Puppy season beats spring to the neighborhoods; rescuers hustling

It’s Monday – the first full day of spring (it arrived last evening, you know) and we’ll just go ahead and demonstrate that puppy season has been going on for a while now.
Read on:
WEST DALLAS MOM AND PUPS: A number of people have rallied to find help for this dog and her 9 surviving puppies –10 were born on Feb. 22.
As you can see, nine puppies is a lot. And getting help for the momma is a challenge.
The people trying to protect these puppies report that they need a foster home and a rescue group or big-hearted individual to sponsor them. One of the discreet helpers says, “We have no place for them if no one steps up. We will convince the owner to let us sterilize the mom dog. He won’t give us the dog – we’ve asked in the past. We are now worried they might start selling the puppies if we can’t find a place for them soon.”
The rescuers were told that the man wants to keep three of the puppies “which,” a rescuer told me, “is a bad idea since they don’t take care of the one dog they have.”
To offer to give a safe haven to these puppies, e-mail [email protected].
West Dallas is notoriously rough on animals  except for one aspect: there seems to be no problem in letting them go forth and multiply.
A HOMELESS MAN HANDS OVER A PUPPY:  We saw a note about Erin Keogh needing help placing a tiny puppy. She lives in Downtown Dallas and, the original note said, “rescued this little baby Border Collie mix about 2 weeks ago from a homeless man.”
The pup was probably less than 3 weeks old at the time. We checked with Erin about how she came to get the dog. She is still trying to find a home for the pup who, she says is “such a sweet little guy just a bit needy due to his age.” (As you can see, he's learning to live with cats.)
How’d she get him? “I was walking by Pegasus Plaza and a homeless man had 3 puppies in his backpack. I wanted to take them all, but I could only take one, so I took the littlest who I'm sure wouldn't have lived through the night. He was starved and was completely an infant -- blind, deaf, couldn't walk... But he's healthy and happy and just needs the right family who has the time & patience to care for such a young puppy!”
To ask about helping this puppy, e-mail [email protected] or call 214-701-2157.
And, if you see a homeless person with puppies, take them. Most homeless people are having enough trouble taking care of themselves. They’ve taken the first step in saving the dogs, so it’s up to others to be the “middleman” in the happy ending.
ARCHIE SQUEAKS BY: Last week Archie, the cat with the championship set of whiskers, was on the euthanasia list and was scheduled to be killed on Wednesday. Things worked out so that he dodged the Grim Reaper last week, but the Reaper is back this week and Archie is scheduled to die on Wednesday morning if not adopted or rescued from the Carrollton Animal Shelter.
The shelter report is he is “an incredibly sweet boy who is very laid back and has not met a person he does not like. He is just a great cat – likes to sleep on his back most of the day. He would be an easy fit into any home.” He’s about 5 years old and came in as a stray.
The shelter also has one dog on the euthanasia list for Wednesday – this is her: Tootsie. She, too, came in as a stray. And she is very congenial and happy. She also appears to have had several litters n her life time.
Carrollton does not adopt pit bulls to the public, but, instead, tries to get them into rescue groups, bona fide 501c3 tax exempt groups who can “properly screen prospective homes.” Carrollton wants these dogs to go to homes and not to people who use them as fighting dogs or as bait dogs.
You can see Archie The Cat’s video HERE and Tootsie the Dog’s video HERE.
To ask about these animals or any Carrollton critter (including Momma Rose, a beautiful cat on the brink of a blessed event), call 972-466-3420 or e-mail [email protected]. See more animals at www.joesanimalhouse.com.
CATCHING UP IN CARTHAGE: Last week we mention the area in Carthage in East Texas where people dump dogs and told of how Deborah Trevino and Glynis Ritter are trying to find homes for these abandoned animals.
Deborah also told us that one of the dogs appeared to have had pups inside a brush pile. Sure enough, these are the puppies – and maybe one extra. Deborah says that five puppies were pulled from the pile – four of them appear to be about six weeks old but the fifth looks as if it may be as young as three weeks and it “is very weak and looks like ants have been it.”
It is possible that four of the five are from a dumped dog that is called Ebony. The fifth may be from Bella, a dumped dog who vanished more than a week ago.
So, Deborah and Glynis are looking for help (Deb says she can transport). E-mail either [email protected] or [email protected].
In the meantime, Glynis is trying to find a spot for this dog Freckles who, obviously, is trying to show that he can handle standing on a bench if anyone needs a showdog. He’s a Catahoula mix, Glynis says. He “followed my husband home behind his pickup last July, and just laid down beside his truck. This is the road that runs by the land that these other dogs are on. ... The vet estimated his age to be about 6 or 7 months old at that time. So, he is 14 or 15 months old now. He was starved to death, with bones protruding. We thought you were suppose to play with puppies and my husband was playing tug of war with him, and it caused him to become play aggressive. I finally was able to find a solution to that problem and he doesn't do that anymore.
“He is beautiful, sweet, funny and smart. I need to find him a real good home, if I can. He weighs 80-plus pounds now and can/has knocked me down. He needs a home with someone that is younger/healthier than we are, no other pets, or young children. He may do well with a larger dog, because he does get along with the neighbor's dog next door through the fence. But, he is not good with smaller dogs or cats.
As you can tell, Freckles on the Bench is the adult version of little starved Freckles from last year. To offer Freckles a place to live, e-mail [email protected].
A GREAT CAT: At Readlarrypowell.com we've lost our dear, oldest cat Benchley to ailments of old age – she was only about 18. You can read about perhaps the greatest Tortie ever by going to our Prayers & Passages page. (Click on the Prayers & Passages Page on the “button” on the upper right corner of this page.)
FOR YOU FACEBOOKERS: DeDe Whitcombe, the Mazie’s Mission volunteer who is a shelter walker at the Collin County Animal Services Shelter in McKinney, reports that the shelter now has a Facebook page. Click HERE. You’ll see a number of critters needing help.
FACE FOR A CALENDAR: As of this morning our pal Terri Stringer’s dog Smudge is among the top recipients of votes in the race for a spot on the PETCO Foundation’s 2012 calendar. Click HERE  -- that's http://www.360photocontest.com/contest.html?contestId=81. Terri, who is regional training manaager for PETCO, admits “I am unabashedly asking for everyone to vote for Mr. Smudge.” That’s the difference between a human election and a dog contest – vote for a human and you might wind up abashed by what the human does in office. With a dog, you’re generally guaranteed to be unabashed -- you hardly ever find one of them on trial for corruption in Chicago.
HEADS UP FOR APRIL: Those folks with Petapalooza didn’t just call it off after one head-to-head competition with Dog Alley at First Monday, the flea market in Canton.
We hear from Stephanie Mosby of the Citizens League from Animal Welfare that there’ll be a second one in the Ben Wheeler City Park, 10 miles down Highway 64 from Canton.
The event is designed to be “an alternative to purchasing animals at First Monday’s Trade Days in Canton” – a coalition of East Texas rescue groups organized the first event in March and has a second one scheduled for April 2.
There’ll be rescue groups with adoptables, vendors and other pet-related exhibitors.
The first Petapalooza resulted in adoption of about 20 dogs.
Click on that picture to make it larger. And if you have other questions about joining the effort, email [email protected].
If you really just want to get a dog from a backyard breeder, contact a rescue group or shelter in East Texas -- the dumped dogs usually wind up there, if they aren't just abandoned on the side of a road or, perhaps, made to mysterously disappear to make room for the next for-profit litter. 
CONTEMPLATIONS: Such pretty weather. Such beautiful blossoms emerging. I worried that our weakened wisteria would not survive the ice and snow, but it did and when we walk out the front door, in addition to all the pollen, we catch the great fragrance of the wisteria. So good. ... The ol’ pickup, powered by its new engine, rolled all weekend without lights coming on or dials going ape or sputtering or horrifying sounds. And the air-conditioner worked magnificently. Yes, we’re ready for spring. ... Attention basketball broadcasters: The word is pronounced “tur-na-mint.” It’s not “twuah-nah-minn.” Perhaps this is what inspires the madness of March.
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