The Wednesday report...Labs, little dogs, royal Cocker...

Dang! Is it already February?
I’ll be at the haberdasher’s today getting some special work done on my costume for tomorrow.
Before I go in for the fitting, here’s today’s report:
WHERE DO LABS COME FROM? Oh, for crying out loud, who really knows? Labraland? Laboratory? Oh, yeah, Labrador...Well, read on. 
We do know that, thanks to some rescuers, we think we can trace this one.
You may have seen rescuer Sherry Kunz’s note last week – she was trying to find some help for Chocolate, a “2- or 3-year-old purebred, no papers, neutered, very friendly Chocolate Lab.”
The dog had first been spotted while living tied to a car in his owners’ West Dallas yard. Some negotiations ensued and, ultimately, the owner decided he didn’t want the dog anymore and handed him over.
The rescuer didn’t have an immediate foster home, but, quickly DFW Lab Rescue stepped up, Sherry says. A day later, Sherry sent me a quick note: “Just got a call from DFW lab rescue. The dog was stolen about 8 months ago from a family in Saginaw.”
That was, of course, the early report on this little mystery.
A little while later, Sherry followed up with this: “Just one more twist in the Chocolate Lab tale. DFW Lab Rescue has been trying to contact the original owner. They talked to the wife who said she would have her husband call when he got off of work. He didn't call. They tried to call him again and had to leave a message. No call back.”
So, Chocolate has been renamed Trevor and he’s going to get some training. Sherry says, “He needs training to make him the perfect pet. He was chained for over a year so he is a little excited about his new found freedom.”
The rescue group, of course, could use some financial help in getting training for Trevor – you can go HERE to give to Trevor’s training. And you can also go there to get an adoption form in case you’d like to give Trevor a home.
Since Trevor was under the watchful eye of a hopeful rescuer for more than a year, there is some thought that the “theft” was more of a “surrender” because the dog was a little too “rambunctious?”
Sherry writes, “The only crime that was committed was that this dog wasn't wanted. The owners didn't care what the circumstances of his new home were, just that they wanted to get rid of him. Maybe they were moving and they saw a way out. Considering the conditions he was forced to live in, they might as well have dumped him on the side of the road or at a shelter. Their decision was just as irresponsible.”
Sherry says that she has “had responses from all over the U.S. wanting this dog. The latest from Maine. It is obvious from the pictures that he is a purebred. What disturbs me is if it had been a pit bull, Rottie or a mixed breed, no one would have wanted him. “
Already he wasn’t wanted at least twice – one by the first folks and again by the guy who tied him to a car.
These are just some of the things that challenge the no-kill plans for Dallas: bad attitudes and idiots.
JUST LEAVE THE DOGS BY THE TABLES: Oh, brother. There are those who chain the dogs to cars, or just shove them out on parking lots or in neighborhoods that “look dog-friendly.” Then there are those who just leave them by the Stone Tables at White Rock Lake.
Indeed, that is where Cheryl Wilson found this momma Chihuahua and her still-nursing pup yesterday morning. We got the tip on the story from Maeleska Fletes, the rescuer who also is with the Little Forest Hills Animal Alert AND serves on the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission where she sees the statistics regarding unwanted animals. She works to keep dogs such as these from becoming statistics of an unpleasant nature.
 Cheryl says she’s trying to find a place for these two to go because her family is in the middle of moving out of town and these foundling dogs cannot go along.
She says that a search turned up no other puppies, so it appears that just mom and the one were dumped. “They are very clean with no fleas or ticks. Mama is not emaciated so I don't think they have been there long. Puppy is still nursing. Any help finding a home would be greatly appreciated.”
To offer to help, e-mail grenore@aol.com or call 214-729-0900 or e-mail maeleska@maeleska.com or call 214-766-3577.
(Larry aside: And, of course, if anyone recognizes the dogs and knows what cad may have dumped them… well, animal abandonment is against the law. Call the authorities. As we used to say, “Drop a dime on ‘em” but, of course, these days nobody uses a coin-operated phone and the price per call surely is way over a dime by now. So, spend two-bits, which is what the old-timers used to call a quarter.)
A SPECIAL DAS CASE: Of course, they’re all special at Dallas Animal Services. But this one has some extra-special needs. Mark Cooper, the animal control officer who works with rescue groups, issued the plea for help last night and it went jetting around the internet inboxes.
Logan, a 2-year-old neutered Newfie (that’s a Newfoundland), was brought in because the owner didn’t have the money to upgrade the medical treatment for the seizure-prone dog.
Logan had 4 seizures in January, the vet suggested increasing his anti-seizure meds and the owner, strapped for cash, “decided that Logan may have a better chance with the DAS staff,” Mark wrote.
Mark immediately began looking for that better chance.
Logan is said to be, in a word, adorable. “He is a very well-mannered dog who knows his basic commands,” Mark says. “He is supper sweet and truly a gentle giant.”
He’s in section DLF124 and his # is A708786. Email mark.cooper@dallascityhall.com.
CONTEMPLATIONS: As I was beginning this report, my funspouse Martha announced that Duke Prince Will and Duchess Kate have a new addition to the British royal family: a jet black Cocker Spaniel. Will’s dad and I were born within a week of each other and I have a black Cocker Spaniel. I feel like a prince. They’re keeping the dog’s name a secret for now, according to the British papers. … After a moment of contemplation it occurs to me that if that Royal Cocker Spaniel discovers he’s NOT the king of the world, he’ll be stunned. Our guy Inky understands that he is king of the world. … Movie you’d like to see again for the very first time when it would either surprise you or thrill you or touch you anew? I’ll pick The Sting. Maybe The Godfather. Not Hudson Hawk or The Pirate Movie or the Ralph Fiennes version of The Avengers. Geez, my shirt just wrinkled from the fear of that tedium.
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