Issues and animals...

NOON HOUR UPDATE: The City of Carrollton's Animal Services workers sent out this noontime note. It's bleak.
"No adoptions today, and/or no rescue tags, not even a phone call about any of the animals on this week’s urgent list. Please, if you can help take just one we would be grateful."
There are about a dozen animals on the city's euthanasia list today -- dogs, cats and two guinea pigs.
Usually Carrollton enjoys amazing success. Things must be tough all over, as they say.
To help Carrollton save the animals, call 972-466-3420 or e-mail CARE@cityofcarrollton.com.
^^ ^^ ^^ Spay and neuter ^^ ^^ ^^
For some reason Tuesday has brought a number of animal issues to the spotlight, ranging from Austin’s no-kill backslide to awful abuse to…well, let’s note that it’s not all bad. Buddy the Dog has escaped the needle and gone to a home.
Please read on. Today’s edition of Readlarrypowell.com brought to you by people who actually do donnez un rien, pardon my French.
AFTERMATH: You may have seen an e-mail yesterday with the subject line “Please Help!  Rescue Disbanded--Dogs Displaced!” Here’s the “why.”
Last week, a former Everman animal control officer Teresa Weldon was arrested during an investigation of animal cruelty at her home near Springtown. Fifty-eight animals were seized by Parker County authorities.
Ms. Weldon’s rescue group was 4 Paws and Hooves and that site has been deactivated.
There are animals that were in foster homes affiliated with this rescue group and now a discreet attempt is underway to find safe havens for those animals. These are some of them: The little dogs are Maui and Aloha and the well-behaved pit girl is Honey.
A third party tells us that one of the rescuer/fosters, shattered by this news, is “working so hard to save these pets and to keep them from going to local shelters that are already bursting at the seams.” The report is that other fosters are “bailing and calling her for help.”
.Our contact writes that it is not the fault of the trusting fosters and volunteers that the organization has collapsed. “We're only thinking of the welfare of these pets.”
To ask about helping these people help the twice-victimized animals, e-mail nuttallt@yahoo.com.
You can read about the seizure in The Weatherford Democrat – the original story is HERE and a story about city shelters’ involvement with Ms. Weldon is HERE.
[Larry aside: Through the years we have seen quite a few of these things – people winding up in trouble because their hearts or their goals were too big for their pocketbooks or their abilities. Surely there has been some study somewhere that advises how to prevent this sort of thing. We know for a fact that some of these poor souls would not have ever wanted to put an animal in danger. Things just became overwhelming.]
BUDDY GETS A HOME You may recall that last week we told the story of Buddy, a free-roaming 42-pound Pit boy who was saved from traffic by a couple who tried to find a place for him to go for 3 weeks, then finally surrendered him to the Arlington Animal Services shelter and, of course, immediately began to catch flack for “killing this dog by putting her in that shelter.”
Things have worked out. The couple monitored the dog’s situation at the shelter, made contacts and here’s the report we got last night from Buddy’s finder:
”Buddy got neutered today but you wouldn't know it as he was his usual boisterous, happy, loving self. He headed off this evening and never looked backed. I think Buddy loves and trusts the world - he embraces the people he's with. The family getting him is very excited, especially the 10-year-old girl. Buddy will get to be in the house, sleep in her bed and be spoiled as the only dog. Thank you for your great story. It meant a lot to me that you gave up so much of your column to our sweet Buddy.”
And, of course, Readlarrypowell.com is proud to be associated with happy endings though we must remind our Dear Readers that they are the people who do the hard, sometimes heart-wrenching work and our spot on the World Wide Web is merely a conduit for telling of the work of angels.
May Buddy have a long, long happy life and never want for the soft touch of a loving human.
MEANWHILE, BACK IN ARLINGTON: This morning, Susan Tandukar, a volunteer with Partners of Arlington Animal Services wrote to us about Romeo – he’s #16175603 in the city’s shelter.
(The organization has a Facebook page.)
This is the big dog Romeo in before and after pictures. In one you can see how his entire head is swollen and in the other you can see the raw ring on his neck.
Here is the story from Susan who says, "Romeo was found out wandering around in Arlington last week with a jump rope wound so tightly around his neck that it had to be surgically removed once he was brought into the shelter.  His face was extremely swollen from this as well.  He is doing better and a lot of the swelling has gone down, but he will need a LOT of TLC and will be available to ‘rescue only’ when his hold time is up.  His hold is up tonight at 6:09 p.m. and [he] will become urgent by tomorrow morning.”
”Urgent,” of course, means that he’s on the clock. And, really, who wants a brown dog like this? Nobody. Nope, give me a little fluffy dog or a tiny lap dog or a purebred with a majestic countenance. Don’t’ give me an ol’ beat-up, abused shelter dog.*
Susan says, “He has beautiful amber eyes and just needs someone to show him that not all humans are bad and to give him the love and care that he truly deserves.
To ask about Romeo, get in touch with the Arlington shelter (you can Google it) by e-mailing lynn.trotter@arlingtontx.gov and susan.waits@arlingtontx.gov, .
Yeah, who needs a brown dog around the house? They rarely match the furniture.*
*Cynical comments presented through the courtesy of Readlarrypowell.com’s Free Cynical Comments Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary that focuses on the attitudes of people who have never adopted an ugly ol’ dawg. FYI: The beauty of a dog is in the heart.
AUSTIN BACKSLIDES AS A NO-KILL CITY: Goodness gracious, there appears to be an outbreak of unwanted animals in Austin and that is resulting in the city’s much-praised “no-kill” status vanishing. The Austin American-Statesman ahs a report about 15 dogs being killed for space on Friday – read it HERE. And USA Today had a story in March that sort of explained the no-kill challenges. And it had a comment from the no-kill advocate (though who isn’t, really?) Nathan Winograd. Read it HERE.
FRISCO AND A SHELTER INITIATIVE: DeDe Whitcombe, the rescuer who is with  the No-Kill Collin County effort, says that tonight Frisco City Council Member Bob Allen is scheduled to “present a shelter resolution challenge to the other Frisco city council members for approval. This resolution will also serve as a challenge to city councils in the other Collin County cities that use the [Collin County Animal Services] shelter. The resolution as written supports 4 new (shelter) positions, directional signage and monthly staff updates/reports during the council meetings.”
To read more about this effort, go to the No Kill Collin County site HERE  or see the organization’s Facebook page HERE.
WANT TO GET GOOD AND MAD? Go to the Texas Humane Legislation Network website, www.thln.org, and read about the horrors in East Texas – a guy beating a tethered dog to death and another guy burning live dogs in a fire pit. These two cases are “Action Alerts” on the THLN site. The counties involved – Van Zandt on the beating and Wood on the burning – are no strangers to mistreatment of animals.
While we’re at it, does anyone have info on a Kaufman County dog-fighting investigation that has been scuttled? Perhaps a year-long investigation? Involves mean people? Please let us know at dallrp@aol.com.
HELPING A COCKER: As visitors to Readlarrypowell.com know, we have a great fondness for Cocker Spaniels – this is because the amazing Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, is our constant companion and literary advisor.
Here’s a 6-year-old fellow whose human has died. And, yet we don’t even know his name – though he probably does. We’re trying to find out. OK, this just in -- and we should have guessed -- his name is "Duke."
Janet Bouchard is trying to help Duke, who currently lives in Canton. She says that the fellow who died “left him in the care of a family member, who travels a lot and is looking for a home for him. He is 6 years old, neutered, UTD on vetting, likes kids as long as they play nice, and likes cats and other dogs.”
Ask about him by e-mailing jbouchard2009@yahoo.com.
FOLLOWING UP ON FRANK: Yesterday we reported about the quiet returned of this Schipperke Frank to his home in Parker – he’d wandered out of his yard while his humans, Alex and Patrick Taylor were busy. Took advantage of an open gate while being on an unauthorized excursion.
Anyway, his humans left the gate open and put out food and, sure enough, Frank came home.
Alex says it was Patrick’s idea to leave the gate open and put the food out so Frank would have something waiting when he returned.
She says she has “a list of things to do ‘if your pet gets lost.’ I guess I will have to add ‘leave the gate open.’”
Alex also says that when Frank vanished she “emailed all the city shelters and surprisingly most of them replied to me, which I was not expecting. This is something else people could do.”
Here is the list Alex provided (and we provide this list because we suspect Frank will not be the last dog who finds a way to go on a neighborhood “walkabout”). Alex’s list:
--Put up flyers and signs in the area with a photo of the pet. It's good to write the animal is sick and needs medicine. You want to say needs medication so someone will think it’s sick and will not be tempted to keep it.
--Put a sign up in your front yard with a photo of the pet.
--Call and go by animal control several times a week
--Fax pictures of your lost pet to the shelters in your area each week.
--Call all of the local shelters around your area.
--Put reward on your posters and signs.  That causes kids to look for the pet, too.
--Put an ad in a local paper.
--Put up notices up at all the vet’s offices in your area.
--Put a note out for your mailman. He would be the most likely to see the pet. (I found my aunt's lost dog via the mailman one time)
--Visit this website. Is the best website out there on lost pets: http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/index.php
--Pet Tracker is an incredible tool to use when finding lost pets Dog-Gone Detectives Specializing in locating your lost pet using trained search K-9s.
”Also,” Alex adds, “A friend told me to put a lost pet ad in Craig’s List. She said she found two puppies that a friend of her’s lost a while back.”
So, there you have some suggestions from one person whose dog “ran away.” No doubt some people will have things to add or reasons to tweak some of these notes. Feel free to offer your suggestions by clicking on “COMMENT” below.
As for Frank, Alex says, “I would love to know where in this world he was that whole time.”
Perhaps they’ll find out when the credit card bills come in next month. Frank looks like he’d stay in a high-class hotel and run up a pretty good room service bill.
CONTEMPLATIONS: Why is East Texas such a hellish place for animals? Dog-fighting, cruelty, dumping, etc.  … A pleasant thought: Name your favorite non-holiday old movie. Some suggestions: My Man Godfrey with William Powell, The Day The Earth Stood Still with Michael Rennie, Play It Again, Sam with Woody Allen, Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart. See, this could go on a while. … How things change: Remember when “app” was simply the first syllable in “Appaloosa?”
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