ReadLarryPowell.com

Happy notes; helpful notes; donkey note

Here is a truth: After 10:30 p.m. Dallas time, someone at the cable company turns the sound up on all commercials.

Honest, you’ll be sitting quietly watching a talk show and WHAMMO, you’ll find someone screaming about pickups, furniture stores, taco bargains and what’s coming up next so loud that it rattles the wax in your ears.

Cats wince, dogs leave the room and light fixtures begin to swing like you’re in San Francisco during The Big One.

OK, this quiet morning, let’s move along:

MISSING DOG: Sheba is a family member who has gone missing from her home near 190 and Josey in Carrollton, says our pit bull source Laura of www.lucydog.com.

“A dear friend of mine has lost her 14-16-year-old Pit Bull, Sheba,” writes Laura. “I know a lot of rescue people read your site and I was hoping someone might have picked her up.”

She’s a spayed female and is both tattooed and microchipped. She suffers from glaucoma, is missing most of her teeth and is deaf. But she is a friendly ol’ dog who is desperately missed by her family. If you’ve seen her or know where she is, call 469-348-6625 or 469-348-6624.

Sheba apparently wandered from her home on March 19.

It’s obvious from the photo that she’s a family dog.

BUSTER GETS A HOME: You may recall a few weeks ago we wrote of Buster, the brown dog who was doing time in a Colorado lockup because his truck-drivin’ owner had gotten into a scrape and wound up in the Graybar Hotel in Brush.

Linda McNeill, a friend of the family and, especially, a friend of critters, started working on finding Buster a home.

Good news arrived yesterday. Buster got a home, but, Linda reports, not with another trucker. “Just someone who works out of the home with a big yard. The lady at the dog pound found this man. He fell in love with Buster and Buster fell in love with him.”

TRUCK STOP PUPPY FINDS HOME:  One more “you may recall” item. We recently wrote of Leslie Stanga’s rescue (with the help of Angie Manriquez) of a momma dog and her pup from the Carl’s Corner Truck Stop.

In a small-world-ain’t-it moment, that truck stop puppy has been adopted Ryan Lockard, who we mentioned last week in the story of Tessa, the injured agility dog.  Ryan, who was keeping score in the ring that Saturday morning when Tessa was hurt, adopted Leslie’s truck stop pup to be a pal for her mother. Leslie says, “I still have the mom and hope to find an equally loving home for her.” (E-mail [email protected] to help Momma Dog find a good home.)

LOOKING FOR SOME FOSTER HOMES:  She's got her eye on you!

Our friends with Paws in the City rescue report that there are several opportunities to foster good dogs from the City of Dallas shelters.

Among these pups is Tracie, a 2-year-old lab mix with one blue eye. The word is she’s good with other dogs and kids, not so swell with cats and needs a yard with a tall fence because she’s a climber.

Then there’s Max, a boxer who still has his tail. Not too keen on dogs, but he’s good with people. Max, because of his difficulty with other dogs, is currently being boarded in a kennel and that’s costing the rescue group a bit of coin.

Now, the folks at Paws in the City are looking for foster homes but, in reality, they’d like to have these animals living in permanent homes. If you can help foster or adopt, call 972-978-2188 or e-mail [email protected]. See www.pawsinthecity.org.)

HELPING A SHELTIE: Our buddy Sigrid Mureen of Sheltie Haven (www.sheltiehaven.org) is trying to get a photo of a dog in the Glen Rose shelter. She’s hoping to see the dog so she can tell if it’s a purebred sheltie and she can get it into Sheltie Haven rescue.  Her solutions are: (1) borrow a camera phone so the person in Glen Rose who has a phone can send the photo to her or (2) have someone with a digital camera snap a photo of the dog and e-mail it to her. If anybody has an idea of how to overcome technology and help this dog while keeping your day job 60 miles away, call Sigrid at 214-327-1102. Remember, in Texas, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single byte.

ABOUT THE BOXERS: Remember all that rain last weekend? Yep, postponed the Legacy Boxer Rescue Garage Sale – it’s been moved to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 1 at 4001 Bandera Lane in Plano.

So, here’s an example of whom proceeds from that sale will help, according to info from Legacy’s Marla Margol. A careful look at this photo shows that this dog has some extra hardware.

This dog is Brooke, hit by a car and left in the street as people drove on until “a wonderful bystander decided to step in… Before you knew it, calls were being made, things started happening and help was on its way to help Brooke.

“It took a few people to get hold of her as she was in very bad pain from having a compound fracture to her rear leg.” That means, Margo says, that the bone had poked through the skin. She was bleeding badly, too.

“One of our volunteers, Amy Perry, and her husband, Kjell, drove out to rescue Brooke. She was placed in Amy’s car and off they went, straight into veterinarian’s care.”

Amy’s leg was saved “and she has outside hardware to keep the bone aligned and allowed it to heal properly. Needless to say, this was costly surgery or Brooke but well worth it We placed an ad in the McKinney newspaper in hopes that we could find her owners, but so far, to no avail.”

The group holds some hope that the dog’s rightful folks will turn up. In the meantime, the rescue group’s emergency medical fun – never a giant bankroll – has been drained by the repair work on Brooke. To help bail out future medical problems in rescued dogs, you can donate to Legacy Boxer Rescue (See www.savetheboxers.com).

NOW A WORD ABOUT AN AVAILABLE CAT: This is Halle, born Aug. 2004. She’s a black domestic short-hair who, according to the report from Dog and Kitty City, is “just as friendly as she is playful. She loves to stand up on her hind legs and give hugs, rub against your face and purr enthusiastically.

"Halle’s a great cat who will fit well into any animal lover’s home.”

That’s the skinny from Dog and Kitty City. (Call 214-350-7387 or e-mail [email protected].)

ATTENTION IRVING>: Well, the e-mails have been arriving from people who are not quite pleased with things in Irving. Some are upset about the way the city’s animal shelter is being run – ugly charges are being passed around. (Read about some of those things on the Straydog Inc. site, www.straydog.org.

And other people are upset that on Friday, Irving High School will host a “donkey basketball game” – where big people play basketball while astride little donkeys. The riders, if this event proceeds, will include folks from Irving High, Nimitz High, MacArthur High, the Irving Police and Fire Departments.

The event is sponsored by the Irving Council of PTAs (See www.irvingisd.net/districtweekly/weeklycurrent.htm.).

The council is supposed to have a meeting at 9 a.m. Wednesday and word is people will be there to speak against the “donkey basketball game.” It’s a “sport” that is on the PETA “let’s not do that” list. After all, there’s no guarantee that the donkeys will be treated with dignity or care in the heat of a game.

To the unenlightened or willingly ignorant ear, I’m certain it sounds silly to protest a donkey basketball game. But you have to wonder what sort of message it sends when young, impressionable children see big adults kicking animals to get them to go, or swatting them on the backside to get them to move on a BASKETBALL COURT! Heck, wouldn’t your rather teach your kid to adore an animal rather than abuse it?

I’m pretty sure the official “Why God Made Donkeys Handbook” doesn’t include “to ride into the paint for a lay-up” or to “linger on the perimeter to shoot a three-pointer.” It’s this kind of “fun” that makes me root for the bulls at Pamplona.

Rain, critters and a review...

Whoa. How about that rain?

Winter got here just in time for spring (arrives at 12:26 p.m.  Dallas time today, if my www sources are correct.)

I’m not going to say we had a dramatic amount of rain around North Texas over the weekend, but on Sunday afternoon Inky the cocker spaniel began forcing the cats to participate in lifeboat drills. He got the other dogs to line up 2 by 2 in case Festival Cruise Lines happened to run an ark through the neighborhood.

While we’re at it, how about that Tony Soprano coma on The Sopranos…My goodness…I think one more episode with Tony in a coma and he’ll hold the official Primetime Record For Major Character in a Coma. I’m sure the daytime record for a soap opera coma is insurmountable.

A DOG CALLED HOPE: This dog is currently in the care of A Different Breed rescue group. She needs a home or a foster home and it’s got to be a home that has a wealth of understanding.

This 45-pounder is about 9 months old, so there’s still some puppy in her. ADB reports, “She is a pure white  Staffordshire Terrier. Her only issue is that she is deaf. This is common among pure white Staffordshires. She needs a home that has the patience to teach her some hand signals and really work with her….Hope really needs a yard. Right now she doesn’t have a fence yard and for a pup her age, she really needs one. She is crate-trained and about 75 percent of the way to being housetrained. She also loves other dogs, but likes to chase cats too much.” (Call 214-316-6604 or e-mail [email protected].)

REMINDER: Don't forget to visit our Passages & Prayers area. Touching stories, deep emotions. (Click the Passages & Prayers spot in the upper right side of this page.)

FROM THE LAKE: The Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake have spayed or neutered more than 7,700 critters in the past several years. But that doesn’t mean every dog or cat in the surrounding Greater Laketroplex has been “fixed.”

Consequently, the fostering folks at Friends wind up with assorted dogs and cats gleaned from the countryside. Sometimes the mixes come in droves. For example, there were 30 pups rescued several weeks ago from abandoned moms.

The pups aren’t all perfect – one has an “inverted stifle joint on his right hind leg,” according to Friends Fosterer Lois Rellar. But, “he does just fine,” she says.

That’s the thing about puppies: If they’ve got a good human partner, they’ll all do just fine.

The pups in these pictures are chow mixes – a couple of the black females are Chow/Jack Russell Terrier mixes. I’m not sure what sort of attitude that pairing might offer, but it’s probably entertaining. (To see about adopting any of these cuties, call 903-887-7691 or e-mail [email protected].)

And remember, spay and neuter, spay and neuter, spay and neuter.

THE SCRAPED BARN MOVIE REVIEW: Keep in mind that here at www.readlarrypowell.com  the aim of a movie reviewer is not to impose his will, but to tell you whether you’d be better off seeing this film or spending a couple of hours scraping old paint off a barn.

Also keep in mind that we know most people who rescue dogs and volunteer for shelters are not rolling in dough. So, we’ll recommend movies that we hope you won’t think were a waste of money. And, since we don’t get out to the movies too often, that’ll help budget your finances -- we know it helps us.

Here goes: My cinemaspouse Martha and I, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, went to the finely appointed and comfy Cedar Hill Cinemark to see Failure To Launch, the romantic comedy with Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Terry Bradshaw and Kathy Bates. Fun film, good laughs, nice pictures on the screen. One ugly word, but it’s the big one and it's only used once. Rest of the film is way clean.

Except there is Terry Bradshaw’s nude scene. Now, there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write. Back in 1968, I was a sportswriter at The Shreveport Times and covered a game where Terry Bradshaw threw a few TD passes for Louisiana Tech. In 1968 I never thought I’d write the sentence, “Except there is Terry Bradshaw’s nude scene.”

To give you an idea what it’s like: It’s a lot like watching from behind as an albino Smurf strolls along the avenue. Fun, though, in the context of the movie -- not something you'd want to see in real life, I guess.

So, on the whole, it’s a nice film with good laughs and it beats scraping paint off a barn. You can’t say that about every movie.

For example, you can’t say that about The Pirate Movie with Christy  MacNichol, Hudson Hawk with Bruce Willis or the Tim Allen movie Christmas With The Kranks.  The Godfather, The Sting,  The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Thin Man and My Man Godfrey will make you put off scraping the barn.

Oh, yeah, Clan of the Cave Bear will make you turn the paint scraper on your own wrists. I must admit, however, a certain affection for the George Strait movie Pure Country. I can’t explain it. Maybe it just entertains me. Sometimes that’s all a movie is supposed to do.

Feel free to argue with the critic. Email your opinions to [email protected]. Meanwhile, before you go to a theater next time, remember to take out a loan so you can enjoy some popcorn and a Coke. If you want candy, you’ll need a co-signer.

A picture worth a thousand snores...

If you were to send out one of those big-time magazine photographers on an assignment to “get a picture of the sleepiest dog you’ve ever seen,” this might be the photo they’d come back with.

Nova Pickels proudly nominated this week’s selection for spotlighting in “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.”

This is the Pickels family’s grand Great Dane, Punchy. He’s 3 ½ years old.

And, boy, does he look Punchy in this picture!

Nova writes, “He is a Great Dane Rescue (www.danerescue.net) foster failure. He was in foster care for a year before I got him. It wasn’t too long into my fostering that he became a permanent member.“

He played so well with my second dog, Sergei, that I felt I should adopt Punchy for him. Of course, I got Sergei for my first dog, Niki. You see the vicious cycle I’m in.”

Punchy took up a permanent spot on the couch in their Dallas home. “I think the picture shows that he is not too pleased to have his nap interrupted, but not enough to get up. He is a sweet momma’s boy who is wonderful at snuggling and shredding puppy toys.”

Sergei, who didn’t have his photo made for this session, is a 9-year-old Great Pyrenees. Niki, 14, is a Shepherd/Collie mix. Both were adopted from the SPCA of Texas in Dallas. Now, Punchy may have that “Oh, please just leave me here  drooling” look in that photo, but it turns out he “brought out the puppy in Niki.” Based on Niki's mugshot, playtime is the righttime.

As you take one more look at Punchy, consider Nova’s words, “Danes are way cool dogs. Goofy and fun and loveable!”

(To nominate a slumbering drooler, napping purrer, or snoring in-law for our weekend feature, “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap,” e-mail a photo and info to [email protected]. Remember, at readlarrypowell.com, sleep is as precious as the one-eyed look on a Great Dane’s face.)

Found and available...

It’s late Friday and we’re going to get some late-breaking news onto the readlarrypowell.com site.

We’d have posted earlier, but your aging scribe spent several hours with son Bart and grandchild Hannah Rose. We went to the driving range at Fun City in Grand Prairie. Hannah Rose shows promise. Her dad is working on his game. And her grandfather’s game is no worse than it was the last time he picked up the sticks. The good thing about hitting golf balls with your nearly 5-year-old granddaughter is that she’s too young to know when it’s OK to make fun of an adult.

BACK HOME AGAIN: Tina Campos sent us a great note about her formerly missing cat. “I just wanted to let you know that a neighbor found Noah yesterday morning. He was about 5 blocks away from us but is safe at home. Thank you for including Noah on your site and helping us to find him.”

Isn’t that great news? Noah, I’ll bet, doesn’t know what the hubbub was all about, but he’s probably taking advantage of it. That’s in the Official Cat Handbook under “Behavioral Manipulation in Humans.”

FOUND BUT ALREADY LOVED: Melissa McClure’s Mom, Linda McClure, found this pup – looks comfy, doesn’t he? – running down a street in Irving Saturday near 183 and MacArthur  All the usual lost dog places have been alerted, flyers have  been distributed at vet offices, pet stores and throughout the neighborhood.

Mom, in fact, “walked the dog around the neighboring streets 4 times a day and talked to the FedEx delivery person,” says Melissa.

Now, why do they think this 8 ½ pound dog belongs to someone? Because he “smelled like shampoo and was wearing a red collar,” Melissa says.

“My brother thinks it may have smelled a little bit like someone’s perfume, too. He’s a lap dog and sleeps on the bed – obviously someone’s pet. He’s male and understand the words ‘walk’ and ‘outside’ and he thinks treats come from the fridge. Not the fondest of men at first but seems to warm up to them.”

Melissa wonders if “the people are out for spring break and don’t knows he’s gotten away from whomever they left him with.”

So, if you know who this dog is, call 972-252-5777. Otherwise, he’s got a home, it looks like. Mom’s calling him “Tiny” or ‘Little Dog” or “Little Man.” But, Melissa says, “My brother is working on getting her to call himThor.”

BASSET IN ALVARADO: Donna Lofland of Alvarado Animal Control forwards this note on behalf of Claire Jones. Beatrice the Basset needs a foster home – or a forever home. She would go into the Alvarado shelter, but it’s experiencing a parvo outbreak. So Beatrice is shopping for quarters. Claire writes, “Beatrice is very well-mannered and gets along with other dogs. She looks to be around 8 years old, maybe. She is HW negative and has been given her rabies vax, HW prev. and Frontline Plus.”

She also suffers from mammary tumors and is taking antibiotics to handle an infection. The tumors need to be removed, but she’s in good health otherwise. (Call 817-447-0055 or e-mail [email protected].)

FROM THE LAKE: These tips about some good dogs needing homes come from folks with Friends of the Animals, the spay/neuter folks at Cedar Creek Lake.

Boxers: Two male “intact” (for now!) boxers need a new home. The brown male is 4 ½ years old and “a little aggressive.” The 11-month old brindle is “a sweet…male” except that he doesn’t like kids.

So, what we have here are two dogs who need an alpha human to remind them how they can relax and be dogs instead of trying to run the world. That sound like a fair assessment?

Anyway, e-mail [email protected] to help or to give these dogs a home.

Earie, eh? Lois Reller, one of the devoted rescuers and foster moms with the Friends of the Animals, sends us the photo of the 10-month-old male pit bull.

She says he’s a “beautiful brindle color with the most awesome ears.” Call 903-887-7691 or e-mail [email protected] or, I guess, aim your ham radio antenna toward Cedar Creek Lake and expect to hear a “Woof on back, good buddy.”

Lost Dogs and Other Tales...

BE ON THE LOOKOUT: Cory is a shy, black Chow mix who slipped away from her new owner Thursday night – last seen near the Rosemeade/Marsh intersection in North Carrollton.

Here’s the back story: Operation Kindness’ Jonnie England says Cory survived  Hurricane Katrina and was “among the last dogs trabsferred out of the Lamar DixonExpo Center last Oct. 9.”

She was adopted Wednesday – she’d been waiting for a new home for six months. The folks at Operation Kindness were thrilled to see her in a new home.

But, just hours after going to that new home, Cory managed to slip away from her new owner.

“We’ve sent staff out looking for her, but so far no luck,” Jonnie says. “she doesn’t know the neighborhood and didn’t have time to bond to her new person. We’ve notified Carrollton Animal Services and are putting up posters. She was wearing her collar  and tags and has been microchipped. But  Cory is shy with people she doesn’t know and will be difficult to catch.”

If you know of Cory's whereabout or if, mercifully, you have her, e-mail [email protected] or call 972-418-PAWS, ext. 100 or 240. 

COMPUTER  MISERY: We’re still waiting for the computer experts – they may be Borg they’re so machinelike -- to diagnose and cure the unseemly behavior of our desktop computer. We’re hoping they convince the stubborn desktop that  resistance is futile. So, again, I’m using my laptop to file today’s report.

My hands don’t fit this keyboard and sometimes the mouse is too fast and I’m always uneasy around a laptop because it makes our original laptop, Inky the Cocker Spaniel, jealous.

COYOTES AND BIRDS: Talk about timing. Last night the Fox 4 news did a story on coyotes in urban areas. Of course, to the coyote, it’s not an urban area. It’s  home. Coyotes roam the nation. And their Latin name, “canis latran,” may mean “barking dog,” but they’re a little more stealthful than your neighborhood yappy poodle.

Here’s the timing thing: The DFW Wildlife Coalition has scheduled a program titled  Urban Coiyotes” 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. March 25 at Heights Recreation Center in Richardson. Brett Johnson, an urban biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife, is the featured speaker. (See details at www.dfwwildlife.org.)

The thing is, every time someone builds a new subdivision or develops a “greenbelt,” the coyote population finds a new place to forage and hunt.

We’ve only had  one skunk, a handful of possums  and a few raccoons joining the feral cats on our front porch – and we’re in the heart of Oak Cliff. But it wouldn’t surprise me to discover a coyote standing on the front porch some chilly evening and trying to persuade the cats to evacuate their usual lounging spot -- the heating pad in the canvas camping chair.

By the way, coyotes on Fox 4 – coincidental? Fox 4 is really KDFW, Channel 4, for those of you who prefer the old school (and sensible) designations. 

About the birds: DFW Wildlife Coaliton will present “Flying Wild: Songbirds to Raptors” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.,m. Saturday in Fair Park’s Texas DiscoveryGardens. You’ll see hawks and other birds and learn about all sorts of flying residents of our area. (Tickets are $3 for adults, $2 for folks 60 and older and $1.50 for kids 3 to 11 – if you’re under 3 you get in free, especially if you can whistle like a yellow-bellied sapsucker.

An explanation: You see the photo of Inky the Cocker Spaniel? Since I was unable to step into the yard and snap a photo of a coyote, I said to Inky, "Let's see your impression of a coyote looking at a plate of meatloaf." That's what we have. A cocker spaniel's impression of a coyote looking at  a plate of meatloaf. I checked. Inky doesn't do bird impressions -- tongue is too long for a chirp.

A GENTLE CAMPAIGN: Kacy Harrison, who’s in the broadcast business in Dallas, has made us  aware of a gentle campaign by folks from Animal Allies of Texas to get authorities, i.e., SPCA, etc., to deal with an alleged  cruelty case in Blue Ridge. This involves failure to help dogs that have been hit by cars. Dogs, so the story goes, are allowed to run loose and forage at neighboring homes and are largely unattended. According to a note we got, the person who originally reported this situation “is afraid of the man.” 

Sometimes it takes a bit of a spotlight, a few questions, to correct an ugly situation before handcuffs are brought out and rights are read to the offending people. Sometimes people get what they deserve. Sometimes things may not be what they seem.  And sometimes, sadly, eyes are averted and nothing is done. Probably better for the animals if the humans err on the side of protecting the critters.

WATCHING A SITUATION WITH TESSA: This is one of those things that just happens. On Saturday morning at the agility trials in McKinney, a dog and handler collided and the impact snapped  the foreleg of Tessa the Border Collies.

Think Lawrence Young/Joe Theissman in the now-famous leg-breaking play in an NFL game. It was that sickening, I'm told.

The dog has since undergone delicate surgery and is back home under the loving care of her handler/owner Susan Shipp, according to Ryan Lockhard, training director of DAWG (Dallas Agility Working Group). (See www.dawgagility.org.)

Tessa and Susan had only weeks ago earned the highest AKC Agility title, Master Agility Champion (MaCH).

Ryan says she was scorekeeping in the ring when the accident occurred and it was a tough situation. “Thank goodness we have a vet that runs agility and she rendered her services to mobilize the dog for transport to the emergency clinic.”

This break was not a simple fracture, according to reports from Ryan. It was in an area  made particularly difficult by an array of tendons and ligaments – plus, this is a Border Collie and keeping a Border Collie still is a dramatic challenge.

Tessa is said to be recuperating after surgery and is being lovingly tended to.

Immediately after the accident, Ryan says “DAWG started asking for donations with the promise of matching whatever was donated. By 11 Sunday morning, the agility competitors had dug deep into their pocks and donated $1,200. With the match of donations by DAW, the monies given to the handler to help with the surgery on her dog will be over $2,400.”

Bless both Tessa and Susan – you know they’ve both got challenges ahead.

LITTLE JOE: Seems folks in the media other than readlarrypowell.com are picking up on the newsworthiness of the Little Joe story. A reporter from the Wichita Falls Times Record News, Trish Choate, filed a comprehensive story. (See www.timesrecordnews.com and search for Little Joe. You may have to register but it’s free.)

Meanwhile, the Texas Humane Legislation Network will be meeting in Dallas on April 22 (see www.thln.com) – THLN works to get the legislature to strengthen anti-cruelty laws, fight the horse-slaughter industry and rid the state of puppy mills and dogfighting.

Do-it-yourself ear and tail docking falls within the cruelty laws, one hopes.

AND IN SUMMATION: That concludes the St. Patrick’s Day report, written by the world’s largest vegetarian leprechaun. May your blarney be profitable today.

Computers, critters, crises...

There’s a bit of an interesting event going on with our main computer today.

In the wee hours of the morning, inexplicably, the desktop began a spontaneous “recovery” and by the time the sun came up, we’d lost access to our high speed wireless system, a bunch of programs and sleep. Yep, lost sleep.

So, if today’s page is missing photos and doesn’t seem all that sharp, blame the bugs in the system.

Now, piecing together what we have been able to find, here are some notes:

OPTIMISTIC: The Flower Mound Humane Society (www.fmhs.org) must be the most optimistic outfit in North Texas. Those folks scheduled their big fund-raising semi-annual garage sale  for May 20 – the optimistic part is they scheduled a RAIN DATE. So, if it rains May 20, you can shop June 3. Scheduling a rain date around here really is a note of optimism.

THOSE GAS PRICES: Yesterday I whined about gasoline prices. Ah, help arrives from Jeff and Kayrene Janak of Ignite Associates. They’ve sent a link to a spot where you type in your Zip Code and up pops the price of gasoline in your part of town. Here’s the link: http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx

GRAND OPENING: Though they’ve been doing business for weeks now, the Second Chance SPCA’s grand opening is scheduled from 1 p.m,. to 4 p.m. Saturday. The shelter is adjacent to Doggie’s Wonderland at 505 Alma between the Bush Expressway and Plano Parkway. (See www.scspca.org.) Second Chance SPCA is a great story -- you can read about the inspirational founding of this shelter in the March issue of award-winning Urban Animal magazine.

ON THE TUBE: The folks at A Different Breed will host their usual adoption from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Pepper Square Shopping Center (corner of Beltline at Preston). What’ll be unusual is there’ll be filming – the folks from the cable TV show Bow Wow Meow willl be there.

PHOTO NEWS: The Folks at Paw Prints Pet Photography of Texas will be shooting Easter photos from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Pet Perfect Academy, 1700 Surveyor, in Carrollton. (Call 214-762-7520 for appt.) Then, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.on March 25, they’ll be snapping the Easter shutters at the Doggie Zen Den, 2257 Ridgeview Drive, Plano. On Sunday the 19^th, 25 percent of the proceeds will go to the Richardson Humane Society. On March, 25, 25 percent will go to Animal Rescue of Texas. (See www.pawprintspetphotography.com for more info.)

PET FAIR: Girl Scout Troop 1865 deserves a salute. Those Scouts have organized a Pet Fair Saturday at the Inwood PetsMart. They contacted the Companion Animal Network and asked if  they could do the project to promote solving the homeless animal problem in the area and to promote animal rescue.

LITTLE JOE UPDATE: Carole Sanders of Animal Angels reports that a man living in Jacksboro has been arrested in the mutilation of Little Joe. And she reports, with some, shall we say “verve”, that “Turns out he got Little Joe from another idiot in Bowie who had already cut his little tail off. Then, this idiot [the Jacksboro idiot] decides he [Little Joe] needed to look like a Doberman, so he commenced to cut one ear to make it stand up. Little Joe got away from them, but they chased him down and proceeded to cut on his other ear even though it was clear the ear they had already cut didn’t do what they wanted. What you have to realize is they didn’t just do one cut.  They would cut some off and when it wouldn’t stand up, they would cut a little more. If that’s not torture, I don’t know what is.”

Little Joe seems to be doing OK. He’s on meds, he’s being loved. And, there’s a possibility that someone with veterinary surgical skills will be able to reconstruct some ears for the boy.

Without his ears, his hearing is dramatically impaired and he is very susceptible to infection and water damage in his ear canals and lord knows what else.

We’ll keep you posted on Little Joe’s needs.  And keep in mind that his primary need is going to be a good, understanding home.

LOOKING FOR ZEUS: This is photo of Zeus is a few months old. But you get the drift. He’s a 5 month old boxer who weighs about 30 pounds and is about two feet tall, says Bethany Muhlstein, who’d like to get her dog back.

He was last seen about 5 p.m. on March 8 near Crist St. at 78^th St. in Garland, she writes. “He has a green collar and know show to sit and shake.” Call 512-971-5190 or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

SARAH’S STORY: A woman we’ll call Ms. Nice has a dog that needs a home.

We’re not identifying her because, well, Sarah the Dog’s former people seem to have some issues. Here’s how the story unfolds:

“Last week, I found a sweet dog in Prosper along a dirt road near a field. She had a tag,  but upon calling the number I got involved in a bizarre story. Seems the owner, a young man in his 20s, was in trouble with his girlfriend and running from the police. He gave the dog to his mother, who has a drinking problem and is running drugs from her home. She gave the dog to a childhood friend of her son’s a policeman, who couldn’t keep the dog. Apparently the dog didn’t get along with the policeman’s little dachshund. The owner (the son) came by in the middle of the night and took the dog from the policeman’s backyard and dumped her in Prosper.”

Whew!

Ms. Nice says Sarah is a hound-mix and “at first blush, was terrified of women and aggressive with other dogs but after working with her … she has blended well with my three dogs and with us. She’s simply not fully developed in her ‘social skills’ but is very smart and learns quickly. She doesn’t bark, chew or dig and really needs a good home.”

If you can give Sarah a home, email [email protected] and we’ll forward your info to Ms. Nice.

Interesting, isn’t it, how doing a simple good deed can wind up being such an adventure.

Assorted news, ugly thoughts

Before we get to our regular programming, here's a sincere note:

Dear filling stations,

Have you no shame?

How can the same gallon of regular gas be $2.21 one week and $2.42 the next? No hurricane. No delivery crisis. No hoarding for the Millennium. Have you been purchased by the electric company?

Or did you just jack up the prices to take advantage of the spring break travel plans of American families hoping to spend a little quality time together?

Can't you, for once, give your loyal customers a break?

Sincerely,

An American Driver Contemplating Inventing a Solar Powered Car (Don't tell me! The electric company owns the sun?)

We now return to our regular programming:

GOOD NEWS: Zipper has a home. Teresa Elliot reports that the dog with the satellite dish ears, a foundling from the streets of Dallas, met his match. "A tall, young man in a shiny red pickup came to visit Zipper and 15 minutes later he happily climbed into the front seat. From all reports, everything is going really well. He will spend his exercise time at Lake Grapevine close to his new home. And he has a new playmate from his puppy obedience class. He's having a great time. I miss him, but what a relief!" ... Patsy, the pup on death row at Grand Prairie's animal shelter, has been taken into the loving arena of Coppell Humane Society, Kristin Riebel reports this morning. Patsy was featured earlier this week on this site (scroll down).

STILL MISSING: Tina Campos reports, "My Noah is still not home. I have been putting out tuna for him (he's a sucker for tuna)....My friends have been posting his notice for me on lost pet websites....I am getting desperate to find him, especially because he has health issues and because life just isn't right without him."

Tina thinks Noah slipped out a back door last Thursday night and ventured into the neighborhood. He's an 8-year-old, 11 pound orange-and-white tabby and his neighborhood is near Meadowlark and Dalhart, west of Dallas' White Rock Lake. (If you know Noah's whereabouts call 214-417-2314 or 214-893-7425.)

FYI ON LITTLE JOE: Carole Sanders reports we might see some legal action today in the case of Little Joe, the dog whose ears and tail were horribly butchered during a do-it-yourself docking by his owner in Jacksboro. We'll keep you posted on this. And, Carole reports, offers to arrange or design punishment for the perpetrator are many, they are sincere, they are varied and they are, of course, painfully illegal. So, we need to concentrate on reminding ourselves that WE are the civilized people and WE take the high road. Yeah, but just one time ....know what I mean?

OK, everybody, quit thinking about revenge and get back to worrying about paying for your gasoline. We can't let those oil companies down. Don't want to have to organize telethons to help save the oil companies or get Bob Geldof to organize an all-star recording session for that hit single, "We Oil The World."

"We oil the world,

we haul the children,

we gouge the parents

and take food from babies' mouths..."

Probably doesn't go exactly like that.

Tuesday assortment....

Usually when I'm writing I have the TV tuned either to a news channel or, in mid-afternoon, Kojak and Magnum P.I. -- I worked nights and weekends for years, so I'm catching up on the classics.

Never mind that. It’s the commercials that get me. On a UHF station in the afternoon, they’re priceless. For example, on Monday Channel 25 ran a lap band surgery commercial that was immediately followed by an ad for the Texas Culinary Institute.

Sort of a combo that went "Hey, Chubby, want to spend more time in the kitchen?"

Ah, yes, As former FCC Commissioner Newton Minnow said in May 1961, TV is a “vast waistland.” Oh, wait. He said “vast wasteland.”

GOOD NEWS FOR THE BULLDOG: For several months readlarrypowell.com has featured a note on the left of the page urging people to consider adopting Buckley, a ward of Lone Star Bulldog Rescue (www.dfwbulldogrescue.org).

I’m leaving that note up for one more cycle of information -- I just made up that term “cycle of information.” Most people call it a “day.” It’s sort of the temporal cousin of the weatherman’s “rain event,” which, as we normal people know, is referred to as a “raining.”

Well, enough of that. Here’s the headline: Buckley’s been adopted. Handsome, isn’t he?

Kelly Andrus of Lone Star Bulldog Rescue sends word that “you can finally take Buckley off your blog site! He has been adopted! It’s a miracle! We had him twice as long as we have ever had any other dog -- A YEAR AND A HALF! He was finally adopted and we at LSBR are celebrating!”

So, there you have it. If you can keep a dog around, eventually the right human will show up and fall in love. It’s a coast-to-coast fact. And it doesn’t it feel good to know that today somebody is saying to a friend, “Let me tell you about my new dog!”

NEEDING SOME HELP: Leslie Stanga writes to thank us for the “focus on the plight of helpless animals,” then coincidentally, has a story to tell.

“Maybe you can help me find homes for a momma dog and her puppy. I first saw the mom about six weeks ago at Carl’s Corner Truck Stop just outside of Hillsboro. My husband and I were traveling back to our home in Plano from Austin.... I noticed a nursing dog wandering the parking lot, looking for food. The employees inside said she’d had a litter of pups way up under the building, but no one had seen them yet. At that time they figured the babies were about two or three weeks old. I bought some food for the mom, which she ate out of my hand, but she wouldn’t let me touch her. Then, we went on our way.

“Over the next few weeks I couldn’t get these dogs off my mind. I kept calling the truck stop to see if the mom was still there and whether the puppies were old enough yet to venture out from under the building. Yes, they were. All I could think of was one or more of them getting under the wheels of a big 18-wheeler and getting crushed. Although I was told that people were feeding the mom, I wasn’t sure if this was on a regular basis or if she had access to water.

“Then, about three weeks ago, right before the big cold snap, I decided they may not survive the freezing temperatures. With my son along for assistance, I drove back down to the truck stop to try to rescue them. All I could get at that time was one puppy because they kept running under the building.”

The next week, Leslie brought an expert to the truck stop, Angie Manriquez, the noted “Fairy Dogmother of West Dallas.” As regular readers know, Angie is no stranger to these difficult dog situations. She and Leslie took a trap with them.

Leslie says she‘d called Straydog Inc. for help and the folks at Straydog put her in touch with Angie. They were able to trap the mom and the remaining puppy. “Apparently people at the truck stop had caught three of the babies and given them away,” says Leslie.

OK, so you trap two dogs -- what do you do with them? Leslie has them in temporary quarters in her garage right now. She says her own “four dogs and three cats probably would not take too kindly to strangers coming into their house.”

Besides, mom and baby are being treated for mange. Both are free of heartworms, mercifully.

Mom is a 35-pound heeler mix who, mercifully, has now been spayed. The baby, about 9 weeks old, is a tri-color, playful female who may be “larger than her mom.”

So, dear readers, we have a couple of truck stop dogs that need homes. (E-mail [email protected] to help place these dogs.)

And, as you may know, rescued dogs picked up at truck stops keep regular schedules. I made that up. But anything to promote an adoption. Heck, maybe these dogs saw Willie Nelson when he pulled over in the band bus to fill up with bio-diesel en route to a Kinky Friedman for Governor rally.

FROM OUT BY THE LAKE! Well, let me narrow that down a bit. We’re talking about the vibrant spay/neuter and rescue folks at Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake. (By the way, the Friends spay/neuter clinic recently passed the 7,700 mark. That’s got to be making quite a dent in prevening litters of unwanted dogs and cats. On the other hand, people keep driving out to the country to dump animals and, well, you know what happens if those animals aren’t fixed....)

OK, Lois Reller is among the volunteers with Friends of the Animals and she, like many other Friends, is fostering a boatload of dogs including such wonderful dogs as this Aussie mix. (To volunteer to help or adopt this dog or any of the others, e-mail [email protected] or call 903-887-7691.)

Another Friends volunteer has seven 7-week-old blue heeler/border collie mixes -- 3 black and white males, a black and white female, a golden/white female and two females with heeler markings. (E-mail [email protected] or call 214-578-4511.)

PATSY: Our canine assessment guru, Cary Birdwell, who runs the Paws for People site (Click HERE .) sent out a note on behalf of Companion Animal Network about Patsy.

Here’s the skinny on Patsy: “She is currently at the Grand Prairie Animal Services. She has been up for adoption for a while now and is running out of time. She is a wonderful dog, approximately 30 pounds, and would be great for any family.”

To ask about Patsy, visit the Prairie Paws Adoption Center, 2222 W. Warrior Trail in Grand Prairie. Call 972-237-8575.

ONE MORE TIME: We mentioned this dog, Sara Jane, last week. She’s a ward of the Companion Animal Network. But as we pointed out, she’s got a history.

Most recently, even though she was a bedtime companion of her owner, she was dumped at a local vet’s. She was an “owner surrender” because of a chronic ear infection that would require surgery to fix. The owner took Sara Jane to the vet to have her euthanized. Look at that photo -- is that a dog that ought to be killed over an ear infection?

After she was dumped, her ear was fixed and now she’s ready for adoption.

When she’s adopted this time, it will be her fourth adoption. (E-mail [email protected] to give Sara Jane a good home.”)

My sweetspouse Martha read the story about this dog’s three attempts at adoption and said, “I think I’m just going to call her ‘The Goodbye Girl’ -- people keep saying ‘goodbye’ to her.”

Yeah, maybe it’s time someone said, “Sara Jane, welcome home. Forever.”

ONE MORE THING: This is a reminder that readers have a “Prayers & Passages” area where you can write a tribute to an animal friend or a human friend who works for animals, etc. (You get to it by clicking the Prayers & Passages "button" in the upper right corner of this page.)

The latest note posted there is a consideration of the Little Joe story from yesterday’s items. Lots of folks are disgusted by the way some clown tried to dock Little Joe’s ears and tail and wound up, possibly, scarring the dog not just physically, but emotionally. It’s a tough story to ignore.

You hope members of the Texas Legislature will read about it and change the cruelty laws to make do-it-yourself-docking a crime. Just a thought. If we can have spy cameras in downtown Dallas, maybe we could have one little ol’ law thoroughly protecting critters in all 254 counties.

Heck, I’d be willing to pay extra taxes to build a special prison that only holds people who neglect, abuse, torture or maim animals. Wouldn’t want it to have fresh water or air-conditioning, but I’d be willing to buy the first brick.

Reminder

Deadline is noon Tuesday for submitting events for listing in the Urban Animal magazine calendar. E-mail your animal-related event notices to [email protected]. Thanks.

Remember, it's free. And Urban Animal is happy to help you with your fund-raisers, festivals and fun on behalf of rescued and adoptable critters.

As my boy Griffin the Big Cat  says, "You snooze, you lose."

The Little Joe Story ...

Oh, my, it's Monday and spring is all over our part of the globe. And I'm going to talk about this happy stuff before I get to the case of Little Joe which should make any sane person go nuts with thoughts of revenge. So, bear with me as I calm the keyboard down with contemplation of a sweet springtime.

The wisteria in our front yard has about half as many fragrant clusters hanging off of it as usual, but at least the drought conditions didn't completely squelch the shrub or bush or whatever it is.

Now, we have an assortment of topics for today as yours truly begins to wonder if his lawnmower will fire up after spending several months motionless in the garage. Oh, I'm not really curious enough to try to start it, i.e., the grass isn't really that high yet, the neighbor's aren't leaving notes on my windshield and the Texas Parks & Wildlife people haven't yet begun to chart wildlife movement in the front yard. Now, moving along:

GOOD NEWS FROM THE EAST: Last week we mentioned the disappearance of Rowdy, an extraordinarily friendly pit bull who was accustomed to cuddling with his people in Longview.

Danneal Smith e-mailed me over the weekend "to let you know that we have Rowdy back home. ... He'd somehow gotten into the hands of a man who fights pit bulls and he didn't want him, maybe because Rowdy is not mean. Don't know -- but he sold him to a man whose wife called and we got him back. Couldn't find out any info about the 'creep.'"

She reports, "We were offering a $500 reward and just happily gave it to them. the man said it was all for his wife."

So, Rowdy's back home, but in case there are any East Texas lawmen reading, there still some pinheads in the Gregg County area with an apparent tendency to illegally set up dog fights. Sic 'em.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE ARE STUPID: I would say that the boldface opening is a harsh statement, except that, when you see the photos of Little Joe (and forgive me for publishing the unpleasant photo), you'll probably agree.

Carole Sanders of Animal Angels has been dismayed of late with this situation and the authorities in Jacksboro and Jack County (just north of Fort Worth) have been alerted.

Little Joe is in the custody of Animal Angels. The clown who had him decided he wanted "his Rottweiller puppy's ears to stand up like a Doberman's," Carole reports. "He said he cut and cut but they never stood up. Stupid idiot."

The guy also did a vicious job of docking the puppy's tail. You can imagine the misery this puppy is in with agonizing wounds at both ends of his little body.

If you want to help Little Joe, you can get in touch with Animal Angels at www.anmlangls.org or by writing to Animal Angels at 290 Knowlton Road, Jacksboro, Texas, 76458 or calling 940-567-3252 or 817271-1048. (Lord knows Carole's sanctuary can use some donations to help with this unexpected medical expense.)

If you want to help other dogs who may face these "home-made" situations, contact your state representative and remind them that in the next session of the Texas Legislature, you want to see stronger anti-cruelty laws. Get involved with the Texas Humane Legislation Network -- those folks lobby the Legislature for stronger laws regarding such things as animal cruelty and horse-slaughter.

Carole says Jacksboro Animal Control Officer Howard Thompson and the Jacksboro Police "have identified the person who cut the ears and tail off of this puppy" thanks to an informant.

This is being pursued as a criminal case, but, Carole says, unfortunately Texas law may let the guy off the hook because (a) it's his dog and (b) it may be difficult to prove that he "tortured" the puppy.

"I imagine once everyone sees how much pain this little guy is still in, they'll realize that 'yes,' it was most definitely torture," Carole says. "Little Joe will just be laying there and let out a scream. He's doing OK. He's on major antibiotics and pain meds, but I'm afraid he's going to suffer more mentally. He's terribly apprehensive about people."

The little dog was given run of the vet clinic, Carole says, and immediately raced into a bathroom and hid in the dark behind a toilet and fought not to be pulled out. He's been placed in a safe run so he can feel secure about not being trapped and hurt some more. Emotionally, she says, "He's got a long way to go."

Naturally, the people who had anything to do with rescuing this little dog are determined that he won't be returned to the guy who scissored him up like a piece of construction paper.

My goodness. I know this stuff has been happening for as long as macho men have had knives and scissors and have been able to hold a struggling puppy still. But, for crying out loud, there has be some way to stop this maniac behavior.

Of course, I know highways have speed limits and people race on like fools. Sometimes I think the laws only matter to good people. And I don't know what we can do about that except build bigger jails and make them more unpleasant.

You can't rehabilitate stupid.

AFTER THAT, HERE'S A HAPPY NOTE: One of our readers out in the "arid southwest," Roxanne Waggoner, was really moved by something over the weekend and sent this note right in the big middle of the event.

The subject line read "IT'S RAINING IN PHOENIX" and she wrote, "YAY! AFTER ABOUT 150 DAYS!".

So, to Roxanne and the readership in delightfully drenched Phoenix, we say, "Congratulations! Enjoy the rain and sent some toward Texas."