Hackin' spam rats and other Friday stories, including Seagoville's crisis and Magnum's fate...

Welcome to Friday. It’s round-up time – please read on. But first, if you have gotten e- mail from dallrp, it’s probably spam. I’ve awakened to full mailbox of rejected e-mails indicating that someone stole my address and went nuts overnight.
Don’t open the e-mail – I don’t send out blanket e-mails.
I’m working on stopping the madness. Let’s not let it ruin our day – and I’ll hunt down the rat who did this and make him listen to my monologue on “The Plight of Americans In Their 60s and How Things Used To Be Better With Carbon Paper.”
And that dog Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, is in dogged pursuit of the hacking rat.
THE SEAGOVILLE RUSH: All week long we’ve been getting e-mail from Seagoville Animal Shelter volunteer Johnna Bigley about the two dozen dogs who are on the euthanasia list for Monday.
The only way to save them is to get them out of the shelter. Seagoville Police Sgt. Karl Bailey, who has been spearheading the effort to make the shelter no-kill, is in a tough spot.
It’s made even tougher by Gabriel.
Johnna writes, “We could really use your help on this special boy. The thought of having to put this boy down keeps Sgt. Bailey up at nights. They’re all special but this one is tearing him up.”
Gabriel earned his name because of his loyalty and desire to protect a little Schnauzer mix. The little dog didn’t make it.
Johnna reports, “When Sgt. Bailey first found Gabriel he was guarding a tiny Schnauzer mix girl that had been hit by a car. He would not leave her side.
“Only after Sgt. Bailey picked up the little girl and got her to safety was he finally able to convince Gabriel to come to him.  Gabriel had his own injuries to his foot but that clearly didn’t matter to him.  His only concern was his little friend. 
“Once Sgt. Bailey got him into the car and took him to the shelter, although he was obviously filled with sadness from being parted from his friend, he was such a great dog. He never ever complained, and even gave kisses.  Gabriel is an extremely loyal dog, placing himself in danger to protect his little friend at all cost.
“Now, because of the overcrowding of this tiny shelter, poor Gabriel is on a list to be euthanized this Monday, Sept. 26, and no one is coming to his rescue. No one is protecting him.  Obviously, Sgt. Bailey can’t bear the thought of having to euthanize this amazing dog after he was so loyal and so protective of his friend.”
To offer to save Gabriel or the Earhound named Lucy (that's her in the second photo) or any of the other animals in the Seagoville shelter, e-mail [email protected] and cc  [email protected] . Call 972- 287-6838 and leave a message. You can see more Seagoville animals HERE.
MAGNUM’S STORY: On our Prayers & Passages page (click on the “button” in the upper right corner of this page) you can read about Magnum, a Bassett who was adopted and then “allowed to roam” by the human to whom he’d been “loaned.” This was a fatal move. It is a story of how humans failed an animal even though other humans had worked so hard to save him.
RED THE RUN DOWN DOG: Terry Lynn Fisher, our longtime contact in Burns Flat, Okla., continues to juggle the political and economic challenges of life in a small town while working to get animals to safety.”
She’s trying to help Red again. A month ago, he was run over and left yelping in pain in the middle of a street. He was bleeding profusely, “his head was split open and he had several spots on his body that were ripped open, Terry Lynn says.
Because those wounds have not healed yet, he cannot be introduced from the vet’s office to a shelter situation, so Terry Lynn is looking for someone – individual or rescue group – to take over care of Red the Run Down Dog.
“He is starting to get very depressed in his cage at the vet,” Terry Lynn says. “They said he has started to cry and actually has real tears coming out of his eyes. He is a very sweet boy -- loves to be touched and seems fine with other animals.”
To help Red, e-mail Terry Lynn at [email protected] or call 580-330-1459.
WAITING IN A CAGE AT A PET STORE: As regular visitors to Readlarrypowell.com know, my funspouse Martha and I have great affection for black and white cats – this is based on the long-lived and now gone fellows who made our home a little zanier, Cyril, also known as “The Dark Angel” when he lived in Lampasas, and the fab Poirot, a Dallas foundling.
So, every time I go to the PetSmart on Wheatland near I-20, I stopped at the cat cages and look at the SPCA of Texas nominees for adoption.
Yesterday I saw this big fellow in person. His name is “Seamore” and he’s about 5 years old. There is plenty of zany left in a 5-year-old cat. More than a decade, easily.
He is, as this SPCA photo indicates, both affectionate and curious.
Go to www.spca.org and click on the adoptables and you can read about him and see how to adopt him.
I’m telling you, black and white cats are beyond “usual.” In fact, "remarkable" is a good word to use.
EULESS SHELTER OVERLOADED: What’s that? A city shelter overloaded with animals.
Yes, indeed. And one of them is #13266, said to be a Border Collie/Lab “blend,” as they say at Euless. He’s one of several animals who are threatened because the shelter has too many animals.
If nobody steps up, it’s the needle for this guy.
The shelter is at 1517 Westpark Way in Euless. Call at 817-685-1594.
You may recall that Euless Trinity High School’s Girls Awareness Program (the GAP Club) has adopted this shelter and works to help the animals. To ask about the animals you may also e-mail the GAP sponsors here: [email protected] or [email protected].
THE THURSDAY MEDICAL CRISIS AND THE DAS:
A mid-afternoon update on this dog: As you will read, Operation Kindness took this do last night. Her name is now Sheree. A medical exam today revealed that her injury was not fresh and that gangrene was affecting the damaged area. That means that, as of about 1:45 p.m. Friday, Sheree is undergoing an amputation. Operation Kindness' Sandi Laird reports, "Sheree is young and otherwise healthy. She will do OK with three legs. God gives all dogs three legs and a spare." You can offer to help with Sheree's medical bills by getting in touch with Operation Kindness HERE.
Now, our original report from this morning:
Oh, goodness, for the second day in a row Dallas Animal Services officer Mark Cooper reached out to the rescue community to save a dog that had suddenly been delivered to the city shelter.
This dog appeared to have been struck by a car and needed vet care that the city shelter is not set up to provide.
Operation Kindness, the no-kill shelter in Carrollton, quickly volunteered to take the dog. It was one of those “timing” things – the shelter’s vet was available.
Thursday evening, Operation Kindness’ Sandi Laird issued a note she called “First update” which means, no doubt, there’ll be more. “She was standing up in the seat of Joe’s truck wagging her tail when I opened the door to get her out.  She is very sweet. We have called Dr. Howard and he has told our Vet Tech what to do tonight to keep her as comfortable as possible. The Vet at Dallas did a great job of stabilizing the leg.  Dr. Howard is bringing several pins and plates just in case.  We will take x-rays when he gets here in the morning.”
Now this leads us to a couple of things.
First, we’re going to publish Mark Cooper’s thank-you note sent out last night.
He writes, “This has been a month of some incredible rescues!
“As many of you may already know, Sandi with Operation Kindness came to the rescue for this very sweet and badly injured girl! Thank you Sandi and everyone involved with getting her to your shelter!
“...Trish Todd with Metroplex Mutts saved an extremely mangy Pit that I feel in love with and I begged for a rescue to help. Thank you Trish!
“DFW Rescue Me recently took ‘Van Gogh,’ the Pit with the badly severed ears and they have pulled over 40 dogs in the last week! WOW!
“Paws In The City saved the burned pup and the sweet Chi from yesterday plea with the badly broken leg. I’m still waiting to hear his progress.
“This is just a small list of groups that I admire and appreciate! The month isn’t over, but I can NEVER thank each of you enough for the amazing work you all do!! From the bottom of my heart I thank you all!”
So, yeah, you might say “Dallas Loves Animals.”
Which brings us to the artwork with the two councilmembers – District 9’s Sheffie Kadane and Jerry Allen of District 10 -- and an unidentified dog.
In a rare moment here are two council members posing with someone who doesn’t vote though, of course, the dog may be registered in some precincts in Dallas. The council members are pitching an adoption and microchip event on Saturday and if you click on the picture it’ll get larger. You can also go to www.dallaslovesanimals.org and get the details.
I don’t know who the dog is – perhaps a Reader will know – but don’t they all look comfortable together? Or do you think maybe not?
A GRAND PRAIRIE REPORT: Word from LouAnn Norris of Trophy Tractor in Grand Prairie sends us word that the latest “wander-up Pit” at the company has found a home. Her people are enamored of her, we’re told. Nice to know, eh?
And, of course, LouAnn has our e-mail address because this probably won’t be the last Pit dumped on the property. Wasn’t the first by a longshot. So, heck, if you want a nice, friendly dog, why, just go ahead and let LouAnn know and she’ll put you on the Trophy Tractor Canine Rescue Waiting List.
HERE’S A RE-RUN: On Sept. 16, we published this plea for help, other people forwarded it throughout the state, and, yet, poor Chris Jones in Austin got absolutely zero calls about helping these two dogs. I’m just going to reprint what we published last week. It’ll save time and nothing has changed anyway – except that maybe we’ve lost a little faith in finding the right home for these two dogs.
    A SITUATION AFTER A SUICIDE: Goodness, this is a story with sadness all around it. We got the initial tip from our Houston source Alexandra Kelsey who’d been told about this by Barbara Louis, another Houston tipster.
Barbara reports, “An attorney in our office (Chris Jones) needs help.  A high-school friend of his committed suicide.  Most of the personal aspects of the friend’s life have been taken care of, but unfortunately Baby and Sue find themselves without a dad.  To help out, Chris brought the dogs to Houston (from Austin where they lived) and has them in boarding in hopes of finding them a new home.  Chris has a house full of family and pets already and cannot keep Baby and Sue.”
Baby is a 10-year-old Rottie/Blue Heeler mix, an alpha dog who loves people and minds well.
Sue is a boy. (Yep, country music fans know Johnny Cash’s song “A Boy Named Sue.”) The 7-year-old Lab mix is people friendly and has been with Baby since he was a puppy.
They were indoor/outdoor dogs who preferred to live in the open garage and romp outside whenever they felt like it.
To ask about adopting them or taking them into your rescue group, call 713-739-7007 or email [email protected].
THE CAT IN THE WALL TRIAL: Jonnie England, the Metroplex Animal Coalition’s Director of Animal Advocacy and Communications, says that there may be another delay in the Tyrone McGill trial. Mr. McGill is the former Dallas Animal Services manager accused of allowing an escaped cat to die inside the wall of a room at the shelter. He was indicted more than a year ago and the wheels of justice are moving at glacial speed. In fact, Director England says the indications from the courthouse are that Mr. McGill’s attorney will ask for yet another delay.
CONTEMPLATIONS: We’re compiling the responses we got to the question “Who deserves to be struck by a falling satellite?” Probably will publish later today if we're not struck by satelltrash. You can still offer your nominations by clicking on [email protected] and sending a name and explanation.  ... The Texas Rangers may clinch the division title within days. Is that not amazing? And if they don’t, won’t that be amazing, too? We do know that the Dallas Cowboys won’t lose this weekend. They don’t play until Monday.  They play the hated and despicable (channeling the great Tom Landry here) “Warshington Redskins.” Warshington – where you money goes to vanish. ... People who have rescue dogs understand the world, I think. My pals Lee Zethraus and Jeanie Chandler, who have known each other since Highland Park had gravel roads (well, maybe not that long), were catching up this week when Lee says, “We determined our lives consist of furniture and dogs.” And Jeanie nailed the summary with, “Estate sales and rescue dogs – why ever buy new?”
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