The quiet, the critters, the contemplations...

It’s wacky to wake near a freeway at rush hour and not hear a lot of freeway noise.
Relax, I live near a freeway. I wasn’t sleeping in my car on the side of the road again.
I suspect many people are already enjoying their Christmas holiday. For those of you who aren’t on the road or in the malls or at “power shopping centers,” here’s today’s report:
LOKI ALONE: Outside of a politician seeking re-election, there is probably no more social animal on the planet than a dog and the dog, in contrast, is sincere.
So, when you run across a story about a dog left alone after a divorce, well, the urge is to help get that dog some companionship and a loving place to live. And that is why a couple of sisters, Hayley and Lisa, have been contacting friends and acquaintances in an attempt to find a place for Loki, a dog left in a fix in Fort Worth after Hayley’s neighbor’s split the sheets, as we used to say in a gentler time.
Hayley says Loki is about 7, has been spayed and is house-trained. “When the family lived there I could see she was great with the kids, ages 3 ½ and 2. They would poke and pull on her and she’ would just sit there.”
Now, she just sits there with nobody tugging or petting or doing much of anything except dropping by with food now and then.
Hayley writes, ”This is breaking my heart.  ...She’s been all by herself since probably Thanksgiving.” Her former female human “will come and either put her in the empty house or leave her outside.”
She also says that she took toys to the dog and “tried to play with her but it was like she didn't even know how to!”
To help the sisters help Loki, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or call 817-625-5420.
SOMETIMES THEY JUST GET DUMPED: We’ve learned of this little dog’s plight from Kelly Parsons of All Texas Dachshund Rescue. They’re calling the little guy “Baby Nikolaus” because he’s a German breed rescued at Christmas.
Kelly says he was picked up by an Irving animal control officer “on his own” earlier this week, then the Irving shelter’s Laura Forsythe called ATDR about him and he was on his way to safety. Kelly says little 3- or 4-month old Nikolaus  “mostly likely was dumped due to his birth defects – what is wrong with people?”
Well, we don’t have time or space to answer that question here, so we’ll just focus on this little misshapen dog’s situation. His care is not going to be cheap, so ATDR is appealing for donations to help pay for assorted medical procedures. A medical exam by a canine back specialist says the little guy may have both Kyphosis (a humping of his back) and scoliosis (curvature of the spine). None of that indicates surgery, but there are other tests that are being run to see if someone can be done to help the pup lead a more “normal” existence. Some of his problems – such as hyper-extended ankles – he may grow out of.
According to Kelly’s note, “In spite of all the obstacles he’s facing, Nikolaus is pure love and happiness.  He enjoys giving kisses and snuggling in his foster mom’s lap and is full of playful puppy energy.  As you can imagine, these tests are expensive and a real strain on our budget.”
You can see how to donate to little Nikolaus’ cause at the doxie website www.atdr.org – you can also see how to adopt him. He’s going to need a home that appreciates a purebred snugglepuppy who, as you may suspect, qualifies as today’s Readlarrypowell.com Earhound, or, in honor of his heritage, today’s Ohrjagdhund.
FYI: We’ve mentioned the Irving Animal Shelter many, many times over the years. Sometimes shelters have had a rotten image – before cities became enlightened, as you may suspect. Here’s what Kelly had to say about dealing with Irving. “The Irving shelter has been a pleasure to work with and they are all very responsive and pro-active at calling us when they have dachshunds.” This is what we might refer to as a “working relationship for the benefit of animals.”
ANOTHER IRVING STORY: We don’t know how this one is going to turn out. Authorities have been alert – that is the Irving Animal Shelter folks are aware of this developing story and by the time you read this, may have stepped in to help the dogs avoid some unpleasantness. We’ll continue to monitor, but this may turn out to be a job for some sincere rescue people.
We got the story from Alex Taylor who has been trying to help and has alerted a number of rescue-types and is, obviously, concerned.
Alex writes that she learned of this when she was “told of a lady whose husband is in jail, she is getting foreclosed and she has 3 dogs.
“She lives in Irving very close to the S MacArthur Blvd/W Shady Grove Rd intersection. I was also told she did not have utilities nor food to feed the dogs. So I went there on Monday to deliver food and take pictures of the dogs. She is living in a little RV that is parked in her driveway, I guess because there are not utilities to the house.
“ When I got there I also found out she has two cats. I brought the baby home with me, but mama cat is feral and we could not find her anywhere while I was there.
“This lady ... Tery has to be out of her house on Dec 26.
“The dogs are 3 dogs. One very, very overweight German Shepherd=looking doggie, she is 15....Then there are two Black Lab mixes One of them, Maddy, has ‘skin allergies’ -- it may be something else --and the other one's name is Lucy.  Both of them are about 7 years old. And it appears to me they have some missing teeth. All of them are females and none of them are fixed, I have no clue about heartworms. I know the situation is pretty bad.”
The phone number for the woman who has the dogs is 972-955-0424. (FYI: I couldn’t get an answer, but you never know, so I’m listing the number.) Irving Animal Services folks are aware of this situation as of yesterday and there is a possibility that the animals may be brought into a “protective” arrangement for the time being.)
Who knows how any of this will work out or even if it will. You’ve got two people in bad spots, three dogs and a cat in bad spots and almost no way to communicate. Perhaps the best thing would be to let the animals go into the shelter, then let rescue groups deal with saving them. Of course, what rescue group has room or money these days?
But, you know, one thing we’ve come to expect from the animal rescue world is what I’ll call the “spontaneous reflexive miracle.” Some rescuers are always ready to react in a life-saving manner. They just need to know there is a situation that needs help. (You can also e-mail offers of help to Alex at [email protected] though she’s about exhausted from helping already.)
She found out about the situation via one of the dogs’ neighbors and says. “The neighbor is also getting foreclosed and she has to be out by Dec. 29, She also has a dog, a little one and she won't leave her dog behind.”
STILL IN A GIVING MOOD? As you may recall, a number of volunteers have stepped up recently to help the Seagoville Animal Shelter  -- this is a labor of necessity since the city’s small shelter has a small budget and a small staff.
Among those volunteers is Norah Meier who has issued a request for donations of supplies to help the animals have a better “stay” at the shelter before they are – one can only hope – adopted into good and decent homes.
Here’s the list: Bleach, Pine Sol, wiping rags, paper towels, dog leashes, stainless steel dog bowls, stainless steel cat litter boxes, brooms, pet brushes, scrub brushes, sponges, Rubbermaid industrial mop heads, and an animal shaver.
Oh, and there’s a human on the list. Norah says the shelter needs “a plumber to volunteer to install a washer hook up! This is huge! They have been donated a washer and dryer but have no hook ups!”
The shelter is at 1330 E. Malloy Bridge Road in Seagoville (75159). Contact Norah at [email protected] and she’ll tell you how to get these things to the shelter.
A CAT AT CHRISTMAS? Of course. Who else is going to be intent on staring up the chimney at odd sounds? For example, this is Tropicana, a Dallas Animal Services cat who is available for adoption. Here she is, at only a year old, demonstrating her ability to really focus on a chimney. No fat man in a red suit is going to sneak past her.
She’s one of the animals on “the list” for Dec. 28 at the Dallas Animal Shelter. There are 3 other cats and 4 dogs on that list They’ll make it through Christmas, but, unless someone steps up, they won’t make it to New Year’s Eve.
To ask about these 8 animals, call 214-671-0308 or e-mail [email protected]. (The usual contact, Mark Cooper, is taking some time off...something about reindeer or something...I don’t know for sure.)
CONTEMPLATIONS:  If you get an e-mail today that has the subject line “Order now in time for Christmas,” don’t you think, “Alright, let’s see what you can do.”? If I had money to burn, I’d take up the challenge. ... I know that in the animal world you can still “order in time for Christmas.”  Just show up at a shelter and do the right thing. ... Now, my hollyjollyspouse Martha has gone off in one direction today and I’m going to be going off in another direction and the dogs and cats are already snoring like I was never here.  Old dogs snore loudly.  That may be why some hotels don’t accept dogs. They’ll rattle the walls.
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