.com is geared to lost and found and PetFinder is geared to adoption and Harbor provides automated instant update of listings while PetFinder is a little more labor intensive at the shelter end but that may change, too.
--Procedures within the shelter are changing so that animals will have a better chance of going to adoption rather than “to the lab,” the shelterspeak for the room where they’re euthanized.  The shelter is changing its methods of assessing animals for adoption, for rescue and for, well, you know.
-- In Oct.  2011, the shelter adopted out 387 dogs and 60 cats – the figures for Oct. 2010 were 182 dogs and 36 cats.  In Oct. 2010, the shelter euthanized 1,130 dog and 578 cats.  In Oct. 2011, the shelter euthanized 1160 dogs and 196 cats.
-- Procedures for gathering animal data in the shelter also are being adjusted to better track the reasons animals wind up there. The goal is, as Shelter Manager Jody Jones says, “change the flow of the animals” from into to out of the shelter.
-- Work on the Dallas Companion Animal Project, the no-kill task force, continues with many interesting suggestions for turning Dallas into a no-kill city arriving in the task force suggestion box. You can make suggestions by going to the Project website HERE. Shelter Manager Jody Jones told the commission that it’s a great feeling “when you have a staff member come up and hug you and say ‘Thank God. We’ve been waiting for this'.”
--The State Fair of Texas adoption booth operated by DAS and DFW Rescue Me had 150 “placements.” And the Howl-O-Ween Psychic Pet Fair at the shelter scored the largest single-day adoption in the shelter’s history – 59 that Saturday and 82 for the whole weekend. That was the first weekend of “bargain” adoptions at the shelter – reduced fees for special occasions. And during December, the half-off fees will be applied each Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
--More volunteers are needed to help with shelter operations. Get in touch with the shelter. The website is www.dallasanimalservices.org. Speaking of volunteers, while the commission was meeting, one of the current volunteers, Andy Allen, a former commission member, e-mailed the poster you see above – it advertises the Creature Comfort campaign being undertaken to make sure the shelter’s animals have good, warm places to sleep during the winter nights. Click on the poster to make it larger.  The pup was at the shelter; the kitten is photoshopped, but there’s probably a matching cat at the shelter.
--Apparently a zillion little things are changing at the shelter: The way animals are housed. Segregating contagious from non-contagious, etc. Using cage cards to describe what the animal in the cage needs (medicines, special care, etc.).  The way animals are photographed at intake. The way they’re assessed at intake. The way shelter tool are packaged and provided to workers. The way shelter items are inventoried.  [FYI: The recently arrived shelter manager Jody Jones, is a veteran animal shelter professional and not a municipal employee who got the job through perseverance and pursuit of promotions.)
--Code Compliance Manager Joey Zapata -- Animal Services is under Code Co mpliance -- said the city is working on a way to “wrap” the shelter’s vehicles with advertising for the shelter and its services rather than having them roll around with the barebones lettering on the doors or back.
--There’s a hang-up on contracting with the SPCA of Texas to get its cruelty officers to function as the City of Dallas cruelty officers. Only the SPCA met the carefully written guidelines for the bidding process. But the holdup is over whether the Cruelty Officers would be commissioned police officers. That would involve training and legal matters. In the meantime, the city’s cruelty officers continue to function in that capacity.
--Look for more changes and more advertising and, indeed, more events for the public involving Dallas Animal Services.  And you can look for it specifically at the next Animal Shelter Commission meeting on Dec. 8 – time and place TBA. In the meantime, there are available animals at the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center.
EARHOUND PLAYS WITH BALL: I think that’s the title of a Picasso painting. Well, maybe not. But that is more than the NBA can say right now.
But we got the photo from Debbie Barclay, the veteran shelter walker, volunteer and advisory board member at Grand Prairie’s Prairie Paws Adoption Center.
This is 2-year-old Lola (She’s officially A097070). Lola is said to be a Staffordshire mix. With those big pointy ears the family tree includes either some sort of German Shepherd or a kangaroo, you think?
Lola is an “urgent” at the shelter. If someone doesn’t take her soon, she’ll be euthanized.
She’s friendly and loves to play with the big ball. “Lola is one of my favorites,” Debbie Says. The young dog “LOVES to play with the ball” and entertain herself.
To ask about adopting her, get in touch with the Prairie Paws Center at 972-237-8575 (option "0"). See more Grand Prairie animals HERE.  To ask about helping Lola dodge the needle, the contacts at Grand Prairie are: Jerry Horn at 972-237-8571 (cell: 972-897-3066; e-mail jhorn@gptx.org) or Anna Dodwell at 972-237-8568 (cell:  214-726-2511; e-mail adodwell@gptx.org).
MEANWHILE IN BURNS FLAT: Holy smoke. Holy smoke. Talk about small town situations. We hear of this one from the hardworking and admired rescuer in Burns Flat, Okla., Terry Lynn Fisher.
You’ll note the photos of two cute babies and a smiling Boxer mom.
Terry Lynn reports “I received a call from the Town Hall this morning [Thursday] about a Boxer and two tiny babies left in a backyard. I went to look. It was from the same idiot family I have pulled so many before.  Last summer, I took some babies that had thousands of ticks.
“The people were evicted but have not moved out yet...they are staying elsewhere, and left these innocent ones in the backyard. They had no shelter, food, or water. The momma is very skinny. Babies are skinny, but belly is bloated with worms.
“The neighbor threw food over the fence. I poured some puppy food over and gave them water. I was planning to go get a dog house, but as I looked back, the momma looked at me with such sadness, I KNEW I would not be leaving them. I called our police and asked him to come stand by, for I was pulling them. My son took them to the vet. I have no room anywhere, so they will stay there until I can move them to rescue.
“I will need help...I have been swamped at the pound and have had so many at the vet. I cannot handle this alone.”
To help Terry Lynn with this little family of neglected dogs, e-mail remembering_oddball@yahoo.com or call 580-330-1459.
CONTEMPLATIONS:  Why do people treat animals so shabbily when it is more rewarding to treat them decently? ... Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving? Thankgiving Eve? How about a favorite Thanksgiving poem.  ... OK, we’ve talked around this as long as possible. The devil is at work in Major League Baseball, moving the Houston Astros into the American League. In life, is change always necessary? A pal of mine suggests this is an attempt to avoid sagging attendance so Major League Baseball is “going the Miss America route. Make things even worse by tinkering around. Soon, the World Series will be broadcast from Vegas on CMT.”
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From critters to nuts -- a day in Dallas...

Here we go with a Thursday report. Please adjust your helmets and pads, remember the rules of conduct and read on.
Oh, I’m kidding. You probably won’t need a helmet and pads – though, of course, if you drive in Dallas, it’s not a bad idea to suit up for the ride. After all, in Dallas we have to dodge people, potholes and construction.
Reminder: as we noted yesterday, Dallas Animal Shelter Commission meets at 1:30 p.m. in Room 6E South at Dallas City Hall. Among items on the agenda, the no-kill task force’s progress, shelter information and other animal-related topics. That mug belongs to a dog at the Dallas Animal Shelter – more on him later.
MAGGIE MAY’S SITUATION: Go ahead and try to get Rod Stewart’s song out of your head. Don’t even think “Wake up Maggie....” Sorry. But you could have worse songs stuck in your head.
Now, here’s the deal on this dog. Blind. No eyes at all. Perhaps born that way. Doesn't keep Maggie May from chowing down on a chew stick, as you can see in this photo.
We first learned of this dog from longtime tipster and rescuer Christie Hansen. She’d been in touch with Vicki Stecher of Terrell about Maggie May because the year-old dog needs a new home.
Vicki says, “She was given to me by my brother, who got her from the man who owned her mother. She was born blind and literally does not have eyes. It is not a noticeable absence when you look at her as her fur and skin are dark in that area and she does not act in any way like a blind dog. Most people, upon hearing she is blind say, ‘You are kidding me! Are you sure she can't see something? Surely she can see some light. Look at her.’"
Maggie’s spirit impressed her brother and that’s why he brought her home. Vicki and her brother have homes on a large farm and neither home has a fenced yard.  Maggie had been an outside dog since her birth, but in her early days, she was with her mother and had a guiding companion.
Vicki says that at her brother’s home Maggie “would sleep on his porch and play with his children and run with him each morning, staying right beside his feet. He finally gave her up because he was afraid his house was too busy and she would get run over. He gave her to me because I had a blind cat for 14 years. (She was also born blind due to the mother having feline distemper while carrying kittens.) ...Maggie is very unique. She is absolutely fearless and if she is curious about something she dives right in. She believes the vacuum cleaner is an evil thing that needs to be tamed and she will come after it whenever it is on. She chases the cat, although they are friends and will sleep together sometimes. The chase is a determined type of play, not a "kill the cat" kind of chase. The cat does get tired of it and hides from her. She is incredibly persistent. “
So, why does Maggie need a home. Vicki explains, “The reason we would like to place Maggie is not because we don't love her. We do. But I have four children, two who are babies, and Maggie charges up and down the stairs in such a manner that we fear she would knock them off the stairwell (many close calls.) She also knocks the baby over a lot...by running by too close or brushing up against her or flat out running into her. She is not good with chickens (we have free range chickens and she has never killed one but she does chase them) or rabbits (which my sons raise for 4H and she is waaaay too interested in them.) The truth is, we would not have chosen Maggie to be our dog. She is too high maintenance for us and we are too distracted to meet her needs. For her to be completely safe she needs to have a fenced yard and an indoor home. We just couldn't say no when she was given to us because we knew there was no one who was going to say yes.”
So, who takes a dog like this? It has to be someone understanding and devoted to the dog. Vicki says, “If someone is interested in trying her out, I would be willing to take her back if it did not work out. I understand that she is not going to fit into just any home.”
To ask about a try-out with Maggie May, contact Vicki at stecher@runbox.com.
LOOKING FOR ONE DOG AND FOUND A MASTIFF: Claire Van Den Berg, a veteran foster mom and rescuer, sent out a note earlier in the week in hopes of finding her dog Nelson who took advantage of an open door and ran off through her Dallas neighborhood.
As proof that the system can work, some good soul found Nelson and left him at Dallas Animal Services’ night drop and connections were made. But while Claire was at the shelter, she ran across another dog in need.
And when I e-mailed her to check on the Nelson story, she told me he’d been found, then asked, “Do you know of any Mastiff rescues?”
Why? Because, she said, “There's a beautiful male in the shelter. ...He's not neutered, he's scrawny, big and sweet as a bug. I'd love to find a good home for him. ... I walked him around the play area. Very sweet guy, gave kisses and extremely gentle..”
You can ask about the mastiff by contacting Dallas Animal Services through the website www.dallasanimalservices.org.
THEN THERE’S THE BIG THREE-LEGGED DOG: A couple of days ago we mentioned the EARS (Education & Animal Rescue Society) 3 p.m. “Whine and Cheese” fundraiser at Veritas Wine Room in Dallas.
Michelle Ferrer, a volunteer with EARS sent a thank-you note and explained, “We’ve taken in some expensive health problems this year, so every dollar helps. Lincoln is case in point.  Lincoln is a brindle plot mix who came in as a pup with an old injury to a hind leg. While he was getting around, it was clear that time would not be kind to him because of that injury. So, the decision was made to amputate the leg. You wouldn’t know it to watch him run over to you and plop his plothound head right in your lap and slurp you a kiss. Good guy!”
He’s 9 months old – he’d been struck by a car when he was really young and was “taken to a local high-kill shelter. EARS saved Lincoln on the day he was to be put to sleep,” Michelle says.
The photos of Lincoln are by Ted Hindes of FR8Dog Photography.
And, in case you wondered, Lincoln is missing his left rear leg. Michelle says, “ His foster says he tires out when he’s WALKING more quickly than he should, but he can run all day.  Go figure!”
To ask about giving Lincoln a home, e-mail adoptions@earstexas.org.
A HOMELESS EARHOUND: This is Bailey, still looking for a home, says  Deborah Lynn Verner, the longtime rescuer of animals along Malloy Bridge Road in southeast Dallas.
Here’s Bailey’s story, according to her rescuer: “In July 2010, Little Bailey was rescued from a desolate back road near Seagoville at what’s called the Tree Farm. She was obviously dumped with her pregnant Mom, Sadie, out in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, or shelter of any kind. [She is] an approximately 2 year old petite Boston Terrier mix. She has high energy, loves to run through the house, plays fetch, loves squeak toys, and loves to snuggle on the couch. ... She is very sweet, and is a ball of endless energy. She gets along with other dogs, and cats.  The only exception comes to food, where she is food aggressive with other dogs (but, not to people).  Also, she tends to play rough with other dogs.”
To ask about adopting this 41-pound, fully vetted and healthy dog, e-mail dtrevino60@aol.com.
And, FYI for those of you with memories: That Sadie mentioned in Deb’s report is the Sadie who delivered 9 puppies at Dwana Carabajal’s house. There may still be some of those pups left. If not, there will be others who took their place in the revolving cast of the long-running show  “Homeless Pups on Parade.”
FUNDRAISING FOOD AND PHOTOGRAPHS:
-- Animal Allies of Texas has a couple of things. From 11 a.m. to closing today, Angelos’s Italian Grill, 6341 La Vista, Dallas, will donate 25 percent of the proceeds from diner’s meals to AAT.
On Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m. Animal Allies is hosting Santa photos at Vhea’s Laundromutt, 718 N. Buckner, in Dallas. . Details are on the Animal Allies of Texas website’s event calendar HERE. Photos start at $10. Cash only.
--The Greyhound Adoption League of Texas will host photos with Santa on Saturday and Sunday at Holidays for the Hounds studio, 5302 Beltline Road in Addison. Details are at www.galtx.org.
CONEMPLATIONS: It is not unusual to have a discussion about real nuts in Dallas – considering the people we allow to run loose around here and hold office, discussing real nuts is a daily event. However there are real nuts in Dallas – acorns, the product of oak trees. My pal Lee Zethraus has a bumper crop at her house. There is an old folk tale that says the more acorns you have, the rougher the coming winter will be. Oh, my.
Anyway, Lee wonders if there’s anything  for which acorns can be used. So, not concerned with veracity or accuracy, I looked it up on the internet. I found that the leading suggestions for acorn use are (1) food for hogs – but who has hogs in Dallas?; (2) boil them and use the water to treat poison ivy and (3)shell, allow to dry and grind into powder for baking into muffins. Nobody online said they were good muffins.  My suggestion was to paint the acorns to look like Santa and sell them as ornaments. We’ll entertain practical suggestions for acorn placement. Just click on “comments” below.  Share the acorn tree of knowledge.
I remember being amazed several years ago when I saw someone selling a bag of about 10 pine cones for $15 dollars. When I was a kid, pine cones were hand grenades when you played war. Who knew they were a commodity? I guess acorns could be sold to kids as “organic ammo.” One more thing: Anyone out in West Texas want to buy some leaves? $5 a dozen. Let me know.
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Of Autumn and Earhounds ... and contemplations

Ah, the 16^th of November. Autumn colors have arrived, so, with a beautiful background, we begin today’s report with a beautiful Earhound.
And, don't forget, the open-to-the-public Dallas Animal Shelter Commission meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 6E South at City Hall. See the agenda HERE.
THE BEDFORD EARHOUND: This dog, Lady Bird, is the symbol of a new effort to expose more adoptable Bedford, Texas, animals to the world. And, of course, there is NO doubt that Lady Bird is a genuine Earhound. Kind of has a toothy grin, too.
Other shelters and groups have been using Facebook and now the Bedford officials have allowed animal supporters to help. It is a move of enlightenment. Bedford knows citizens can help. Maryann Izzarelli, whose working on this project with Marie Bond, sent us this note: “I am the administrator for our volunteer Facebook page for the Bedford Animal Shelter. I wanted to share Lady Bird...She's a definite Earhound and is looking for a home.”
You can see the new Bedford Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bedfordanimalshelter, and click on album to see the animals.
Maryann says the page was developed because “there isn't a ton of foot traffic at the shelter. You can visit the shelter at 1809 Reliance Parkway in Bedford. Phone 817-952-2192. The traditional link to Bedford Animal Services is HERE.
A FUR PROTEST: While some people use Facebook to spread the news of adoptable animals, today PETA is using it to spread the news of an animal protest in Dallas – part of PETA’s Global Day of Action called “Fur-Free Friday.”
The rally is scheduled for 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25 (yep, the big Black Friday shopping day after Thanksgiving), at the Downtown Dallas Neman Marcus, 1618 Main.
The Facebook link to the protest is HERE and you’ll note that the local organizer, Animal Connection of Texas, says the protest will be joined by “our brothers and sisters in the Occupy Dallas movement.”
That’s the latest, according to the Facebook site. Things can change. But PETA’s fur protest is a tradition.
MEANWHILE AT DALLAS ANIMAL SERVICES:  Dogs on the Very Special Pets list that were scheduled to be killed today at the Dallas Animal Services shelter got an overnight reprieve and the seven dogs have until 5 p.m. Sunday – and then it’s curtains if nobody helps them.
They’ve all – including this guy  47-pound, year-old Mr. Ellis – adoptable after spending 45 days in the shelter with nary a nibble.
The adoption contacts are Catherine.baxter@dallascityhall.com, nicole.self@dallascityhall.com or teresa.cleek@dallascityhall.com. Or call 214-671-0249 or 214-670-8312. To get the VSP animals into a rescue group, e-mail mark.cooper@dallascityhall.com or call 214-670-8298.
REMEMBER THIS LOUNGING DOG? Back on Oct. 19 we wrote about Jennifer London’s efforts to save several dogs from life in a field in West Dallas. She already had a dog she’d picked up from elsewhere in the area, Sox. Here’s the followup (and it’s a continuing story).
This morning, Jennifer writes, “Just wanted to spread some good news to my fellow animal advocates.  A few weeks back I wrote to many of you regarding a few homeless dogs in a field, as well as a homeless dog named Sox-we found him pretty skinny and he appeared to have been dumped.  Well Sweet Sox has found his permanent home with a family I personally know. He has been neutered thanks to the good folks at MAC (Metroplex Animal Coalition), has been given all of his shots, treated for worms,
fleas, etc., and is undergoing heartworm treatment.  One more animal saved!
“Also, since he has been adopted it has opened up some room at the London Hotel for animals and Henry one of the homeless dogs living in the field is now at the house.  He got neutered along with all of his shots yesterday!  While Hank and Hazel are still in the field, we have at least gotten two of the four off of the streets and will continue to work until they are all safe.
“Thank you guys for all of your efforts in helping me find help for these guys.  Even if we didn't get any "bites" it is at least an encouragement to me, their human friend.
“Warmly,
“Jennifer London.”
See, there absolutely IS room for civility in animal welfare and rescue. To help Jennifer with the rest of these unwanted dogs or to give Henry a home, e-mail jennifer@wblondon.com.
ONE-OF-A-KIND-KITTEN: Yes, I’m pretty sure this is the only kitten of its kind in the United States.
Well, at least it’s the only one that was found wandering and is now pictured here.
We got his story from our longtime small cat and big cat tipster Cathie Desell who was in touch with the cat-finder, rescuer Nida Colao. Cathie says that in addition to working with feral cat groups, Nida ”also helps collect money and cat food for a security guard who feeds several large cat colonies up and down Greenville. She and her group have also helped him trap the cats and get them to Kittico.”
So, here, then, is this one loveable, adoptable fixed and ready-to-go kitten, courtesy of a Dallas rescuer.
Cathie says, “I would think about taking him in, but I am concerned that one of my cats, an old streete cat that has decided he loves me – or at least a nice soft bed and good food twice a day – would kill  the kitten.”
To ask about adopting this tranquil formerly wandering Dallas kitten, e-mail bcolao@sbcglobal.net.
CONTEMPLATIONS: One of the things I’ve discovered – and I’m not the first to spot this – is that while days can drag on, years go by in a flash. This year, for example.  ... The best sleep: Sleeping late without waking or getting up, saying “I’m fed up with this” and going back to bed? Yeah, I did the second one today. ...Agree or disagree: When it comes to politics and the administration, I wish I could be smarter, but I REALLY wish OTHER people were smarter.
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On Tuesday, a roundup and contemplations

Let’s see what we can round up today in the way of animal news and wisecracks in general.
Maybe we’ll even find some happy hours to discuss. For now, let’s shoot for a whole happy day.
Aside: Anybody ever look at your pup and sing, as if you were a member of the Edwin Hawkins Singers, “O, happy dog! O haaapppy dawww-ogg...O here’s a snack, lemme scratch your back......”
Yeah, dogs and cats put up with a lot out of their humans. Do you wonder if one of them ever says to the other, “Yeah, I’ve got him trained to sing.  Watch this...”
A SHOW OF SUPPORT: There was a time in Dallas County when the only way to get an animal cruelty case prosecuted would have been to spray paint the DA’s favorite hunting dog day-glo green – that might have been considered a felony. Maybe. Seriously, it just didn’t happen.  But office-holders change, laws change and, now and then, something evolves for the better.
We got a note from Martha Hardwick Hofmeister, the Dallas attorney who created what her fans know as “The Marthanet” – a computer network of animal people helping animals.
She has done something  else notable this week. She sent a thank-you note to David Alex, the Assistant District Attorney who prosecuted the Tyron McGill/cat in the wall case.
In her note to Mr. Alex, Martha wrote, “I don’t understand the jury’s verdict, but I appreciate that the City of Dallas took seriously Mr. McGill’s dereliction of duty, lack of compassion and animal cruelty. You and your colleagues, especially Mr. [Assistant DA Brandon] Birmingham and Mr. [District Attorney Craig] Watkins are to be commended. The trial did make a difference for the companion animals of Dallas.”
You may recall that a jury delivered a not guilty verdict in the animal cruelty trial last week. The unwanted, unnamedcat died a cruel death after being left inside the shelter wall for many, many days, mewing in the dark and wearing its claws to nubs while trying to escape.
The jury apparently voted either “no crime” or “not that guy” – we’ll never know. They left the courthouse without explaining the verdict -- not required to by law.
In case you want to send a thank-you note or word of praise, the mailing address is David Alex, Administrative Chief, Division C, Frank Crowley Courts Building, 133 N. Industrial Boulevard LB 19, Dallas, Texas, 75207-4399. E-mail is DAVID.ALEX@dallascounty.org.
And, in case you want to help an animal, there are still plenty in the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center. That cat is Lola, a 3-year-old tortie who is declawed – yep, have to be an indoor cat. And that happy dog is Blackie, a young Dobie/Lab mix. Both have been in the shelter for 45 days or longer without any interest and both are healthy and adoptable and both are on the euthanasia list for Wednesday. To ask about adopting or rescuing them contact the shelter via www.dallasanimalservices.org.
IT’S THE FACES:  They’re in every shelter, these faces that say either “I’m happy to see you” or “I don’t know where my humans are, but I hope you’re not going to hurt me.”
Yesterday we spotlighted Rayjon, this big smiling black dog from the Carrollton Animal Services Shelter.
Today we’re spotlighting another big black dog from the Carrollton shelter, Kingston, described as a Chocolate Lab, about 2 years old, and is needing a  home because, according to the shelter report “his people ... could no longer afford to care for him.”
What in the world could happy Rayjon and concerned Kingston have in common?
They’re both going to die by the needle Wednesday if nobody rescues them from the Carrollton Animal Services Shelter.
Just like that – an instant – dogs that once felt the promise of affection and care, will be deader than doornails. Doesn’t seem fair, does it.
To offer to save these dogs or any animal at the Carrollton shelter, contact CARE (Carrollton Animal Rescue Enterprise) at  972-466-3420 or email CARE@cityofcarrollton.com.
A COUPLE OF GATHERINGS ON BEHALF OF ANIMALS
-- This one is called “Whine and Cheese” and it benefits EARS (Education & Animal Rescue Society). Scheduled from 3  p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20, at Veritas Wine Room, 2323 N. Henderson in Dallas. Tickets are $25. Other info is at www.earstexas.org. And, of course, EARS is on Facebook.
-- On December 1 Mazie’s Mission will benefit from a Yappy Hour at Patriarchs Sanctuary & Cigar Bar, 6142 Frisco Square Blvd., in Frisco. Tickets are $40 (cash or check). According to the rescue group, “All donations benefit Mazie’s Mission for a no-kill nation.” See Mazie’s website HERE. (FYI: The cigar bar and the restaurant are separated by a courtyard, we're told.)
CONTEMPLATIONS: Here’s an idea to consider: What’s the best thing that ever happened to you on a Tuesday? i’ll guarantee you that someone out there has a memorable Tuesday.  ...  Missing the NBA? Well, never watched it until the playoffs, anyway. Oh, it's the big professional basketball league -- I know some of you don't keep up with sports so I thought I'd explain.  ... Saw the outside of that new Omni Hotel in downtown Dallas over the weekend (I don't anticipate ever seeing the inside). The entire side facing the freeway lights up with messages or photos that you can either enjoy with a glance or you can try to read while dodging water barrels,freeway railings and other dazed motorists. It is something, though, and it emphasizes what I’ve always written: Dallas is a town that looks better at night.
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A Monday round-up...and musical huevos rancheros

Perhaps it is just the view of an optimist, but are things looking better for animals around here? Rockwall has announced its intent to go no-kill, Dallas has a no-kill task force operating and we’ve got word now that there is a STAAR in Seagoville.
And FYI: A sincere thanks to all of you who have endorsed the idea of a statue honoring the cat who died in the wall in the City of Dallas Animal Shelter. As noted in Friday’s edition of Readlarrypowell.com, that sad incident has led to immense changes at the shelter and, perhaps, in the city and the cat should not be forgotten.
Read on:
RAYJON’S A HAPPY GUY: Monday’s are brutal enough for the working person so, in hopes of bringing a smile to your face, I thought I’d start the week with a smile.
Fortunately the Carrollton animal shelter people had a handy grinning dog that we could feature.
This is Rayjon.
He looks like he might be a happy dog.
He’s a Lab fellow, 8 months old and just under 50 happy pounds.
Carrollton Animal Rescue Enterprise (CARE) as the shelter is now “branded,” explained Rayjon’s presence on the euthanasia list – he has until Wednesday or that is a dead dog --  this way: “He was released to the shelter by his people who could no longer keep him and now he is waiting for a new family to come along and take him home.”
You read a line like that and you wonder, “What was it? Money problems? Divorce? Landlord? House too small? Late-night abuse of Home Shopping Network privileges?”
Probably they just needed to dump him because he was inconvenient. Six months ago he was the cutest little thing, then, inexplicably to the pinheads who adopted him, he grew out of puppyhood to become a big ol’ black dawg. Sometimes the transition from cute to handsome proves to be fatal for animals.
He’s not the only dog or cat in a fix at the Carrollton shelter. See the “inventory” HERE. Rayjon is #25004.
To ask about saving Rayjon or any of the animals on Wednesday’s list, call 972-466-3420 or e-mail care@cityofcarrollton.com.
SEAGOVILLE’S STAAR: Only a few months ago, volunteers who had been picking up stray animals along Malloy Bridge Road segued into volunteering at the small Seagoville Animal Shelter in southwest Dallas County.
The city put Seagoville Police Sgt. Karl Bailey in charge of the shelter and he began working with volunteers to turn that small facility into a no-kill shelter.
We get word of the latest step from Johnna Bigley, now president of newly organized STAAR (Seagoville Texas Animal Advocates & Rescue).
She wrote, “Well, we finally did it. Some wonderful friends and I started our own nonprofit organization and are proud to announce STAAR, Seagoville Texas Animal Advocates & Rescue! Our Certificate of Formation from the State of Texas is already approved, is on its way back to us, and the Bylaws are ready to submit this week!  With this, we hope to be able to make an even greater impact for the shelter and its animals.”
STAAR has a Facebook page HERE and is setting up a website at www.STAARescue.org.
In addition to Johnna as president, other officers are Vice President Kayla Harmon, Secretary Noelle Stressman and Treasurer Paula Colby.
You can see Seagoville’s adoptables HERE.
HUSTLING FOR HELPERS: Tawana Couch and the Society for Companion Animals are looking for volunteers to help move some dogs out of Texas to safe havens. It’s an overnight foster situation – you pick up the dogs, keep them for the evening, then deliver them to DFW Airport at 4:30 a.m. – Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday shifts are available. E-mail tawanacouch@mac.com or call 214-941-1014 to volunteer to help. “I know it is early,” Tawana writes, “but it is saving lives.”
HAYRIDE AT BLACK BEAUTY: This may be a first – a hayride for a spay/neuter group. It’s part of a tour Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake has arranged at the famed Black Beauty Ranch in Murchison.  According to our tipster Sydney Busch of Friends, the tour is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nov. 19 – that’s Saturday. You have to reserve by Wednesday by getting in touch with Friends (e-mail sydney@friendsoftheanimals.org)  The visitors will get a guided walking tour o the primate area, then enjoy a hayride on the rest of the grounds unless it’s too cold, then there’ll be buses for the visitors. Hayride or buses  – it’s almost like a date in high school in 1960s. Except, of course, that rather than spend money on a malt and fries, you can donate to the Ranch and help keep the safe haven for animals operating.
NEEDING A HOME: Oh, boy, a black and white cat has become available. We get word from the aforementioned Sydney who forwarded a note from Stephanie Mosby of CLAW (Citizens League For Animal Welfare) in East Texas.
The cat’s name is Midget – she’s 6 years old, litterbox-trained and “loves to be petted and rubbed and is friendly with other cats and the Chihuahua she presently lives with.” So why does she need a home? Kid in the household is allergic to the cat. (To ask about adopting Midget, e-mail tbingram@sbcglobal.net or call 972-672-9953.)
YOGA HOT TICKET FOR FUNDRAISING:  Karan Graham of Hillcrest Animal Rescue gleefully reports to us that the Bikram Yoga Richardson fundraising class brought in $4,000 to the rescue group.  Bikram Yoga is that overheated style of yoga. The class raised $2,000 and a generous donor matched it, she says. Read about Hillcrest Animal Rescue HERE www.hillcrestanimalrescue.org.
JACKSON ELI’S CAREER AND HEUVOS RANCHEROS: Outside of animal rescue there’s almost no other effort as sincerely non-profit as “struggling musician.” But there are ways and Jackson Eli has found one – Kickstarter. He’s a young Dallas musician/singer who is trying to put together enough money to issue an album. In the interest of open journalism, I first met the kid when he was an infant. He is no longer an infant. He is, in fact, a speed-of-light guitar picker and singer. His parents are Christie and Randy Eli Grothe – dad’s name may be familiar to you because he’s an award-winning photojournalist, one of the more recently laid off staffers at the big paper in Dallas. But when you go to Jackson’s Kickstarter page HERE you’ll see great video and photos and ask, “This photo guy is out of a job? What is the matter with America?” Oh, yeah, listen to the music, too. And Jackson’s sincere about cooking Huevos Rancheros for people who donate at a certain level. And who among us would not be proud to reach the Huevos Rancheros Level of Life.
CONTEMPLATION: Stories all over the place today about  Neil Diamond riding on the South Dakota float in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade next week and how it’s only the “second state float ever” in the parade. None of these stories say what the first one was, which drives me nuts as a journalist. So, what’s the answer? Ah, our neighbor to the North, Oklahoma. Here’s a LINK. ...  My hollyjolly spouse Martha and I saw an elegant, simple Christmas tree in the living room window of a home along the Cedar HIll/DeSoto border over the weekend. Earliest spotting of a residential tree I can recall. ... How about them Cowboys? Relax. It was only Buffalo.
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Snoozing snake? Could be. Definitely a snake, though.

As you may recall, at the end of each edition of “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap” readers are invited (and/or begged) to submit photos of any kind of critter that is sleeping.
That critter can be beast or man (i.e., deadbeat in-law who has shown up for the holidays and taken over your recliner, the snake). Sorry, “the snake” is probably the wrong term to use with this edition.
About that photo: Yes, that is a snake. Not really a pet, but he or she has a name, Ratroe.
Look, I know a snake isn’t everybody’s idea of a pet. In fact, I can tell you I’m uncomfortable simply sitting this close to a photo of a snake.
I know they’re just a part of nature – but so is a flu virus, a mad hornet, a brown recluse spider and a rabid bat. Trust me, I don’t want any part of those natural elements and I am antsy with snakes, too.
How we came to have this photo of if not a sleeping snake at least a drowsy snake involves the East Lake Pet Orphanage Pet Fair spokesperson, Vicki Young, the Dallas marketing guru from The Young Company.
We had been in touch because of the 10^th Annual ELPO Pet Fair (scheduled noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at East Lake Veterinary, 10101 E. Northwest Highway in Dallas). She’d sent me the website address for the fair and the first thing that popped up was the photo of the kids in the clutches of the giant snake, or maybe the giant snake in the clutches of the kids.
Well, all that led to the arrival of the photo of Ratroe lounging in Vicki’s backyard in Dallas and my query, “Did you get close enough to tell if the snake was asleep?”
I’m kind of a stickler about the animals in this feature being asleep. After all the title of this weekly feature is “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.” Sleep. Nap.
Vicki says, "Well, I hate to tell you, but he was digesting – notice the bulge about halfway down. So, in a sense, yes, he was sleeping.”  Ratroe had first shown up after a recent heavy rain. A snake expert told Vicki that Ratroe is a Texas Rat Snake and he’s an older fellow.
You see that beautiful dog right there? That’s the snake-finder. Simba. We’ve written about Simba before – Simba was a foster dog who, well, just managed to find a place to stay.
Vicki says, “I saw her doing her head down and then quickly back up and went over to see what she was doing. She was smelling the snake! I put both dogs inside and came back out with my phone to take a photo. That’s when he uncurled and starting moving. I went inside with the dogs, called the Dallas Zoo and spoke to a snake expert to find out what kind of snake he was. Sent the photo and they ID’d him as a Texas Rat Snake. Non-venomous. Eats rats, cockroaches, slugs. Yum.”
Yum, indeed! If a diet of rats, roaches and slugs wouldn’t  help you nod off, what possibly could?
Hey, wait a sec. Can snakes nod? Well, that's a question for another day.
[To nominate your sleeping dog, napping cat, snoozing snake or lounging lizard or a snoring in-law for the spotlight of Readlarrypowell.com’s internationally read feature Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap, send photos and info to dallrp@aol.com. And, please, send some photos of furry domesticated mammals – snakes are notorious for keeping insomniacs awake.]
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A verdict and a statue...a change in Dallas attitudes

Welcome to Friday. Our topics today will include a jury verdict and a suggestion for a statue at the door to the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center.
The verdict you probably know about already – Tyrone McGill, the former manager of the shelter found not guilty of animal cruelty in the death of a cat trapped in the shelter wall.
The statue? An idea to make sure nobody forgets the cat who changed Dallas.
Please read on -- first about the verdict and then about the proposed statue of The Shelter Cat.
THE VERDICT: I’m not sure, but I think that, to twist a legal cliché, Tyrone McGill was found “innocent by association.”
“Innocent” may not be the same thing as “not guilty as charged.” And the “association” was that the jury, perhaps, came to believe he was not the only person in the shelter capable of cutting a hole in the wall and freeing the cat.
The prosecution attempted to show that he was THE person who prevented good people from freeing the cat.
His defense attorney, Anthony Lyons, may have been able to persuade the 10 women, two-man jury that the blame in the death of the cat trapped in the wall of the Dallas animal shelter’s break room should not be assigned to just one person but to everyone else who worked in the shelter and that his client was the only person who actually tried to protect the cat. 
Maybe he convinced the jury that no crime was committed – that in spite of the fact that an animal was dead inside the wall of the shelter, there was no cruelty.
The “charge” to the jury had 3 selections: Mr. McGill was guilty of felony animal cruelty, misdemeanor animal cruelty or not guilty.
Unless someone who was inside that jury room decides to explain the verdict, we won’t really know why they voted not guilty. Why is that? Because the jury got permission from Judge Gracie Lewis to leave through a back corridor at the Crowley Courts Building. Had they exited through the front, they’d have faced TV and print reporters and, possibly, some questioning by animal advocates (not generally shrinking violets in cruelty matters).
Mr. McGill, his legal team and supporters were, of course, happy to be interviewed. Prosecutors David Alex and Brandon Birmingham spoke with the reporters and supporters of the prosecution – they are veterans of District Attorney Craig Watkins’ decision to change the long-standing culture of the DA’s office and pursue animal cruelty as a genuine crime against society.
But the key party in the decision, the jury, chose not to explain the verdict.
Nobody on a jury is legally required to speak to the public via the conduit of reporters and TV cameras and radio microphones. So, the public is left to wonder just what went on in the time they spent deliberating -- from about 11:30 a.m. until about 3:15 p.m. on the day before a legal holiday.
Mr. Alex has secured many guilty verdicts in his career, including a celebrated conviction in the infamous cruelty case of Mercy the intentionally burned Pit Bull. This time he was working not with something that was done, but with something that wasn’t done. He had the burden of proving that inaction and blocking action killed the cat in a cruel fashion.
The goal was to demonstrate that Mr. McGill, an Air Force Vietnam veteran with a history of work in non-animal areas of the city such as urban rehabilitation, created such an atmosphere of tension and threat that staffers were paralyzed by the fear of losing their jobs if they made a move to help the trapped cat. His attitude and the act of preventing action resulted in a cruel and tortuous death for an animal in the care of the City of Dallas, the prosecution sought to prove.
Mr. Alex said the difficulty in the case was getting the jury to see the difference – the criminal difference -- between “permitting and preventing.” By preventing the employees from freeing the cat, the state charged, Mr. McGill treated the animal in a cruel and torturous manner.
Animal advocates were, of course, disappointed with the verdict. Shelter staffers who worked under Mr. McGill were “devastated,” according to one source with shelter ties.
Jonnie England, the Metroplex Animal Coalition’s Director of Animal Advocacy and Communications, sat through the entire trial – it started on Monday. Last night she issued a statement saying that because of this cat’s death “leadership at City Hall finally sat up and took notice of the animal citizens of Dallas.  They realized they could no longer treat the animals and those who care for and about them like they do high weeds, bulky trash and junk cars.
“I’ve talked to Assistant City Manager Joey Zapata, and he has assured me that Tyrone McGill will NOT go back to Dallas Animal Services.”
As for challenging the jury’s verdict – there is no appeal, just the court of public opinion and second-guessing.
So, today, Tyrone McGill, 61, has awakened without this legal burden that could have sent him to jail. He didn’t have to return to the courtroom for sentencing. He is free to go back to work at the City of Dallas where he has had a long and impressive career in areas other than animal care.
But, perhaps it will be as if Mr. McGill is somewhat trapped by circumstances. For the rest of his career, people may meet him and think “Isn’t that the guy with that cat trapped in the wall?”
***
THE CAT: A SHELTER'S SYMBOL

            In May of 2010 a cat without a name died inside the breakroom wall at the Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center. It had cried out for days and days inside that wall and then it died. 
            Those cries echo in the hearts of many people who never even heard them.
            That one death has done more to reform animal care in the City of Dallas than any half-dozen frustrated humans in this century. That cat had no hope before or after it went into the wall, but because of the way the cat died there is new hope for animals in Dallas. That new hope re-energized discouraged animal advocates who now are determined to triumph over the same old bureaucratic and cultural animal welfare obstacles and the traditional theory of Texas municipal animal management: Got an animal problem? Let’s kill it.
            In honor of that little cat’s lost life and what it has meant, we should install at the entrance to the Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center a statue of that cat walking free. It would be a memorial to remind every human being who visits the shelter or works in it that animals are there to be loved and protected, not simply to be “processed.” Every time an animal walks free from that shelter and isn’t subjected to euthanasia, that trapped cat’s life and death mean something.
            The statue’s main focus should be a cat without distinct features, perhaps a little ragged around the edges, and maybe accompanied by a simple figure of a nondescript dog tagging along.  It would be something that people see and immediately embrace as a symbol of respect toward animals.
            We should never let this cat be forgotten -- for the sake of the dogs and the cats yet to come and for the sake of our own decency. If we cannot be decent at a place called a “shelter,” when can we humans be decent?
            After the death of The Cat, the human tension within the Dallas shelter exploded. The shelter manager was indicted, accused of allowing the cat to die within the wall. He was suspended and removed from the shelter. Other shelter jobs changed, Policies changed. Personnel changed. Rescue groups, in a new, appreciative atmosphere, developed stronger ties to the shelter. The city began to pay more attention to the animal welfare experts on the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission. City officials became involved with animal issues – where former council member Dr. Elba Garcia had once been a lone voice, other council members became involved. Animal care became an issue in the mayor’s race. The City actually went on a nationwide search for an animal shelter professional to run the multimillion-dollar facility – astonishing! The director of Code Compliance became a staunch advocate of shelter reform and establishing Dallas as a no-kill city.
            More people in the city – both the taxing and the taxed -- began to pay attention to the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center.
            When that one unwanted cat died, things changed. Of that there is no doubt.
            And, yet, this situation, this death of an unnamed and unwanted cat, is burdened with the unanswered “Why?”.
            But this is something that should always be remembered at Dallas Animal Services – that from a dark, horrid moment in shelter history emerged a strong and united effort to make things better, to support the shelter personnel as professionals and to treat all the animals with kindness and hope. And, thanks to interim shelter manager Dallas Police Lt. Scott Walton, the word that compelled shelter employees anew was “compassion.”
            Only a few people even know what this little cat looked like. I don’t know if it was a boy or a girl, or how old it was, or whether it was really feral or just really frightened. After it went into that wall, it never again saw daylight or ran free or lapped up water or had meal or felt, even against its will, the loving touch of compassionate hands.
            But since May 2010 that cat’s spirit has survived within the hearts of animal lovers – people who, if they had known a cat was trapped in a shelter wall, would have personally gone to the shelter and knocked a hole in the wall and freed the cat. Sounds so simple, doesn’t it?
            Such a small animal’s death had such a large beneficial effect that surely a statue to commemorate the changes and encourage more would be appropriate in a city that values a warm and kind image.
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One day in Dallas; a trial, a task force, a starving dog and a momma at risk...

Weird week and I’ll tell you why. Irony.
Just flat out irony.
THE TRIAL -- Tyrone McGill, the former Dallas animal shelter manager, has been on trial all week in connection with the death of a cat in the wall of the shelter. I spent Wednesday afternoon listening to him testify on his own behalf, refuting things other witnesses said, giving his recollection of events and attitudes and proudly noting that when assigned by his boss to (he used this word) “eradicate” the loose dogs and cats in the city, the night of the first sweep took in 400 dogs.
 Yep, 400 dogs “eradicated” because of a campaign to “clean up” the city.
Mr. McGill also testified that 400 to 500 animals came into the shelter per day while he was there – that’s BEFORE any “sweeps.” And he testified that at the time the shelter was euthanizing 40,000 to 50,000 animals a year.
In the meantime, Mr. McGill is on trial for allowing ONE cat that was going to be killed anyway to die of starvation and dehydration within the breakroom wall of the Dallas Animal Services Shelter & Adoption Center.
A little more irony. Later, asked by an attorney if he liked his job at the shelter, Mr. McGill said, “Loved it to death.”
On Wednesday, through testimony of workers and supervisors, defense attorney Andrew Lyons attempted to demonstrate for the jury that a number of people – including key witnesses against Mr. McGill – did nothing to free the cat from the wall and that Mr. McGill, through e-mails and conversations, had attempted to save the cat.
Prosecutor David Alex, during cross examination of Mr. McGill and using the same chain of e-mails,  attempted to demonstrate for the jury that Mr. McGill held the key to saving the cat – that attitude was everything and that Mr. McGill discouraged opening the wall to free the cat because of something at the City of Dallas called “Sabotage Policy” which declared that employees faced termination if they harmed city property and, ultimately, that the defendant was responsible for the entire handling of the incident and his actions/inactions directly resulted in the cat's cruel, illegal death.
And, there was testimony from an earlier witness about raccoons in the walls and ceiling of the shelter – so much testimony that Judge Gracie Lewis eventually stopped proceedings to say, “We’ve heard enough about the raccoons. Let’s move on.”
The defense was showing that other animals were in the ceiling and walls of the shelter – witnesses said such things were common. And at one point Mr. McGill told of arriving at the shelter during this May 3-18 fatal cat episode and being gleefully greeted by an employee. She told him that while she was working in the "small dog room," a cat fell from the ceiling onto her head. Because that cat was kind of rough-looking, Mr. McGill said he thought it might be the cat from the breakroom wall.
And Mr. McGill testified that he never heard the cat in the wall – testimony from others was that the cat meowed, cried out and tried to scratch through the sheetrock walls.
The defense rested after Mr. McGill’s testimony. The attorneys went back to work on the case at 9 a.m., the jury was to report at 10 a.m. This indicates the judge may start the closing arguments either before noon or just after noon and the jury should get the case sometime today with plenty of time to deliberate.
The courtroom was packed yesterday – students, lawyers, supporters of the accused and animal welfare supporters and media.  You can Google “Tyrone McGill” and get several local reports on the case.
MEANWHILE, THE CHALLENGE TO THE PUBLIC – At one point during the trial, prosecutor David Alex, a veteran cruelty trial prosecutor, asked Mr. McGill why the city put so many animals to death each year. He replied, “Space. And the lack of education in people who own pets.”
So, after hearing that testimony and the story of the “400 dog roundup and eradication”  I came home to a well-filled e-mail inbox and one of the first things I opened was a press release about the latest appeal to the public by the Dallas Companion Animal Project, the task force assigned to change the way the City of Dallas treats animals.
And by “city” I mean not just the official government but the shelter and the residents, too. The goal of the task force is to make the city “no kill,” meaning that animals won’t just be taken into the shelter and killed.
According to the press release, the task force, which “began work in July” wants ideas from citizens to achieve the goal of ending “the euthanasia of adoptable homeless cats and dogs.”
There’s a deadline for submitting your ideas – Nov. 25. You present your ideas by going to the task force website HERE  and clicking on suggestions.
Serious suggestions only, they say, and please use a functioning e-mail address so you can be contacted about your ideas
Task Force Chair Rebecca Poling asks, “If you know of actual programs and initiatives that have been used successfully in other communities, please contact us, We’re also looking for unique ideas we may not have seen before.”
The press release says the task force needs suggestions in areas including these: “decreasing the number of companion animals being surrendered or picked up; increasing the number of lost and stray animals being reunited with their owners; keeping beloved pets with their families; increasing the number of pets being adopted from animal shelters and rescue groups; and increasing support and funding for spay/neuter programs.”
MEANWHILE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS SHELTER: While all of this is going on, business continues at the Dallas Animal Services and Adoption Center.
And it’s not business as usual because the DAS rescue group coordinator, Mark Cooper, has been away since just after testifying against his former supervisor, Mr. McGill, on Tuesday. That day, Mr. Cooper left the courthouse after learning that, as sympathy e-mails around the community quickly revealed, his girlfriend had been killed in a car crash.
Other staffers at DAS moved to fill in for Mark. And as grief swept one of their own away from “routine,” these friends and co-workers acted.
Animal Services Officer Mindy Sewell, out on leave, came to the shelter and began distributing news of the arrival of this emaciated dog, Olive, believed to be a Springer Spaniel. She came in weighing just a little more than 10 pounds.
Officer Sewell took photos of Olive, but says the photos don’t really show how awful her condition is. (To offer to adopt or rescue this dog, call the shelter’s Danielle Fry at 214-671-0248 or e-mail daniell.fry@dallascityhall.com.)
And Dallas Animal Services’ Nicki Self sent out a video of a Black Lab who “gave birth in our shelter.  She had passed the adoption check, so she is heartworm negative and fully vaccinated.  If any group could pull  her and the pups, please let us know.  She has been here since 9/14/11, and her time is running out.”
See that video HERE.
And, that, ladies and gentlemen, is why there is a task force assigned to help Dallas be kinder to animals. No sense killing ‘em if somebody can love ‘em.
CONTEMPLATIONS: And, so, you see the roller coaster of animal life in Dallas. All on one day and that’s not even all that’s going on. There is simply too much animal-related angst and there are too many crises and too many “situations” for a relative tiny number of devoted rescuers and admitted “animal nuts” to successfully handle in a city of more than 1.3 million people and, Lord knows, how many animals. ... Sometimes I think that the City of Dallas is the factory outlet for Village Idiots. ... Confession: This report isn’t a blow-by-blow account of the McGill trial – there are just too many things to report them all. I tried to hit the high spots and, I guess, the low spots. I’ll guarantee that there’s not a person involved in this case that doesn’t wish it had never happened. And, sadly, there are people who are saying, “All this over a cat?” I don’t know how to change those shallow minds – there may not be enough power in the light of the sun to bring enlightenment to those closed souls. But there is the theory that if you’re going to work to make the world a better place, work to make the WHOLE world a better place.
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From an ELPO tradition to a courtroom puzzle...and an Earhound and a dog tossed from a truck

Ah, midweek. Wednesday, the day that begins to show promise of the weekend. Our topics today will range from a weekend festival that is celebrating its 10^th year to a trial that is no cause to celebrate at any level.
HANG ON—whoa. My monitor just started shaking.  Quickly I realized that Annabelle Bob the Black Cat was lounging on my horizontal computer and suddenly started scratching but I’ve got to confess that after the past week of reports out of Oklahoma my first thought wasn’t “Cat!” it was “Quake!” Now we return  to our regularly scheduled programming.
We’re going to try to focus on the positive things in life starting with the next paragraph so you can guess that it won’t involve taxes or car repair. Here goes:
TEN YEARS? SERIOUSLY? Holy smoke.  If something lasts a decade you might as well call it a “tradition.” And I guess we’d have to say that the East Lake Pet Orphanage Fair is now a tradition. (That's the ELPO logo to the right.)
The 10^th annual Pet Fair is from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at East Lake Veterinary Hospital, 10101 E. Northwest Highway, in Dallas.
 It’s described as “the largest interspecies adoption and pet educational gathering in Dallas.”
(Larry aside: I’m not sure how “interspecies” is defined, but I have been to this fair and, yes, not every mammal that shows up has a pedigree and I’m not sure every mammal in the crowd is from Earth. Oh, that’s a common sensation about any public event in Dallas. I guess that’s why the State Fair has an annual Intergalactic Day – I’m kidding, but it’ll happen sometime. OK, back to Earth.)
As you may recall, East Lake Pet Orphanage is the non-profit adoption arm of the veterinary hospital – it’s the brainchild of Dr. Karen Fling and it was begun in response to a genuine neighborhood need. People were abandoning animals and they needed a safe haven.
You might note, for example, that odd-eared dog in the photo. That is Dexter. He was on the ELPO “available for adoption” list this morning. You can see him and other adoptables at www.elpo.org. Dexter is listed as a Chihuahua mix – no telling where those ears came from and his big ol’ paws and cute little legs indicate either a Basset or a frog in the family tree. He’s one of the animals the ELPO Pet Fair benefits.
(FYI: Vicki Young, the animal fan/marketing guru at The Young Company, tips us to the ELPO Fair website at http://www.elpopetfair.com/ . The photo you see when it opens is a hoot. But be sure come right back here and read the rest of today's report!)
Admission is free. There’s food, a silent auction, prizes, micro-chipping for pets and things for kids (a bounce house!) “Teddy bear surgery", a cake walk, “Paws and Palm Readings", carnival games and a Dallas Cowboys football watching party (kickoff is at noon against the Buffalo Bills). Oh, yeah, there’ll be an artist there who specializes in sketching backsides – and I guess for some of us, the artist will have to set aside the canvas and get out the big roll of newsprint for the “mural-sized” among us. Kind of surprised someone hasn’t begun to market “Mural Edition” jeans. Well, back to the fair.
Emcee for the event will be Richard Hunter, the local radio personality known for adopting Mel, one of felonious dog-fighting quarterback Michael Vick's Pit Bulls. Mr. Hunter is the recent recipient of the prestigious ELPO John LaBella Kindness to Animals Award.
Event sponsors include Pfizer, Novartis Animal Health, Merck, Hills and Elanco.
To become a tradition, you've got to have sponsors. To get sponsors, you have to have staying power. It all fits together. Sort of like a happy dog and a tranquil cat -- synergy with clearly defined responsibilities.
EARHOUND ALERT: Holy smoke. Now that is a set of championship ears and the owner sure knows how to work 'em.
We got the tip on these ears from reliable Houston-area tipster Alexandra Kelsey who writes, "I know you love the dogs with amusing ears, and here is one. Mick and Janet are at the Bay City shelter, just south of Houston, and they do a great job of networking their animals.  They are a small kill shelter, and this cute guy is looking for a home.
Mick White and Janet Pickard are hustling to find a home for the dog. According to an e-mail from Mick, “This guy came in yesterday afternoon, citizen turn in. Wasn't able to glean much information off the guy. Seems his roommate's girlfriend left the dog at their house, moved back to Austin or Dallas or somewhere. Said he thought the dog was Pit/Lab mix, which it obviously isn't.  Wasn't even sure of the dog's name. Couldn't get a good body shot - he still hasn't warmed up to me yet; can't tell much about his personality. He's still very much a puppy - canines still tiny, molars just coming in.
“My first thought on seeing him was Bull Terrier mix, guess it’s the ears  Body seems less chunky and more streamlined than Bull Terrier or Lab. Any guesses?”
[Larry aside: I’m guessing Purebred Earhound. What a doll, though, and if we didn’t already have our allotment of Earhounds, well, you know...]
So, to ask about adopting this unnamed Earhound who has been dealt one good chance in a rotten existence, e-mail mwhite@cityofbaycity.org or japickard@STPEGS.COM.
Bay City is south of Houston – road trip for an Earhound anyone?
MEANWHILE IN OKLAHOMA: Perhaps the earth has stopped shaking. In the meantime, the tireless rescuer Terry Lynn Fisher in Burns Flat, Okla., is trying to work some magic for an unlucky dog, seen here being led to a city shelter cage for an introduction to a roommate.
This is the kindest this dog has been treated lately.
Terry Lynn writes, “This stunning boy was seen being thrown out of a truck on the edge of town...A lady took him home, but is not able to care for him. After trying to find a new home, she called me and he is now in my jail [the city pound]. We are totally overflowing. His time is up and I need a safe place for him to go..He appears young, very beautiful and pretty calm. He loves kids and other dogs. He is a great boy.”
She’s looking for an adoptor or a rescuer for the “thrown from a truck” dog.
To offer to help, call Terry Lynn at 580-330-1459 or e-mail remembering_oddball@yahoo.com.
A CONTEMPLATION FROM THE COURTHOUSE:
--THE CAT IN THE WALL CASE:  This notorious Dallas case is, as it enters the third day of testimony, full of puzzling situations.
    And the entire case demonstrates how we must always consider the consequences of our personal decisions. This case shows the pressure people were working under at Dallas Animal Services in May 2010. Life wasn’t pleasant, according to the testimony yesterday.
    This case is out of the investigative stage and, finally, in the hands of the courtroom lawyers – prosecutors and defenders, presided over by another lawyer, Judge Gracie Lewis’s Criminal District Court No. 3 in the Crowley Courthouse.
    All those people will steadily, tediously move the case from the witness stand, with its sworn recollections of conversations and decisions and explanations of documents and photos, to the jury of 10 women and 2 men, all sworn to pay attention to the facts and vote an honest assessment of the evidence. 
    The prosecutors are in the process of laying out an explanation of events in an attempt to pull the jury in the direction of guilty. The defense is trying to tug the jury toward “innocent,” chipping away at the prosecutor’s assertions and offering possible explanations designed to demonstrate the state’s case is wrong.
    This case is an example of our legal system at work – prosecutors representing the people, defenders representing the accused, a jury of peers listening and a judge refereeing. It’s an expensive undertaking. Justice shouldn’t be cheap; it should be respected.
    The victim in the case is dead. But lives are still being affected. It is clear that some of these problems are self-inflicted. 
    And, sadly, all of this personal angst and expense and interruption of lives could have been avoided if, in early May, 2010, someone had simply cut a hole in an inexpensive sheet of wallboard in the breakroom at the City of Dallas’ multimillion dollar animal shelter.
    Just cut a hole in the wall and save the cat from a miserable death from starvation and dehydration. So simple.
    The failure to save a cat’s life has resulted in an animal cruelty charge against Tyrone McGill, then the manager of the City of Dallas Animal Shelter.
    Testimony Tuesday suggested that Mr. McGill and Mr. McGill alone is responsible for the death of the cat. He is, indeed, charged with animal cruelty. Testimony from one of the City of Dallas’ two remaining (after layoffs and reorganization) cruelty investigators, Dominic Munoz, was that Mr. McGill, when confronted about the cat’s plight, said he was taking care of the situation. 
    He took him at his word, Mr. Munoz said, but it later became clear that nothing good was going to happen to this cat.
    The cat’s mewing and scratching haunted the breakroom for several days.
    Then the desperate mewing from inside the wall stopped – so did the scratching that had worn the cat’s nails to nubs. 
    And, further testimony showed, Mr. McGill did not allow the cat’s body to be removed from the wall until more than two weeks later and until the scent of the decomposing animal overwhelmed the breakroom and the hallway connecting that area of the shelter to the main building. It was, Mr.Munoz testified, "the smell of death."
    So, in the aftermath of this event there are questions that may be answered during this trial – or may not be answered.
    --Why didn’t someone simply cut a hole in the wall and set the cat free? Either Mr. McGill or an employee going against orders or a third party called in from the outside – a rescue group, a cop, a veterinarian? Somebody? 
    --What caused someone with a history of animal work let a cat die in such a cruel fashion? 
    --Did anyone at city hall know about this before it became public knowledge? Did no one from the shelter contact a single person of authority before the cat died? Why not?  When did City Hall, i.e., someone up the chain of command in Code Compliance or on the city council or on the City of Dallas Animal Shelter Commission learn of this?
    One theory is that shelter employees were terrified for their livelihoods. Some say the terror was generated from within the shelter, some say it originated outside the shelter.
    The case comes down to proving a crime was committed, then proving who committed the crime.
    At the scene, a feral cat escaped confinement, scrambled through an opening in the ceiling tiles and somehow became trapped in the shelter wall. Given the opportunity to free this cat, no one did. The prosecution is trying to prove that the cat’s death meets the law’s definition of animal cruelty -- starvation and dehydration of an animal in your care. 
    The facts found after the death are ugly – decomposition and maggot infestation in the body within the wall of the shelter. But, that really doesn’t matter because the crime of cruelty stops at death. Anything after that is just a post-crime circumstance that’ll make an ugly situation even uglier.
    Probably, as the case proceeds, the defense will try to show that nobody can prove how the cat actually died and cruelty wasn’t involved, will try to show that the accused made attempts to get the city’s carpentry department to respond to a call to cut open the wall but that fell through because the department was too busy, that other people were responsible or should have been responsible, etc. These theories were suggeste by defense questions to witnesses Tuesday. 
    The prosecution will focus on the accused, his actions, his inactions.
    The defendant's family and loved ones in the audience will suffer as the accused is attacked from the witness stand and his worth as a human is diminished.
    The animal people in the audience, upset by such a thoroughly stupid incident that killed a cat, will support the prosecution and criticize the defense. And some of those people are among the rescuers who once had a working relationship with the accused. They have been terribly disappointed.
    There is so much unpleasantness in this case -- and it should be noted that this sickening incident was the point at which things began to change for the better at Dallas Animal Services. City officials began to listen to what the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission members had been telling them. Management changed. Attitudes changed. Procedures changed. Personnel changed.
    All because of a cat allowed to die in a wall.
    The irony? This poor feral cat was not going to be declared “adoptable” and probably, like thousands of other unadoptable cats in Dallas every year, would have been killed anyway within a few days.
    The whole case is a puzzle. Not so much the “who,” but the “why.” And the oh-so-personal, “What would I do in that situation?”
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A Tuesday roundup...

Welcome to Tuesday and let’s move on before I nod off. Early morning wakeup call from Rosie the Chihuahua – still confused by the time change.
Today we will touch on such topics as animals in need, in shelters, out of shelters and in homes and a small-town feral cat situation.
Oh, and every time I look at that photograph, I want to yell, “HEY DOGFACE” and hug the rascal. More on Russo of Carrollton in a minute.
Read on:
A TRIUMPH AND A NEED: For a couple of weeks, folks have been trying to hustle five dogs out of the Seagoville Animal Shelter so they wouldn’t be euthanized on Monday.
Word is there was success, for now.  (FYI: This includes the dog found abandoned at the bottom of an empty water tank – so stop sending that one around, you viralists!)
Seagoville volunteer Johnna Bigley updated us with one more need for a dog named Vader, a favorite of shelter manager Seagoville Police Lt. Karl Bailey.
Johnna says Vader needs a foster home (or an actual home) by Friday. She says,  “Vader was accepted into Andres Valdez's training camp in San Antonio and is leaving on Friday for two weeks of intensive training to address his dog aggression issues. Andres took our George into his program (also dog aggressive) and he's now a shining example of how almost any dog can be rehabilitated. Andres takes George everywhere with him now as his mascot!  All that's needed for Vader is a foster or forever home by Nov 11th so Andres can continue his guidance through Vader's new family or foster.”
To offer to help this dog with his continuing education, e-mail johnna1228@yahoo.com.
ABOUT RUSSO AND DOTTIE: As regular visitors to Readlarrypowell.com know, the Carrollton Animal Services shelter, rebranded months ago as CARE (Carrollton Animal Rescue Enterprise) prepares a weekly list of animals that are on the clock.
Russo, the formerly stray Black Lab, was picked up by animal control and when the family was contacted about the older guy, someone in the family said, “Oh, just keep him” – yep, death sentence by phone. This older fellow is among the animals scheduled to get the needle tomorrow. So is this cat, Dottie – she’s dodged the needle for a couple of weeks, but tomorrow is the day if no one picks the cat.
No matter what happens, do not click HERE to watch video of ol’ Russo being sweet, playing a little tug-o-war with his favorite toy and getting some good noggin-pattin’ in what may be the last “home” he’ll ever know. Just don’t watch it. Oh, OK, go ahead. But then dab the tears from your eyes and come right back here.)
To ask about adopting either of these animals, both of them or any animal in the Carrollton shelter,  call
972-466-3420 or e-mail care@cityofcarrollton.com.
HELPING TWO DOGS: Jan Taylor is trying to help two dogs that were abandoned in Denton County, then taken in by a couple  and, of course, these dogs, Madison and Miley, need a home.
They’re about 2 years old and the original owners aren’t taking phone calls.
Jan says local rescues have no room. And complicating things is the temporary home has a dog that likes neither of the 40-pound dogs. There was an uncomfortable dust-up during Sunday morning’s feeding and nobody needs that – neither the people nor the dogs.
“ Can you make a plea for Miley and Madison in your column?” Jan. asks, and explains that the dogs are “are gentle and loving. They just want someone to love.” To offer to help, e-mail the woman who has the dogs at kajbri@aol.com.
Jan says, “I have been doing my best to help her, but it’s just not enough.”
BE ON THE LOOKOUT; PANSY IS MISSING--Marnie Holden, a veteran in animal issues, is “trying to help a heart-broken friend whose beloved dog is missing.”
This is that dog, Pansy.
She was lost on the afternoon of Friday, Nov. 4, in Richardson’s Canyon Creek neighborhood – that’s near North Collins Boulevard at Prairie Creek.
Pansy weighs about 45 pounds, has black dots on her white coat, is 7 years old and is “sweet-tempered.” And she has a microship. If you know her whereabouts, call 972-235-0554.
Marnie says, “Of course, we have plastered the neighborhood, check with local vets and shelters and posted on internet sites. .... As you can imagine, we are devastated and desperate.”
A CRISIS IN KRUM: Sanden Cottengame, a veteran cat rescuer and feral cat colony manager, is in a dispute with the City of Krum, northwest of Denton. a town of about 3,000 people at last count and, according to city officials, too many cats.
Sanden operates Star Cats Rescue, says she’s at odds with the city over protecting feral cats and having too many in her home.
The public crisis may be in the proposed method of dealing with feral cat colonies – apparently by the traditional Texas method of handling animal problems: Let’s kill it.
Sanden has summoned legal help into the fray and may need public support to increase enlightenment in Krum. To reach her, e-mail scottongame@gmail.com and 940-482-0025.
THE DALLAS ZOO AND THE MONKEY: Yesterday’s incident in which the Dallas Zoo had a loose spider money for a while has inspired Margaret Morin to issue another call for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to “investigate the Dallas Zoo’s Giants of the Savannah [exhibit] in particular and the Dallas Zoo in general.”
She says the spider monkey incident “makes eight or nine animals (that we know of) lost and/or killed in the last two years” at the zoo and then cites notorious animal escapes that ended poorly.
To ask Margaret about her stance on the Zoo’s handling of animals, e-mail her at dogs_good@yahoo.com. You may recall that Margaret became involved with monitoring zoo conditions when she became alarmed at the lack of roaming space and companionship for Jenny the Elephant several years ago – before the Zoo created its faux savannah area on the east side of Clarendon at Marsalis. Contact the Dallas Zoo at www.dallaszoo.com.
At the height of the Jenny Crisis, the City of Dallas transferred zoo management to a private foundation, closing most records to public scrutiny.
CONTEMPLATION: Thanks to all of you folks who noted my birthday yesterday – it was an honor to hear from you all, including my relatives, some of whom I didn’t expect to hear from.  I kid the kin. There were so many candles on my cake that you could see if from space if that asteroid didn’t get in the way.  ... Rain was nice. Cold front coming, they say. Autumn leaves are starting to turn in Dallas. It remains, however, a city that looks best at night. ... Those Oklahoma earthquakes are puzzling. We all know that when the Big One hits the West Coast, California will slide into the Pacific. Lord knows  where Oklahoma will go. Are we about to find out?
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