It’s tax day. Please pay up. The rest of us taxpayers need help toting the load.
Now, as you contemplate listing your dog or cat as a dependant, let’s move on:
DESPERATE FOR HELP: We’ve told the story here before of Teri Reynolds and her husband, Tom – he’s fighting liver cancer and things are getting really tough as medical avenues are closing and hospice is involved.
While Teri works daily with Tom and his needs, they are hoping to find a temporary home for two of their dogs, Brae and Sassy. That’s Brae the Collie mix on the couch and the big somber sweetie is purebred Rottie, Sassy.
As Teri explains in her plea for help, “I really don’t have the extra money at this time to board them. Please find someone to help me out. I’m about to lose it all with this.”
Tom and Teri began this with several dogs and the “boys” are in a temporary home, but the girls are still in need of temporary placement.
To offer to help call 214-812-9247 or e-mail [email protected].
TEMPORARY SPOT FOR A DANE: I talked to Shane Barber yesterday about his attempts to find a temporary spot for his Great Dane Lexie.
For a while it looked as if he had a place for the dog to go, but that fell through, he told me.
So, he’s back to square one, looking for a home for three or four months for his beloved Lexie, a 4-year-old purebred who is “great with other dogs and children.”
Once Shane is “back on his feet,” he’ll be able to take Lexie back into his home.
As fans of Great Danes know, all you really need for them is a hug and a couch, maybe a big rug on the floor. They’re mostly lap dogs – well, within reason.
To help Shane, call 817-829-3634 or e-mail [email protected].
A NOTE VIA LEE HARVEY’S: Our pal Emily Sherwood of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth spotted this dog situation and dropped us a line about three dogs found near the Bishop Arts District in Oak Cliff.
The dogs are spotlighted on the Facebook page for Lee Harvey’s, the now-legendary gathering place in Oak Cliff. You can read by them by clicking HERE.
Lee Harvey’s isn’t in the Bishop Arts District, but it is within driving distance, convenient to both downtown Dallas and the Bishop area.
These dogs are – surprise, surprise – little street wandering dogs in Dallas. The town is full of them – it’s not just an Oak Cliff phenomenon.
FROM BURNS FLAT: In addition to the usual animal rescue stories from Burns Flat, Okla., our tireless tipster Terry Lynn Fisher has been involved in two extraordinary things lately.
First, there’s the case of the hoarded dogs at the Elk City animal shelter.
Terry Lynn and her daughter-in-law, Tara, visited the place and discovered that one of the “hoarded” dogs had delivered five puppies the night before. And there’s a pregnant dog whose “belly is almost dragging the ground and she is going to have them at any time.”
A rescue group n New Mexico is taking some of the many dogs in the shelter, but the other dogs are still out of luck – except that Terry Lynn is putting a spotlight on them in hopes of getting help. She says only 501C3 groups can pull animals from the shelter. Contact Terry Lynn at 580-330-1459 to offer to help.
In the meantime, she has new photos of the “old” dog that ambled up in the street in front of her house. The first photo shows the pre-groomed, barely able to move dog with untreated ear infections. The second shows the groomed, livelier dog.
After a visit with the dog at the vet’s, she writes, “Oh my gosh, he is fantastic. He is doing so good. His little stubby tail just wagged and wagged. He will still need work on his ears, but overall, he is really in good shape. With love, I think he will have a happy life for several years.”
To offer to help Terry Lynn help any of these animals, call her at 580-330-1459 or e-mail [email protected].
ONE SAVED FROM THE STREETS: Yesterday we reported a brief, sad follow-up from Angel Hutto about a Blue Heeler trapped on an I-20 median at Terrell who “did not make it.”
Later in the day we got this note from Jeffrey Hartman. He writes, “Better ending than the Terrell Blue Healer, but close. I picked up Oscar Friday morning laying in the median on Big Town Boulevard.
“The Vet thinks he jumped out of pickup truck. Skinned up lip, broken tooth, bruised and swelled chest and probably strained wrist.
“Oh yeah, and a hairless ring around his neck where the collar should be. I had to carry him to my truck and then into the vet’s.
“Monday morning he was neutered and [the vet] removed the broken tooth, and being a young fellow, he rebounded very quickly from surgery.
“He’s excited and bouncing around when I walk him during my visits.
“I’ll start fostering him this Saturday to acclimate him to a home environment. He’s fully vetted, 55 pounds and will be adopted through www.Straydog.org or call Jeff at 972-978-3203.”
(Aside from Larry: Isn’t it against the law in Texas to drive around with a dog in the bed of your pickup? Am I misremembering?)
WHAT RESCUE GROUPS NEED: We get notes all the time from such vigorous rescue groups as Paws In The City, the West Side Animal League, Metroplex Mutts, A Different Breed, et al, regarding needs: homes for animals, foster homes, volunteers, money, etc.
It takes a village of volunteers.
For example, Joni McConnell, the volunteer coordinator of A Different Breed sent a note about needing volunteers for the group’s off-site adoption at Oak Cliff Earth Day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Lake Cliff Park (Zang at Colorado, just over the viaduct from downtown Dallas.)
Now, on Saturday ADB will be at its usual spot at Pepper Square at Preston and Beltline in far north Dallas. Here’s the odd request from Joni: “If anyone has an old coffee-maker they don’t use anymore, can you bring it up to Pepper Square? It’s our only source of hot water if we need it.”
To offer your coffee maker to a good cause, e-mail [email protected].
MEANWHILE IN EULESS: Odd event at the Euless Animal Shelter, we hear from Stephanie Cronk, the advisor to Euless Trinity High School’s GAP Club, which had “adopted” the shelter. At the shelter on Tuesday, all the dogs were girls. Every last one of them a girl. No boys, she reports.
So, we took a look into the Euless shelter via the ol’ digital photo cybercam avenue and found, on Stephanie’s note, these photographs of distinct animals that are available for adoption via the Euless shelter. To ask about any of the animals, call the shelter at 817-685-1594. The shelter is at 1517 Westpark Way in “Euless. (Animals sponsored by the GAP Club get a price break on the adoption fees.)
Among the animals in the shelter is this dog Kira, described as a “female whippet/Australian Kelpie blend.”
(Larry aside: Yep, again, use of “blend” instead of mix. Sort of gives the critter a fashion edge, don’t you think?)
Ira is an energetic dog and needs someone active to take her in.
Now, while looking at the photos we also saw this incredibly artistic cat Theo. He’s described as a “cow kitty” because of the coat and said to be “hilarious.” He’s friendly and loves to be petted and, apparently, had been someone’s love bundle before he wound up in the shelter.
Regarding the third photo: Euless has a two-headed kitten....I’m kidding. Those two are Star (left) and Night, two of the many kittens in the Euless shelter. One great thing about kittens is they are a lot of fun when they travel in pairs.
CONTEMPLATIONS: Have you caught the Timothy Olyphant lawman series Justified on FX yet? It’s like watching a young Clint Eastwood. Anyway, while watching this week’s episode I kept thinking that the woman playing tough-talking, knife-wielding, barfly-lookin’ Aunt Helen looked familiar. Sure enough, the actress is the gifted and fab Linda Gehringer who made her stage bones in Dallas before going on to many roles including the searing Fontana Beausoliel in Burt Reynolds’ hit sitcom Evening Shade. ... Dallas hosted a retirement ceremony for Police Chief David Kunkle, leaving after 5 years on the job. So, that’s two places you can retire after 5 years – major league baseball and Dallas police chief.
The average retirement in big league ball comes after 5.6 years according to this STUDY. And the average salary in big league baseball this year is $3.something million – click HERE. The police chief was making not nearly that much and probably not having as much fun, either, even though he was getting to play hardball every day. Click on the Texas Tribune site HERE. ... That photo? It’s a magnificent creature that lit on the underside of a handrail on our back porch yesterday. I figure it’s a moth, but I have no idea what kind and if it’s normal to see it in Oak Cliff, Texas. (Anybody know?) It was sure big – about the size of a hubcap. I’m kidding. Probably it was 3 inches across, still big in the world of moths, but small in the world of Mothra!
