An angry mood on Wednesday...but some good stories

Is this dog dead?
Maybe not yet.
It’s Wednesday, I’ll just go ahead and stay mad a little bit if you don’t mind.
Maybe I’m mad a lot --  but that’s for a psychiatrist to decide. Don’t laugh. I’m not the only one with a ticket to ride this train. Look in a mirror – especially if you have anything at all to do with animal rescue. These days you’re not just being driven mad, you’re on a packed commuter train to Crazytown.
We checked with the folks at Carrollton Animal Services this morning and it looks like Nora, the pit girl I railed about here yesterday, may dodge the needle. We won’t know for sure about her fate until later in the day.
I guess you could say that about all of our fates -- except that we humans can figure nobody’s prepping a needle full of “death juice” for most of us.
Today is euthanasia day at the Carrollton shelter and nobody is happy about it. So, yeah, even if Nora makes it, other dogs and cats may not. (To offer to help any animal in the Carrollton shelter, call 972-466-3420 or e-mail [email protected]. Google the shelter if you want to see more animals. But finish reading this report first.)
Carrollton isn’t the only shelter that has to deal with this awful duty of making room for the next load of unwanted animals by killing the current load of unwanted animals. Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Collin County, Denton – oh, just pick a city. They all buy the “death juice” in bulk. More on this in Contemplations today. Let’s talk about other animals.
THREE WEST DALLAS ROAMERS: Our reliable tipster Sherry Kunz decided months and months ago to change the route she took between home and office because the burdens on her heart and bankbook were more than she could stand. She was always finding animals and they always needed vet work. She and her husband ran into tough medical spots, too.
Knowing the risk, today she took her old route to work.
“This morning, I just couldn't look the other way anymore -- three dogs were in the middle of the road eating someone's remnants of fast food they had so carelessly thrown out of their car window. The area is around the 5400 block of Bernal, south of Singleton.”
(FYI: That’s not far from both the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center and the SPCA of Texas. When it comes to caring for animals, however, the area is in another century. The think they live in Mayberry where dogs can run free. They live in West Dallas where dogs are burglar alarms for drug houses and where dog-fighting isn’t something done somewhere else.)
Sherry says, “I stopped and fed these dogs to keep them from getting hit by a car trying to eat the trash in the road. I'm not the greatest at identifying breeds, but one is obviously a black chow, probably purebred, that appears to be less than a year. He is beautiful and in the best shape of the three. One looks like a Shiba Inu mix, pretty thin and the friendliest of the three. The last is a mutt, no clear breed but in the worst shape. He's still a puppy, gray, skinny and appears to have bite marks. I didn't think to take a picture with my cell phone.”
(Aside: I don’ blame her. It’s tough enough to feed skittish dogs while dodging Dallas’ madcap traffic.)
Sherry says, “I will gladly help assist with the rescue of these babies if someone familiar with this area will step up. They are a little skittish but hunger was greater than their fear. I can be contacted at [email protected]. Even if it is just to get them to an animal shelter that would be better than dying of hunger, thirst and exposure to this heat. It has to be really hard on the little chow. I know it is hard for everyone out there right now, but I'd appreciate any responses or suggestions.”
ROUGH STORIES IN COLLIN COUNTY: There is a story in every cage in every shelter everywhere. We just happen to have some from the Collin County Animal Services Shelter that demonstrate the challenges facing animals.
This Jack Russell and this cute mix of some sort belonged to someone who was killed – there’s a police investigation. The parents of the dead person were contacted but subsequently decided not to come from out of state to McKinney to get the dogs.
You can understand that – already grieving, why would they take on these dogs and subject their broken hearts to painful emotions and memories? Other families might react in a different way, but, in the end, maybe these folks know what’s best for themselves and the animals.
At any rate, these dogs are in the Collin County Animal Services Shelter and need homes that will appreciate their cheerful, loving personalities. The shelter’s Lisa Drummonds says, “They are super sweet. ... They have the best playful and loving personalities.”  (To ask about them, call 972-547-7298 or e-mail [email protected].)
Yesterday, shelter walker DeDe Whitcomb sent out a plea for help for this basset mix who found her way into the Collin County shelter. The dog has been saved. This was her situation, according to DeDe: “This girl is in serious pain. She looks to have a broken jaw and is having a hard time breathing. She’s holding her jaw awkwardly and It sounds like she is growling at you but she just can’t breathe right! She has a large cut on top of her nose ... She has wounds all around her body as well. I can’t tell if she was beaten by some low life or hit by a car. On top of that she is skinny as can be.”
This morning DeDe reports that the dog is going to be claimed by Hillcrest Animal Rescue. That means she’ll be saved, but Hillcrest will be out some money for the dog’s vet care. You can get in touch with Hillcrest Animal Rescue HERE and on Facebook HERE.
HERE’S ANOTHER THING THAT ANIMALS FACE: As you can see in this photo, this dog is tethered. Before you jump out of your skin, read on.
Last Friday, veteran independent rescuer Charlotte Duncan sent out an e-mail request for help getting Sugar, an endangered Arlington dog, to safety because “she has been tied up in a back yard in the triple digit heat with no food and NO WATER. We need to get her out of there.”
It’s a human story. As we’ve often noted here, any time there’s an animal in danger, there’s a human involved.
The deal is the family’s teenage daughter had a baby and the family decided they didn’t want the dog in the house with the baby, so, since the backyard fence is broken down, the dog was tethered. Charlotte says that the day she took this photo, Sugar “had about six feet of slack in the cord.”
Now, people rallied. Someone volunteered to pay for veterinary care for Sugar. Carole Sanders of Texas Animal Angels volunteered to take Sugar into her sanctuary, Charlotte reported. “We are working on getting an owner-surrender. Someone has even offered to give the owners money in order to get the dog out of there. We’ve had trouble catching the owners at home.”
That was early yesterday. Later in the day, Charlotte sent this e-mail:
“I have good news and bad news,” Charlotte wrote. “First, the bad news: Sugar’s family will not surrender ownership of her. The good news is that they have finally taken her inside the air-conditioned house.
“We all know this isn’t the ideal situation, but I imagine the reality is that Sugar would choose to stay with the humans she knows, no matter how stupid they are. The neighbor who spoke to the family ... assures me that, while these people may be ignorant, they are not abusive. I’m holding onto that thought.
“Needless to say, we will continue to monitor this address and keep a close eye on the situation.
“Thank you so much to everyone who has offered help. For those of you who offered a space in your rescue organization, you may now give that coveted spot to another deserving animal. I appreciate all that you do for the animals, and if Sugar’s situation changes, you will hear from me again.”
If you want to volunteer to be on standby to help Sugar, should things fall through, e-mail [email protected].
ANOTHER THING THAT WORKS AGAINST ANIMALS: Now, I’m pretty sure these two dogs are in a safe place. But I can’t be absolutely certain because the e-mails that arrived regarding their situation did not include a way to contact the people who have the dogs. Indeed, I e-mailed the only address associated with these two dogs and the woman responded this morning that she’d have to check at work, indicating to my experienced eye that someone got a mass e-mail and forwarded it without getting the traditional who, what, where, when and how do we call you details.
How can anyone help if there is no contact point? Should we all keep psychics on retainer?
I’m using the picture because the animals shouldn’t be handicapped by the human’s inability to communicate.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, I have no idea how much a working phone number would be worth.
Here’s what the note that came with the photo says: “Living in the country brings new surprises like lost puppies.  Friday night after dark, we see a couple of white blobs coming across the pasture and two young puppies appear. Maybe 9 months old.  I think they had been ‘dropped’ off. They appear to be Cairn Terriers or a mix of this breed.
“I have attached a picture of the two. A male and a female. The male is brown or tan color his back. The female is white and smaller.
“Barbara bathed them and they are cute.  We have a dog and can’t take on another at this time.  Barbara and I are just looking for a good home for these two instead of taking to an animal shelter. David.”
I don’t blame Barbara or David for not having a way to contact them.
I want to be clear on this: I blame whoever stripped the info off the e-mail and sent it on in a mad, breathless frenzy. Do you people drink while you work these e-mails? Are you stoned? Are you hopped up on speed and sorely in need of an intervention?
Thank heavens these dogs aren’t in an unknown shelter on the clock. They’d be dead now because there’s no “who” to contact.
There’s no “where,” either. There are lots of pastures in Texas. And, this might not actually be from Texas. We just don’t know.
So, if anyone knows anything about this situation, please send the facts to [email protected] and we’ll try to help David and Barbara find homes for two adorable pups.
And, please, the next time you decide to forward a desperate notice about helping an animal, make sure it includes the key communications information. Is that too much to ask?
Failure to include all pertinent communications information could result in the needless death of an animal. They already have enough humans working against them, when you send these notes, try to work for them.
A BATCH OF BEAGLE-MIXES: These five – OK, these 4 and a half – Beagle-mix puppies wound up in the Commerce Animal Shelter and, fortunately, they have been rescued by the Collin County Humane Society and ... well, we’ll know more tomorrow, but for today, if you see this photo in an e-mail about a desperate need in Commerce, Texas, know that someone has stepped up to save this batch of Beagle-mixes.
HERE’S A GOOD NEWS STORY: We got this from Dawna Carabajal, the veteran rescuer and fosterer of big litter puppies. Be sure to read all the way to the end.
Her first note from yesterday reads: “I have sort of an odd request this time. I noticed in my neighborhood a piece of construction paper that someone had drawn a dog on and stapled to a light pole. I stopped and checked it out. So sad. Some little boy or girl lost their dog and obviously did not have any pictures of him so they tried to draw a picture of him. I just wanted to cry. There was a little bit of useful information and I was wondering if you could share it. Maybe one of the local rescue groups has him and will recognize the description. All it said was ‘Lost Black Labrador goes by the name Jagger. Lost on 7/9/11 in Rowlett, TX. He was wearing a red Mickey Mouse collar. Please help bring him home.’ Oh Larry, it just broke my heart. I went online and checked with my local shelters but to no avail. Maybe someone who knows something will see this and call.”
There was a number on the poster and Dawna had contacted it.
Her next note read, “Stop the presses. Wouldn't you know it! As soon as I hit send on the last message I received a text from the owners saying they found their dog. YEAH!”
You know, dear Readers, I thought you ought to see that because it points out, once again, that putting up signs is a key way to hunt for lost animals. And, it’s also good to know that someone wanted their dog back.
You can walk through shelter and see that such is not always the case.
CONTEMPLATIONS:  Call me an optimist. Yeah, there’s a suggestion loaded with irony. But I am confident North Texas can solve this mass euthanization problem. Every blamed week the numbers are staggering.
 I know people work to save animals and have for decades, but maybe it’s time for city governments and county governments to show some leadership and understanding and, perhaps, unite under some sort of regional authority to stop this constant killing of animals. Declare a kill-free zone. Combine and coordinate shelter space and adoption and spay/neuter.
Is this dreaming? If there can be a North Texas Council of Governments, can't there be a North Texas Council of Shelters?
Oh, yeah, there’s one other key thing. It may be insurmountable, given the fact that we live in what surely can be designated as an “American Stupid Zone.”
That key factor? Getting a blissfully ignorant, willingly stupid and generally unconcerned public to pull their heads out of where ever they keep them and wise up.
This is a case of knowing that most people would want to save animals as long as they don’t have to take one.
First big step is spay/neuter – that’ll eliminate the unwanted puppies and kittens. Oh, suddenly it occurs to me, these puppies and kittens don’t become unwanted until after they arrive and the nitwits realize they need to feed and care for them.
Seriously, let me re-think this. Nope, spay/neuter is not the first step. The first step is to convince a dimwitted public that it has a role in this beyond that of saying “Hmm, I didn’t know that? Yontanutherdrank?”
Well, we’re going to have a pro football season, so I guess I’m wrong and everything is OK around here.
Idiots.
Help me down off this soapbox before a board breaks and I fall through the floor, startling Inky the Cocker Spaniel who is in the basement rumpus room shooting pool with Griffin the Cat.
We’ll be glad to entertain any serious proposals for getting control of this animal situation around here. Rescue groups and shelter workers are worn down, their hearts and pocketbooks exhausted.
That’s the thing: Hearts wear down and nobody has enough money to keep throwing it at the situation. It’s time to engage the brains. Good lord, around here, that’s a terrible fix to be in --depending on the human brains.
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