EDITION OF FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2018 [PetPowellPress] -- Just as I sat down to begin typing this edition, a dog walked up to me and asked sternly, “Are you paying no attention to the clock?” This provoked a chorus of queries. So, yes, I got started late because, as household staff, I am required to hop when someone barks “JUMP!” What was the dinner-time conversation Thursday? Several topics including the SPCA’s recent spay/neuter success (you may smile when you see the stats!), the comforting presence of housecats and a pregnant dog who needs a break. That dog with the Hollywood pose is Sugar of Mesquite -- more on her in a minute. But, first, we’re moving the focus to Western Oklahoma. HERE GOES:
A DOG WITH JUST
ONE COMPLETE PAW -- AND ONE BIG HEART
We have here a story from the resilient Burns Flat, Okla., rescuer and hard-nosed animal advocate Terry Lynn Fisher. As promised in Thursday’s brief report, this is about a dog with just one paw. Terry Lynn explains, “This poor girl was found outside of town. The lady who found her could not leave her there. She brought her home but is unable to keep due to only being
allowed two pets in her rental.
“This girl looks like she had had MANY puppies. She is timid, but loving. She gets along great with the other dogs and cats.” [LARRY ASIDE: You can see a cat sitting happily behind this pup in that third photo! In typical cat fashion, the feline is looking away from the camera. Click on the photo to make it larger and easier to see the relaxing cat.]
Terry Lynn says, “Three of her paws are either deformed or missing. She DOES get around good. ... PLEASE, if anyone can help with this sweetheart, let me know... She needs a rescue asap, for she will be going to the pound this week.”
Email Terry Lynn at remembering_oddball @yahoo.com.
[LARRY ASIDE: Don’t you know this dog has an interesting story -- good thing for someone that she can’t talk. Yet -- remember, those computer geniuses keep working on ways to communicate between humans and animals! Once that happens, the courtrooms will be full of cruelty and neglect cases!]
SMALL SHELTER ALERT:
CLOCK TICKS IN RED OAK
Yeah, we’re doing another note about the low-traffic Red Oak Animal Shelter. Small shelters need a boost in adoptions, rescues and publicity. We’re all full up at Readlarrypowell.com, so we’ll try to help with publicity.
The email subject line read “URGENT! TX. RED OAK SHELTER (DALLAS) - PLEASE HELP SAVE THE LIFE OF A DOG THAT TRULY NEEDS YOU ... RESCUE OR ADOPT OR POSSIBLY FOSTER.”
It came from Laura Macias and focused initially on Daisy, but added some other dogs, too.
Daisy, is a Heeler/Bulldog Mix, under 2, who is house-trained. She was rescued by a “Good Samaritan and,” her bio reads, “we even have a picture of her happily hanging out with the Good Samaritan’s kitty cat. We just wanted to show ... how very sweet she is and how she just loves and adores everyone and everything.”
We’ve posted Gunner’s photo twice before. He’s a Lab mix who, as you may recall, was “adopted a couple of months ago from Dallas Animal Services and someone ‘lost’ him (what they apparently said) and a Good Samaritan found him and located the ‘owner’ but they did not want him. He was taken to a local shelter in that small city and was on the clock with euthanasia pending. so the Good Samaritan pulled him, thinking and hoping a rescue group had been found, but it never panned out.” Now he’s waiting in
Red Oak where he’s regarded as adorable and lovable.
And on the clock.
Meeko is a Lab/Husky mix -- sweet loving and, importantly, housetrained. He needs a rescue.
And there’s Roxy, a “bashful” Chihuahua who “came in through some special circumstances and, sadly, her owner will not be coming for her.”
To help with all of these animals, email Laura Macias at cat_girl_71@yahoo.com or call or text 214-949-2726. If you’re a 501c3 rescue, transport is possible.
EXPECTING IN DENTON;
RESCUED IN DENTON
Just when I’m about ready to finance Dallas City Limit signs that declare “MOST FERTILE CITY IN AMERICA,” we get another note from Denton about an expectant dog and I’m wondering...
Our tipster, the volunteer monitor Amy Poskey, reports that this dog is “Suzie and she needs our help in a BIG way!!! Bless her heart, she was tied up and abandoned with two other pooches and they had no food or water. Suzie needs to know love and she especially needs a loving home where she can have her babies!”
She’s somewhere between 2 and 5 years old and is believed to be a Shiba Inu/Shepherd mix. Amy reports Susie weighs “39 pounds (with babies), so may be about 30 pounds on a skinny day.”
Here are the contacts: dale.amyposkey@verizon.net for Amy and at the shelter, email gayla.nelsen@cityofdenton.com, paul.o’neill@cityofdenton.
com, dentonshelterdogs @yahoo.com, and/or dentonanimalservices @yahoo.com. Call the shelter at 940-349-7594.
BEFORE WE LEAVE DENTON, here’s a good news report from Amy about a dog we mentioned earlier in the week. “Nina has left the building! Mary Stewart with Great Dane Rescue of North Texas pulled this beauty late Wednesday so she is SAFE and already in her foster home with three other Great Danes! ... As always, I want to thank EVERYONE for everything you do to help save these furry angels!!!”
SUGAR IN MESQUITE
She’s not the only dog on the clock in Mesquite, but we figured we’d feature Sugar because she’s so darned photogenic. One of those photos makes her look as if she’s got the lead in Sunset Boulevard and has just announced, “I’m ready for my close-up.” The other shows her wonderful face -- it’s expressive, beautiful and doesn’t need to be stilled by a the needle of death in a city shelter.
She’s a year-old Pittie
mix who came in as a stay on March 28, reports our Mesquite volunteer tipster Judi Brown (who has spotlighted a LOT more animals waiting in Mesquite. Just google Mesquite Animal Shelter and looked at the available animals.)
Sugar is mostly white with “darker spots under her fur,” her bio reads. “She is on the timid side, but when she got into the yard, she began to relax,” then the bio adds, “She will need lots of ‘sugar’ to bring out her full potential.” The 35-pound dog (#38173723) is “gentle, calm and well-mannered...friendly and affectionate.” Use that ID number when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email rescues@cityofmesquite.com.
TWO SOCIAL NOTES
FOR ANIMAL FOLKS (WHO LIKE A GOOD PARTY!)
HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY TO DFW COCKER SPANIEL RESCUE
The Cocker Rescue group will be celebrating its 18th birthday on Saturday at Gussie Field Watterworth Park Pavilion in Farmers Branch. [LARRY ASIDE: And that is the first time I’ve ever typed “Gussie Field Watterworth Park Pavilion.”] This is a fund-raising celebration -- a $5 donation gets sandwiches and chips; drinks are $1. There’ll be a Pet Communicator, Raffles and the Cocker Spaniel Specialty Club of Dallas will offer both the Good Citizen Test and the New AKC Trick Dog Test. The event is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Watterworth, 2610 Valley View Lane in Farmers Branch. Read more and see adoptable Cocker Spaniels at dfwcockerrescue.org.
MEANWHILE, OUT AT THE LAKE,
THE GALA NEARS A SELL-OUT!
Our tipster Sydney Busch of friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake reports that the Whiskers and Wags 2018 fundraiser for the Friends and the Humane Society of Cedar Creek “is SO CLOSE to sell-out!”
This 6th annual gala is from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at CR Legacy Event Center, 2505 W. Main in Gun Barrel City. Get tickets at www.whiskersandwags.us.
Sydney’s note reminds us that “the revenue from this event enables us to provide surgery for those pets of low--income families who want to be responsible pet owners...It feels good to save/prevent a life! HELP US DO THAT!”
As you know, the Friends of the Animals operate the world’s most successful spay/neuter clinic at Gun Barrel City. Visit friendsoftheanimals.org or go to the Facebook page HERE.
CONTEMPLATIONS:
THE SPAY/NEUTER MISSION
AND NOTATIONS OF SUCCESS!
It’s a pleasure to write about spay/neuter successes in our neck of the woods. Fortunately, our pals at the SPCA of Texas have the info. The headline on this Thursday PM news release read, “SPCA OF TEXAS AND STAND UP FOR PITS FOUNDATION FREE SPAY/NEUTER EVENT PROVIDED SERVICES FOR 42 DOGS IN ONE DAY.”
Forty-two in a day! Don’t you know there were some tired vets and staffers!
[LARRY ASIDE: That may not be a record number, but if you’re going to go for the spay/neuter record, Dallas is the place to start, right?]
The event was held on Wednesday “with support from Duck Team 6 and funding from the [non-profit] Stand Up For Pits Foundation.”
The spay/neuter surgeries came with vaccines and, also, there were microchips for Pitties and mixes and other pets in the humans’ households. This clinic was conducted at the SPCA’s Myron K. Martin Spay/Neuter & Wellness Clinic in Dallas and the Mary Spencer Spay/Neuter & Wellness Clinic at Village Fair in Southern Dallas.
SPCA President and CEO James Bias said, “Having pets spayed and neutered is the most important way to prevent pet overpopulation and ensure that animals live happy, healthy lives in loving homes. We’re so proud to work with Duck Team 6 and the Stand Up For Pits Foundation to offer these free surgeries, vaccines and microchips.”
TWO SPAY/NEUTER NOTES OF SIGNIFICANCE (and these are significant points of contemplation.) First, you don’t have to wait for a “special day” to get your dog or cat spayed or neutered. As the SPCA’s Maura Davis reminds us, “We have every day low-cost services, prices listed here (after the client chooses which clinic they’d prefer to visit): https://www.spca.org/clinicservices. We regularly post about these specials on our Facebook page as well at https://www.facebook.com/spcaoftexaspage/.”
[LARRY ASIDE: What I’m reporting here is if you haven’t spayed or neutered your dog or cat, you’re not trying. The SPCA and its partners are all over the place with opportunities.]
SO, THIS BRINGS US TO A KEY QUESTION: Just how many homes is all this spay/neuter business touching?
Maura had the answer: “We’re keeping track of the number of pets and families assisted at http://www.lets-fix-this.org/. Right now, that’s at *8,595 Families Assisted *13,594 Pets Spayed/Neutered. Year two just began this past Sunday, and we’re off to an excellent start!”
So, Dear Readers, this is a perfect contemplation for all of us who despair over the “unfixed” animals in Dallas. There is statistical evidence that people are responding to spay/neuter appeals.
Do we have a reminder? Only this one: KEEP THE SPAY/NEUTER CAMPAIGN IN THE PUBLIC EYE! Maybe some PR firm with a heart can do a pro-bono billboard campaign. Or, maybe, a cellphone campaign! I’d love it if instead of cell phone calls about my non-existent student loans, I’d get calls reminding me and my neighbors and fellow Zip Codians (just made that up) to spay and neuter and to properly, safely confine dogs and cats.
Those photos, by the way, are from the April 4 event -- you see a couple of dogs in recovery. And I could not resist posting that wonderful mugshot of that beautiful dog -- I think his eyes are wide because he’d just been told, “You’re about to have one less thing to worry about in the world.”
See more of the participants at this LINK to SPCA pictures.
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