On Friday, some triumphs, some challenges and some kind of mood...

Ok, calmly now, ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to try to start this final day of the week with some lightheartedness in a pressure-packed world.
First, I’m out of non-dairy creamer so – horror of horrors – I’m lightening my coffee with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream. Don’t I feel decadent.
Second, if I’ve offended anyone this week with my terse attitude and impatience, tough. Kiss my dog Inky’s furry backside. That enough lightheartedness? Or did I mean light-headedness? Whatever. Move on.
That photo? That is Inky, showing regret that he’s been dragged into this by his increasingly mad human.
Oh, and keep reading for good news, challenges and some special, genuine and available Earhounds.
GOLDIE’S PLIGHT: This news just in as noon approaches. This dog is on death row in the Arlington Animal Services Shelter and, according to his devoted follower Teresa Jennings, he’s gotten a reprieve from 1 p.m. today to 4 p.m. But, then, that’s it.
(UPDATE: A half hour or so ago, a little more than 2 hours ahead of the bad appointment, Homeward Bound found a foster for Goldie and, Teresa reports, that transport to a safe haven is underway. Remember,there are more animals in the Arlington shelter -- adopt them, arrange tofoster them. Stars in the crown. Or at least it doesn't count off on your permanent record.)
He had been tagged for rescue, but that fell through. And now the big ol’ boy is back on Death Row.
Goldie’s Arlington number is ID 13594080.
To reach Teresa, email [email protected].
The Arlington shelter e-mail contacts are:  [email protected]​v; samantha.castillo@arlingto​ntx.gov; Lynn.Trotter@arlin​gtontx.gov;
[email protected]​v; [email protected].
The shelter is at 1000 SE Green Oaks in Arlington. call 817-459-6156.
TRINITY UPDATE: Dallas Animal Services’ Mark Cooper sent out a letter yesterday about this dog Trinity, three-legs, no home, not much hope. Except she touched his heart. Just a few minutes after 10 a.m. he gleefully sent out this note: “Trinity has been tagged by Dr. Erin Shults with Mazie’s Mission.”
As regular readers know, the great Dr. Shults formed Mazie’s Mission to help down-on-their-luck animals and Trinity certainly qualifies. Mark says Maize’s Mission will pick up Trinity on Monday when her stray hold expires. (You can read Mark's spectacular plea for Trinity by scrolling down to yesterday's report. But finish reading today's first.)
SPEAKING OF THREE-LEGGED DOGS: Remember Sally? Fourteen years old, three legs and turned d over to the Plano Animal Services Shelter? We’ve mentioned her need for a home before, but Debbie New of Plano Animal Services says no takers yet.  The foster had to bring Sally back to the shelter, but may be able to take her again.
Be nice if a good home stepped up and helped this ol’ girl live out her days with love and tranquility.  E-mail Debbie New at the Plano shelter at [email protected] or call 972-769-4360.
(Aside: That's Sally in the snow last winter. I thought the photo might remind potential adoptors of how wonderful a big dog is in any weather.)
QUESTION: Is this the worst summer ever for animals in North Texas? Dumped, surrendered, picked up running free – infants and adults. Shelters are full. Rescue groups overwhelmed, too. Has the overload finally brought things to a near-halt? Is anyone checking statistics? Is the only “churn” occurring in city and county shelters where, unable to find rescuers and adoptors, the animals are killed? Is the pace higher than usual?
Why aren’t more members of the general addled public paying attention? Too many other distractions? The clown convention in Washington? The terrorist in Texas? The Oslo attack? The price of gasoline – oh, somebody’s going to have to answer for that when the roll is called up yonder? Imagine, doing time in the Eternal Fires because you jacked up the price of gasoline for fun and profit.
Back to animals: We offer anecdotal evidence here every day – from the rescued Nora in Carrollton to a dog named Homer who was picked up by a do-gooder and has no place to go.  That’s anecdotal evidence that people care. How do we get the ol’ general public to care every single day? OK, there’s the question on the floor.  Some marketing genius may have an idea. In the meantime, we have other things to report.
STORIES OF IDIOT SITUATIONS: A RACCOON CLASH AND A DEAD DOG A DAY IN GRAND PRAIRIE: While checking out Channel 5’s story on the Bonnie Bradshaw case (in which the veteran wildlife rehabilitator is accused of attempted theft for moving a pest controller’s cages from a condo complex to the Richardson Animal Control after she rescued a trapped and dying raccoon from hot and dry conditions), we saw an awful story on KXAS’s website.
The City of Grand Prairie’s Prairie Paws animal control is getting reports of a dead dog a day because of the heat. Idiots leave their dogs outside without water or shelter. The dogs die of heat stroke. It obviously is high-time animal activists insisted that Grand Prairie – or maybe the Dallas County DA’s office – prosecute these people for animal cruelty.  Don’t let people get away with this. You can’t accidentally leave the dogs outside. Has to be intentional. Make space in the jails. Make a point. Save some lives. Read these stories on the KXAS news website HERE.
P.S. A special veteran journalist’s thanks to KXAS for covering these animal issues. When major media’s newsrooms become sensitive to animal issues, it’s a big step toward making the public sensitive to the issues. Send KXAS a thanks-for-covering note.
HOW COLLIN COUNTY ANIMALS GOT A BREAK YESTERDAY: This note arrived from DeDe Whitcombe, the shelter walker at Collin County Animal Services’ shelter in McKinney. Yes, there are so many animals there that euthanasia is continuing today, but here was DeDe’s note from late last night: “Due to too many calls forcing all the ACOs in the field today there were no EUs. They are planning on doing Friday and even though quite a few rescues today, shelter is still full!”
There you have it. Click HERE to see the Collin County PetFinder listings.
You’ll see a bull named Angus. Wait, oh, yeah, that is an Angus bull. Sorry. City boy, you know.
You know why I’m not running a photo of a dog or cat with this? Because I don’t want to publish a picture of an animal that may already be dead. There’s a Keeshond. There’s a pregnant spaniel mix. There are big dogs, Cats, kittens.
[SOAPBOX ASIDE:  If you have never walked through an animal shelter, you cannot imagine what it’s like to see the doomed animals waiting in cages. Some sit quietly, maybe showing that they are the “good dogs”  that their original owners wanted. Some cats paw through the cage. “Hey, look at me,” they seem to say.
Some dogs bark madly – are you an intruder or are you the help they’ve been waiting for?
For crying out loud. Do we help them or do we kill them?]
HOMER: A few days ago we ran this photo of Homer the Dog. You may remember him. William "Barking Bill" Kapela and family found the dog trying to survive the heat by laying in the shade of earthmoving equipment in Frisco Lakes.
The dog needs a place to go. Nobody’s helping. Maybe there is no place to go.
Bill sent a note last night. You can sense the desperation. He wrote, “I know you work your Bark off trying to help out the ones that many try to ignore and I applaud you for your efforts.  I have made more phone calls to more animal care places then I ever knew existed.  I have had many people thank me for my efforts, but I do not need or want thanks.  I do things because that is what you are supposed to do.  I do not keep score or track who may owe who what.  I figure what goes around comes around and we should just all pitch in and help out.  I call the Dog 'Homer' because he needs a home.
 “I do not know if you have had any inquiries about 'Homer', but we are out of time when it comes to the Vet place being able to board 'Homer.'  They will need all their space for the weekend and will need to have 'Homer' move on.   Next step could be the Collin County animal control 5-day hold and then off to a boarding area.  
“Again, Thank you for your efforts and your fine message to the world.”
You want to help Homer? Call Barking Bill at 469-362-2515 or e-mail him at [email protected].
Somebody out there must want a black dog that looks kind of Labbish.
For crying out loud, you don’t have to go to a breeder to get one – they’re wandering free all over North Texas.
MEANWHILE IN FORT WORTH: Geezus. Word gets to us this morning that Steve Woods, the veteran who, with support of the animal community, fought to save his pit Mimi, may have had a slip-up that will be fatal to the dog and more trouble for him. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the story HERE.  If events are as depicted, this is one more case of a human failing to live by rules at the cost of his dog’s life and nearly at the cost of someone else’s life.
The first question is why were these dogs running free? Did they pool their money and hire a cab to take them to a park?
As we have pointed out here many times – it’s not the dogs, it’s the people. And, in general, the dogs are the way they are because of the people. Sheesh. I may vomit.
TWO ON THE CLOCK: Don “The (Retired) Rescuer” Martin shows that there’s still fire in the soul for the mission. He’s trying to help these two American Bulldogs escape a date with the needle – they have untii 1 p.m. Saturday at the Tri-City Animal Shelter (DeSoto, Duncanville and Cedar Hill) in Cedar Hill.
They are available to rescue only. Rescue groups only. Why? The short answer is see the previous item about people failing animals. Yes, none of these pit-like breeds are adopted to the public not to protect the public from the dogs but to protect the dogs from the public.
To offer to save their lives, call Jamie at 972-291-5335 or e-mail [email protected]
 Missy is  2, not spayed and shy right now. She’s been around kids and other dogs, but may need some guidance.
Buster, sitting up, is 4, not current on shot and not fixed. He’s been around kids and dogs, too.
They’ve spent most of their lives outside.
Why are they in a shelter? Owner moved into a dogless apartment and they had to go somewhere – death row always has room.
GENUINE EARHOUNDS AVAILABLE: Oh, boy, is the evidence ever vivid in these photos! Miranda Fick of Doggies Wonderland Rescue in Plano sent the photos to Readlarrypowell.com and wrote “Two Earhounds for you – rescued from Collin County.”
This first fellow is Gyasi, whose name is said to be Egyptian for “wonderful.” Those are some wonderful ears and eyes, too. He’s about 9 months old, weighs 30 pounds and “is sweet as can be and loves to play. He’s going great with all the other dogs and doesn’t know a stranger.” It took less than a day for him to become a volunteer favorite, Miranda says.
Then there is the other Earhound, Puppy, which is Egyptian for – oh, wait a second. Puppy is English for Puppy, isn’t it? These Earhounds can be so exotic!
But, seriously, folks, Puppy’s foster mom is said to be working on another name and, of course, as we all know, it takes a while for a puppy to decide on anything except, eat, play and sleep.
She’s probably about 4 months old. Miranda says, “She was listed as a Great Dane mix at the shelter but we haven’t quite figured out what else she has in her. She is timid and scared right now. She is unsure of people and is taking a bit of time to warm up.”
She has quickly learned, however, that “kisses are good and cats are scary. She’s a cute girl who is stealing everyone’s heart.”
(Aside: Probably good that a dog learns early to be wary of cats and then makes friends as time goes by. That’s how it has generally worked at our house. That’s how the cats have handled the humans, too.)
To ask about adopting these Earhounds, visit Doggie’s Wonderland K9 Rescue at 505 Alma Drive in Plano. Call 972-881-1905 or e-mail [email protected].
CONTEMPLATION: What does a mental meltdown look like? Hand me that mirror, will ya? .... Major League Baseball owes Ichiro Suzuki a giant apology for sticking him with the Seattle Mariners for his entire career. You’d think someone would rescue one of the greatest players of all-time so he could have a shot at being in the playoffs. ... OK, this weekend it’s napping kitties featured on Readlarrypowell.com. Rescue groups will be out trying to find homes so they can take in more animals – that’s what they do. Shelters will, no doubt, start getting the back-to-school load of unwanted animals -- “We just don’t have time now that the kids are going back to school.” And, of course, the price of gasoline will probably go up. At least we don’t have to worry about putting the snow chains on the car.
--- To comment, click below. ---