On Groundhog Day, the shadows of life...

Hello, my fellow groundhogs. If you’re done with your shadowboxing, please continue with today’s Readlarrypowell.com report.
As we continue to recover from computer devastation of more than a week ago,, we’re going to plow through a bunch of e-mail.
No particular order, but the people I mention first slipped a 20-dollar bill under my hotel door here at the Super Bowl media hotel in Indianapolis…I’m kidding.
Oh, that is our Readlarrypowell.com staff impersonator, Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, giving us his impression of a groundhog reporter spotting, on the special Sunny Woodchuck Buffet at the Gobbler’s Knob Media Lounge in Punxatawney, Pa., a big steaming platter of Mom’s Meteorological Meatloaf with Sunshine-on-a-Platter Potatoes and extra spicey Hot Wavey Gravy, all shadowed by a dessert of Permafrost Pie with Chocolate Drizzle. OK, let’s put our forks down and move on:
THE BEAGLES OF DENTON: Well, goodness, these are senior dogs and they need help. All are Beagles, according to our tipster, the noted  Denton Animal Shelter volunteer Amy Pelzel.
She writes, “I need some help! We have three owner-surrendered beagles at the shelter right now and we have such a hard time adopting them out to the public. … Two were from the same home, rescued from ‘King County Animal Shelter’ 2 years ago.. The other was released yesterday [Tuesday] and has a big tumor on her side.”
Jenny (left) and Niko were released by the same person at the same time. Both are 10 to 12 years old and are very people friendly.
As you can see from the little bulge in the third photo, Jenny, about 10, has a tumor on her side, but is still sweet and happy. (Her original name is Sadie.)
You can see how to help these dogs by clicking HERE or by e-mailing amy_pelzel@yahoo.com.
Three senior Beagles left at a kill shelter – what are the odds?
THE PLOTTS THICKEN: Of course they thicken – they’re maturing. We get the story from Carol Whatley of the Van Zandt County Humane Society, east of Dallas on I-20 (Canton is the county seat).
”Last summer, we became caretakers of a litter of 5 baby Plott Hounds - at the time we didn't know anything about the breed, but we've become educated.”
FYI: The Plott Hound is the official dog of North Carolina.
Of course, it doesn’t matter what the breed is when the pups are in trouble. Carol says, “Someone had thoughtfully placed these babies atop an ant hill. They were found quickly and didn't suffer much damage, but they also had mange and were held in quarantine for quite a while as we fought that.  It came back several times and they grew, so by the time they were allowed to  ‘go public’ and be available for adoption, they were almost grown.  “We now have homed 2 of them and the other 3 are wonderful.  They are alert, vocal, curious and affectionate.”
She says they “play well” with the rest of the society’s dogs and are medically sound.”
The catch? “Because they don't like the pens we place them in at an adoption event, they do not present well!”
That's Amy upper right, Betty on the left and Pete with the white blaze on his chest.
To ask about these dogs or any dog in the care of the Van Zandt County Humane Society, call 903-479-4040 or e-mail bacranch@vzinet.com.
[Larry aside:  I will suggest that, though it is the official dog of North Carolina, in most cases it would be mistaken for what we unsophisticated folks would, at first glance, call a “mutt.” It is a sort of variety pack of hounds. Honestly, though, I can’t tell a Blackmouth Cur from a mutt, either. And, both are recognized by the United Kennel Club – you probably ought to read up on the UKC, too.]
SOMETHING GREYHOUNDS CAN’T OUTRUN: We got the latest newsletter from Greyhound Adoption League of Texas and it contained this challenging passage:
”Each day begins unknown to all what lies ahead. An example is Thursday, January 19, when a phone call was received from a shelter in East Texas that 2 Greys had been surrendered to them from the owner, and he had 8 more greyhounds to give up. Stetson and Cupcake were picked up the next day followed by Onyx and Blade within 2 more days. All tested heartworm positive. Direct communication was established with the owner to make arrangements for the remaining 6, all the time hoping they, too, were not heartworm positive. This was not to be. In the ensuing 9 days Timex, Carbon, Harry, Stewart, Clooney and Charity arrived. 10 heartworm positive dogs in 14 days - a first in GALT's 11 year history."
You can see how to help the group by going to www.galtx.org.
Preventation….such a staggering concept. And, seriously, who needs that many Greyhounds? What are you going to do? Open a track? Enter the Olympic Couch Potato Competition?
Sheesh.
ENTERPRISING NAME: There must be a Trekker at the Collin County Animal Services Shelter in McKinney. This obvious Earhound’s name is, indeed Spock.
He’s about 5 months old and his name is Spock. He is, in the style of his namesake, a mix – no, not Vulcan and human, but a hound of some sort, the sheltr says.
And he’s #335399, microchipped, up to date on vaccinations and available.
Volunteer shelter walker Allison Roberts says, “The shelter is full and has so many vetted dogs ready for rescue or adoption. Puppies and many other highly adoptable dogs! Any free kennel helps!”
Here’s how you contact the shelter: Email ldrummonds@co.collin.tx.us and animalshelter@co.collin.tx.us . Yes, e-mail both. You can also Google the shelter and see how to get to it in McKinney.
Fascinating.
A COUPLE IN ROWLETT: Dwana Carabajal, the veteran rescuer, is making a pitch for a couple of dogs that are awaiting a home (or something else) at the Rowlett Animal Shelter.
Scarface, at the shelter since Dec. 8, is a year-old Pit mix who arrived as a straywith scars and open wounds. “He appars to have been beaten up on the streets,” she says. Adopt him for $75 unless you’re a senior citizen, then you get him for $55.
And Ebony, a 7-year-old cat, came in on Oct. 3 with a bite that has since healed.
 “She is a friendly, loving cat.” She’s also spayed and healthy. And her adoption fee is $25 unless you’re a “senior,” and it’s just five bucks. Five lousy dollars for a top-dollar cat.
To ask about adopting, call the shelter at 972-412-6219 or drop by. The shelter – click HERE for location and contact points.
Dwana says, “We have been really lucky that the shelter has not filled up yet so they are able to hand onto these 2 even though they have been there so long. We would really love to get them adopted into loving homes! “
TURNING THE GREAT SHIP: You know, they don’t turn aircraft carriers on a dime. Same thing for animal shelters. It takes some time, I guess.
Dallas Animal Services has been turning, turning, turning ever-so-steadily for more than a year now – the beginning point, I guess, would be that death of the cat in the wall of the shelter. (You may recall the trial and acquittal for animal cruelty. The cat’s death, I guess, was, thus, more of a “suicide” than it was a “death by neglectful behavior.” Something in all that defies logic, but, who knows? Maybe it’s just “one of those things.” Still hoping that cat gets a statue at the shelter  that its death revitalized.)
Back to the point: In the last two days Animal Control Officer Mark Cooper issued calls for help for two different animals; (1) Logan the Newfoundland who suffers from increasingly frequent seizures and (2) a Spaniel mix who’d been injured in a collision with a car.
Officer Cooper says Logan has been claimed by Old West Newfoundland Club Rescue and will b examined by a vet to see if his seizures can be controlled better. And the Dallas rescue group, Paws In The City, took in the little spaniel mix.
As a practical matter, this makes the shelter function as, indeed, a shelter and not just a warehouse for animals about to be killed. (Though, of course, there are still plenty of Dallas animals on the daily clock.)
But, to home in on this tiny positive note in a challenging world, two animals that needed shelter at Dallas Animal Services got shelter. They were sheltered, then they were moved on to more positive places. Perhaps that is the prevailing trend. I guess the stats for the month will indicate if sheltering is outpacing voracious fate.
ANOTHER EPISODE IN THE LIFE AND TIMES OF TREVOR THE DOG: OK, here’s today’s report from Sherry Kunz, who helped get the dog out of West Dallas where he was living tied to the bumper of a car.
”This is getting ridiculous,” she says.
You may recall that the dog was rescued, then it was reported that he’d been stolen from someone in Saginaw and that person didn’t respond to attempts to return the dog so a local Lab rescue group stepped up, but now, Sherry says this morning, that group has decided not to take the dog. Why? Because the owner hadn’t responded, Sherry reports.
You can understand, of course, why a strapped-for-money rescue group wouldn’t want to sink money into a dog and then have a clever but soulless owner reclaim the dog.
Sherry says the change is upsetting because “I had tons of other grups and individuals wanting him..” She adds, “It is not all bad news though. The original person at [the rescue] has decided she will not be yet another human that let's this poor boy down. She will take Trevor on herself at her own expense..”
Now, Sherry is working as the contact point for Trevor and his foster. To offer to help Trevor with his training or any vet bills or to adopt him, e-mail sykunz@att.net or call 214-232-6559.
THE STONE TABLE DOGS: We reported yesterday on the tip from Maleska Fletes about Cheryl Mitchell finding a momma Chihuahua and her pup at the Stone Tables on White Rock Lake.
Cheryl did more than that. She found a home for the dogs. “She is a lady in her 60's I would say, who just lost her husband in September…and lives by herself. I had a pretty good feeling about her or I wouldn't have left them with her. She has two other little Chihuahuas that she has rescued that live with her and they were well cared for and well socialized. She feeds them Bil-jack and was going to take them in to get them wormed and vaccinated and check for heartworms. She got down on her floor and hand-fed them and played with them so I think she will be good.”
CONTEMPLATIONS:  A note to employees of American Airlines: My heart is with you during the threatening times. Find some peace by remembering that there’ll be  a better day than the one that brings lousy employment news.  Personal RIF experience: If some still-employed ninny tries to comfort you with “When God closes a door, he opens a window,” throw up on their shoes. It’ll make you feel lots better. I call it "Hurl for Happiness" therapy. Seriously, if I’d seen an open window, it would have been a sign to jump out of it. … This morning when I woke I couldn’t see a clock in our room. The wristwatch was out of reach, the VCR clock was off, my temporalspouse Martha was sleeping so I couldn’t ask, “Hey, what time is it?”  without repercussion.  Inky grumbled, “Too early” and went back to sleep. So I thought, “I’ll plug my earphones into the night table radio and turn it on and see what time it is.” The first thing I heard was the overnight trucking show on WBAP meaning, of course, that it was just way too early to be up unless I (a) was behind the wheel of a big rig, (b) owned a chicken farm or (c) had acquired a dairy. Possessing neither rig, chickens nor cattle, I was, of course, awake in the middle of my night. Worried about the world, I guess. … How nice is it not to have a Dallas Cowboys connection to the Super Bowl? Other than rumors, of course. … Can you named your “Best Pizza Ever”? Harold’s Pizza, Texarkana, 1966. Can't wait until someone invents a time machine.
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