ReadLarryPowell.com

Who ought to be hit by a falling satellite and other situations, including griping at midweek...

We’ll get to the Collin County cats in a moment.
But first:
As you may know from news reports, the UARS, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, is supposed to re-enter the atmosphere later this week for a fiery plummet to earth.
What is the most appropriate response? “Heads up!”? No. It’s this: Let’s makes a list of people who deserve to be hit by a falling satellite.
My funspouse Martha, generally a sweet and kind person, heard a news report and declared, “You know, I’ve got a list of people who deserve to be hit by a falling satellite.”
Seems like a good way to blow off steam: Make a list.
Let’s do it. Click [email protected]  and type your “Deserves to be struck by falling satellite nominees” and send. I’m serious. Click and nominate and send. I’ll compile the list and print it. We’ll show the SOBs that someone is paying attention to what they do.
You could say such things as “person who left dog to die on porch in West Dallas” or “corporate louse who came up with the term ‘down-sizing’.” Or, to be an old-fashioned patriotic bi-partisan American you could say either “idiot in White House” or “idiot who wants to be in White House.”
Don’t even think about it, just fire from the hip. We’ll monitor the responses and see if we have enough angry people to qualify for a group rate at a shrink’s anger management session.
That photo? That’s our Readlarrypowell.com staff impersonator, Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, giving us his impression of a White House aide, after writing a “Thank God it landed in the ocean” press release, rushing into the Dolly Madison Low Impact Lackey Dining Room and spotting a big steaming platter of Mom’s Fiery Orbital Exit Habanero Meatloaf with a side dish of Big Crater Taters and a liberal dousing of Splashdown Gravy.
HOW ABOUT THEM COLLIN COUNTY CATS! We got a note from Brigitte Barnard, president of North Texas Cat Rescue, about a special effort being made to save cats that find themselves sitting in the Collin County Animal Services Shelter in McKinney and waiting for the death needle.
She explains that some volunteers who don’t work for the shelter have “created a Facebook page to promote the cats held (stray hold and surrendered by owners) in that shelter. Our goal is to compile photo albums with name, description and tabs on temperament of each cat to be sent to all rescues in this area. We will try to keep up with intakes and hopefully many will have a chance at a new beginning.
“Those cats are not receiving the attention of many rescues. Only 2 rescues (FHS [Frisco Humane Society] and NTCR) have consistently pulled cats from the shelter in the past few years and this year has been really hard for them to keep up with the high numbers of cats coming through the doors.
“We do believe networking them will save more lives. Exposure is the key to get them out of the shelter.”
For that Facebook link click HERE. The Collin County Animal Services PetFinder link is HERE.
One of those hardluck cats is this tortie beaut, Pumpkin. And Pumpkin has a sadly typical story.
She is 13 – THIRTEEN YEARS OLD – and she was put into a carrier, driven to the shelter and left. Dumped at 13. The cat doesn’t like the shelter. And she’s on a fast clock on Death Row.
But, aren’t they all at an overcrowded shelter? Thank you, big-hearted human residents of Collin County (one wonders if you moved there from Dallas, the town that kills more animals than any other place outside of a chicken slaughterhouse in Arkansas.)
Pumpkin is listed as 3314629. The shelter number is 972-547-7292.
AT THE BURLESON SHELTER: “Awesome dogs,” was the subject line for a note about how desperate things are at the Burleson Animal Shelter south of Fort Worth.
The shelter’s Anastasia Ramsey sent out a note that reads, “Normally I have no issues getting rescues to get dogs, but already this month we’ve brought in 120 -- 60 of which were owner surrenders which is A LOT for our tiny shelter.”
[SOAPBOX ASIDE: Let’s just stop right here for a second. This note was written on the 20th – so in the space of 20 days, the shelter has brought in 120 animals. Amazing for a small town shelter. But 60 of those were owner-surrenders. What in the world is going on with the owners? They can’t all be people getting married and dumping the dogs because the fiancé doesn’t like ‘em. Holy crap. I swear, so many dogs are being “downsized” that vets and pet stores must be on the brink of layoffs.]
The “awesome dogs” in the Burleson shelter include big dogs, little dogs, medium dogs, old dogs,  young dogs, etc. Call the shelter at 817-426-9283 or e-mail [email protected]  or [email protected].
THINKING AHEAD: Krista Mc Anally, who manages the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake Shelter at Tool, sent out a note that began, “Let It Snow” and “Brrr.”
Then she notes that winter’s on the way. Oh, my, can it be?
I guess. At any rate, she’s trying to hustle up some off-the-cold-floor beds for the animals at the shelter. Specifically, those raised Kuranda beds. “We are about 40 beds short right now,” she says.
You can go to the Kuranda website HERE and navigate to the “donate” site, pick the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake and it’ll walk you through a donation.
You can also contact Krista at 903-432-3422 or at [email protected] or bring a donated bed to the shelter at 10200 CR 2403, Tool, 75143.
ABOUT E-MAILS AND REQUESTS FOR HELP: Here is a note that may offer a helpful hint for people trying to save animals.
“Could you gutless or timid or dense people who send out requests for help with animals please identify your shelter or your rescue group and please sign your complete name? It will help with identifying who needs help – a cutesy email address such as ‘poopyheadsmama’ is not enough. Sincerely, Mike from the shelter.”
See what I mean? Yeah, that's a made up note, but it certainly hits on all the points that need correcting. How many guys do you know named Mike. Women named Kathy or Kathie or Cathy or Cathie? Or Deb, Debbie, Debby? Men named John? And which shelter?
And how many shelters are there? Don’t make me phone ‘em all looking for a hardluck cat named Kitty.
Please, in the name of God and all that is Holy and for the sake of the animals you are trying to help, embrace a brief moment of common sense and include your whole name, your contact information and the name of the shelter or rescue group.
Write this down: Precise and complete information will help save lives.
Why? Because people don’t have enough time to play detective – they delete your e-mail and move on to the next one. And there is always a next one.
Look, I'm not the only person frustrated by this junior high first name only and dot the eye with a heart attitude.
Sign your last name if you know it. I’m not sure about some of you but I know that none of you is either Cher or Elvis.
For crying out loud, be proud that you’re helping animals. I don’t want to have to hunt you down and slap you. I’m serious. No more Mister Nice Guy. I may start naming you people who fall short of the standards.
Here's how I'm signing this request: Sincerely, Larry Powell, [email protected], editor/publisher of Readlarrypowell.com, a world-wide-read website dedicated to helping animals.
Look, my dear animal rescuing friends, you are doing important work. Raise your standards. You’re work is not a quilting bee – you are trying to save lives. The work should be carried out with a business-like dignity, even in the e-mails we send. Build respect for the term “animal nut” by providing complete and correct information.
It’s simply the right thing to do on behalf of these animals.
Now, help me off this soapbox before a board snaps and I’m forced to cry out “Hey, you” for help.
And, if I have offended anyone, send me a note and sign your whole name.
CONTEMPLATION: Yeah, I’m in a foul frame of mind. I think society’s shortcomings are wearing out the do-gooders these days, especially in the animal community. I don’t know how some animal people keep going. Shelters and sanctuaries and rescue groups are full. Why? Because heartless and don’t-care people decide to empty their homes (more than likely their yards) of animals. How do we turn this around? You’d think good economic times would make a difference, but I'm betting a check of the records around here would show a consistent kill pace for this stinking region. There’s not much difference in the kill rate between hard times and boom times. There’s a human problem. Maybe it’s the lack of heart. No clue as to how to fix that.
You just have to hope that a falling satellite takes out the right people, I guess. And, of course, that is wrong. Don't forget to send your "Get hit by a falling satellite" nominations to [email protected].
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High notes, low notes, adoptables and holiday tunes...

...and then. as the impresario dropped a magnum of champagne into the bait shop ice chest, he said, “Look. I’m just here to fish. There’s no way that dog can sing more than one verse. No wind.”
Oops, dear Readers, excuse me. You’ve caught me in the middle of the opening of my latest novel, “Luther Hits The High Note.” It’s the story of a Cocker Spaniel whose performance saved an opera house.
We hope to make it into a motion picture starring the dog to your left, Inky, the Cocker Tenor of Texas.
OK, that’s enough for today. Please adjust your opera capes and read on:
HELP FOR A STARVING BOXER: This white Boxer turned up at Denton Animal Services’ Shelter yesterday. He was a stay brought in from “out in the county,” reports our contact, the veteran Denton shelter volunteer Amy Pelzel.
The dog is about 4 years old and, as you can tell from this photo, he came in desperate for life-sustaining food. “Poor guy just lays curled up in his bed,” Amy told me this morning. “He ate two bowls of food yesterday.”
He’s calm, isn’t deaf (as some all-white purebreds may be), and he “loved to be outside in the sun.”
They’re calling him Casper. Of course. (To ask about him, e-mail [email protected] .)
(Regarding white boxers: Perhaps someone can confirm this for me. I am under the impression that white boxers are rare. Not wanted in the breeding community? Is that correct?)
THE DEAD PORCH DOG: Still no word on the why or how of the dog who was found dead, its head stuck between iron bars, on a porch in West Dallas. There is no CSI: Dallas Canine Crimes so no real reason to be hopeful that anyone will ever be pinpointed as the creep who didn’t properly take care of that dog. Or maybe there is a creep who “took care” of the dog as ordered. Who knows? If you want to make a difference in this case, perhaps you could contact your city council member’s office so that people in power will know that citizens do care. Sometimes elected officials only react to sunlight. So, light ‘em up.
TWO SPECIAL PERSONALITIES FROM THE COLONY: Make no mistake about it. The Colony Animal Control’s shelter is a kill-shelter. It is a city-run, taxpayer financed shelter and it has only so much room.
If no one adopts or rescues the animals, their only way out is the needle.
The Colony also has an Animal Control staff that works hard to find homes for these unwanted animals.
These two dogs are Sparky and Terrell. You’ve met Sparky here before. He is a big ol' lap dog. That's him on the couch -- looks like he's wondering if he's suppoed to be up there if there isn't a person with a lap.
Animal Control Division Manager Patricia Barrington says that both Sparky and Terrell “are well past their projected euthanasia dates.”
That means if someone dumps a load of dogs on the shelter, if more are brought in, if there’s some kind of sudden influx, it’s needle time for these two dogs.
“Sparky and Terrell could use another plug,” Manager Barrington told Readlarrypowell.com. She’s trying to find places for them to go because she’s become fans of both dogs. It’s personal.
“Man, that Sparky is killing me!  He's just an incredible being; sweet, loyal, outgoing, playful, endearing dumbness that he wears oh so well ... he's so wonderful.  He's also neutered and seems that he's housetrained as his kennel is never soiled.
“Terrell is also a darn sweet soul.  He's a goofball who really attaches himself to his person. He begs to be held and then wiggles to gain freedom; he's a Chihuahua, after all!  This young man is just a love.”
Terrell is about 9 months old, weighs 6 pounds and is “small but mighty. He has a take-charge attitude.”
To help save Sparky and Terrell, e-mail [email protected] or call 972-370-9250.
[Soapbox moment: What slays me is there are so many wonderful, beyond-the-puppy- stage dogs available all over North Texas and, yet, nobody wants them. How is this possible? What wire is loose in the brains of the humans around here? Adult and young adult dogs are excellent members of a family – they’re often beyond the chewing stage and have a firm grip on their household manners. And, they also have an understanding of such instructions as “get up here on the bed and support my back.” Yes, a dog is a handy soul to have around the house. You can talk to them and they don’t interrupt. They may just pretend to be listening, but they won’t interrupt.]
STILL LOOKING FOR A HOME: Last week LouAnn Norris sent us a photo of the latest “Show Up Dog” at Trophy Tractor in Grand Prairie. No takers, of course.
You know what happens. Someone does a drive-by dumping of a dog on the quiet stretch of road and the dog wanders up. Good-hearted people inside, as they have done many times before, take the dog in and begin to hunt for a home for her.
LouAnn says there’s been no interest – well, no interest in people for the dog, but the dog is interested in people and adorable.
And LouAnn included a new photo of the wander-up dog. “She is so cute – she is a hoot!” says LouAnn. “She is playing with her ‘baby.’”
To give this dog a home or a safe haven until she can find one, e-mail  [email protected] or dial 972-264-6700.
[Soapbox moment: Assorted organizations around here honor individuals and rescue groups now and then for the work they’ve done saving animals. This is the fourth or fifth time I’ve written about the folks at Trophy Tractor making extra efforts to save animals. Is there an award out there for  golden-hearted businesses, maybe it ought to go to Trophy Tractor. If there’s not an award, someone ought to create one. Please let me know if there’s already such an award as the Heart of Gold Business Animal Rescue Commendation or something more cleverly named.]
REMINDER FOR GOLFERS: Here’s a chance to help little fluffy dogs. Tzu Zoo Rescue, the Shih Tzu Recue and Lhasa Apso Rescue of Dallas/Fort Worth, is hosting its first annual Tzu Zoo Rescue Golf Tournament Saturday at Indian Creek Golf Club in Carrollton. Get the details, see the adoptable dogs at www.tzuzoorescue.com.
DAS CLOCK TICKING: There are 14 dogs on the Dallas Animal Services Very Special Pets euthanasia list for Saturday. VSP animals have been at the shelter for 45 days or longer – they are healthy, vetted, adorable, adoptable and on the clock. I picked photos of two from the list.
One has absolutely a face of joyous greeting. Wouldn’t it be nice to come home every day and have someone that happy to see you? That’s Zelda the 2-year-old, 49-pound Shepherd mix (lord knows with what). (Question: How does a great looking dog like this get to be 2 years old and wind up on death row? Where did humans let her down?)
The other dog here is Hope, a 16-pound dog also described as a “shepherd mix.” I picked her photo because she appears to be doing a sensational impession of Joan Rivers, the comedienne, the star. Hope is described a “sleek and lovely little lady.”
These are not the only animals on death row in the massive Dallas Animal Services shelter at I-30 and Westmoreland. [That has to be the site of the most deaths in Dallas County over the past five years. Thank you, residents of Dallas.]
If you want to keep these dogs from winding up in the city dump, get in touch with the shelter. See how at www.dallasanimalservices.org. Or, if you want to adopt these dogs, e-mail [email protected]  or adoption supervisor [email protected] or call 214-671-0249 or 214-670-8312.  Rescue groups should contact [email protected] or 214-670-8298 or [email protected].
CONTEMPLATIONS: First, there may never have been nor may there ever be a greater country singer than Hank Williams. Second, I have a thing on my Blackberry that allows me to listen to radio stations around the world. On the same day last week, I tuned to Radio Australia and the first song I heard was Hank Williams performing I Saw The Light. Later in the day, I tuned BBC London and, to commemorate the opening of a vast new shopping center, the DJ played Hank Williams’ Window Shopping. I haven’t heard a Hank Williams recording on a U.S. radio station in I don’t know when. And I can’t explain why Hank doesn’t get more airplay. He’s been dead since the early 1950s, but he still sells records. ...  How about this! Our pal Ed Bark, the ONLY authoritative TV writer east or west of the Mississippi, has the insightful and informative TV news website www.unclebarky.com and it turned 5 over the weekend. “Whippersnapper,” said Readlarrypowell.com, the animal news site established way back in early 2004. Oh, we could both tell some newspaper stories, but I think we're saving them either for books or for the courtroom. ... This morning, I heard Christmas music in a commercial for “crescent dogs” – no, not dogs that howl at specifically shaped moons. Crescent Dogs are some kind of Pillsbury pastry treat. The thrust of the commercial was that you like ‘em at holidays, so you like ‘em after school. School just started. It’s Sept. 20. Back to School is now mixed with Merry Christmas. Stop. Stop it now. We’re not out of summer yet. Why must we rush through our days? Enjoy them, don’t waste them. Savor them, don't speed through them. No sense rushing headlong into tomorrow when you haven't lived today yet.
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An unpleasant second edition: A sad story and a puzzling death...

This despicable incident -- a dead dog, its head stuck between iron railings, rotting on a front porch --  came to light over the weekend. But it is clear that it took more than a day or so to develop into a sickening example of the sad lack of respect for animals in Dallas, Texas.
I have placed the photos lower in this report so you'll have fair warning before you scroll to them.
The immediate questions: How in the world did this dog die? Why? And what will be the consequence? Is the only consequence the death of the dog? Will humans skate?
Dear Readers, this is a little soapboxy, so, forgive me. But it doesn’t take a team of high-dollar demographers developing empirical data to know that some zip codes in this town need more attention than others when it comes to animal welfare.  Anecdotal evidence is enough.
West Dallas, to use a broad brush, has long had a reputation as a stinking lousy place for animals. Not everyone in West Dallas is a thug or a criminal or an awful human. But there are enough people of that ilk there to sully the reputations of those working hard to scratch out a living and create a home in that traditionally downtrodden area of town. God bless and protect them.
There are many programs in place to help the people. Helping the animals? It’s an individual effort.
Angie Manriquez, the legendary “Fairy Dogmother of West Dallas,” and her core of supporters have been pulling abandoned and neglected dogs out of there for years – going on decades. The irony is, both the SPCA of Texas and Dallas  Animal Services are right there in West Dallas. They could help these animals – if the punks and thugs would bother to do more than simply “use up” the animals and abandon them.
Yes, it takes a post-middle-aged, hardly wealthy, determined woman to wade into the area and save the animals. They don’t all get saved. And that is what this about today.  
I’m sorry about these pictures, but, frankly, it is time people saw what actually goes on in the world. Gut it up and read on. Maybe get outraged. (Thank you, Nina Lynn, for providing these photographs from the scene.)
Here is what we know for sure. A dead dog was found with it's head lodged between burglar bars, next to the "cage" entrance, on a front porch of a house on Aransas in West Dallas. The dog’s head was stuck between the bars. How does that happen? 
What we don’t know for sure, but what appears to have happened:
(1) The dog may have died from starvation and dehydration while it’s head was stuck between the bars.
(2) Or someone shoved the dog’s head between the bars and killed it. Or left it there to die.
(3) It may have been trying to escape the confines of the small, unshaded porch during horrifying weather.
(4) No one was living at the house. We are told by people who went to the scene Saturday that the elderly inhabitant had been moved out of the house some time ago.
(5) We don’t know if someone left the dog on the front porch as a “watchdog” or to keep it from soiling the inside of the house. People often don’t think clearly in family crises and people are often stupid. Could be either one. Still, it looks as if the mail was being delivered – no letter carrier saw this situation?
(6) People in the area and animal welfare people dialed 311 asking the City of Dallas for help with the bloated corpse of the dog last week. Nobody responded until a number of these animal activists – among them Angie, rescuer Nina Lynn, Dallas Animal Shelter Commission Member Chris Watts and Metroplex Animal Coalition Director of Animal Advocacy Jonnie England – showed up at the Aransas Street residence on Saturday.
(7) Some people say authorities were called while the dog was still alive. But that’s not been confirmed.
(8) Doesn’t matter who left the animal on that porch, something cruel happened.
(9) Dallas Animal Services is not, usually, involved in picking up dead animals though it happens. This usually is a duty assigned to City of Dallas Streets & Sanitation. There is some talk that Streets & Sanitation was reluctant to enter private property to try to get the dead dog that was rotting on the front porch. Might not have had a way to deal with this. Or could have been a liability issue – the city would be responsible if it tore up the porch to get the dead dog out. (Good thing it wasn’t a cat struggling for life inside the wall at the animal shelter wall, eh?)
(10) Nothing can be done for this dog, but what can be done for the next one? This isn’t the only burglar bar porch cage in town. This isn’t the only dog that has been either neglected or abused.
So, this seems like a once-in-a-lifetime incident – for the dog, anyway. Does the City of Dallas have procedures in place to handle such things? Is that procedure "Wait until a crowd gathers and then respond?" 
And, yes, authorities have no way of helping if they don’t know help is needed, but, honestly, there are too many reports of “I called 311” in this case to hide behind that. One experienced recuer spoke to a 311 operator and got a confirmation that a call had been made last week about this animal's plight.
Oh, I guess, some prankster could have shoved a dead dog onto the porch and been unable to get the head through the bars. Seems unlikely though, doesn’t it, though there are people who would do such things.                                           
I asked MAC’s Jonnie England about this incident and she responded, “Once new Dallas Animal Services manager Jody Jones heard about the sad situation Saturday afternoon, both DAS and DPD were on the scene within minutes. The DAS team removed the poor dog’s body as gently and respectfully as they could and took it to the shelter so it could be examined by a vet.  I know they’ll do a thorough investigation.
“From my perspective, the dog’s body was in a very unnatural position, and it seemed clear to me that this was an intentional act of animal cruelty.  I hope witnesses will come forward and that there will be enough evidence to file charges.  People need to know that they cannot abuse an animal and get away with it.”
If you know anything about this situation, call the authorities. Call DAS, call the cops. But tell someone with a badge what you know. You may save an animal’s life on down the road.
And wouldn’t that look awful on your permanent record.
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Crowded shelters, stress and Michael Vick's jersey...

Welcome to Monday. Please get your comfort bags ready.
Now, we’re going to dive right into our daily report and I am going to promise you that later today we’re going to present a story and photos that will make you need that comfort bag.
Before we do that, here’s a Monday morning report. And, dear Readers, bless your hearts for sticking with us today – if you’re going to help animals, you’re going to have to deal with people.
Sorry about that sad circumstance.
SHELTER HOT SPOTS, OR, HOW TO KILL THE ANIMALS IN AN ORDERLY FASHION: Instead of a laborious report on assorted dogs and cats in area shelters. I’ve decided today to save my typing fingers by cutting this short. If you’re interested you’ll go save an animal and if you’re not, well, no amount of typing, no barrage of cute photos, will save the animals.  I’ll tell you about this six-pound, 2-month-old Beagle mix in a second. Here are the shelters mentioned in e-mails received over the weekend.
 City of Arlington Shelter -- dogs and cats. ... Collin County Animal Services in McKinney – dogs and cats;
Hang on a second. We know that Dallas Animal Services has a euthanasia list. We know that Carrollton Animal Services has a euthanasia list. But there are some shelters that don’t have a “list.” For example, one of the volunteers at Collin County was explaining the lack of a euthanasia list. She wrote, “At CCAS they euthanize when they are full. They don't set specific dates for each dog. It can happen at any time, so we try to get as many dogs out as we can every day.” (Soapbox moment: I guess it’s cruel to imagine this system at work: “Hey, euthanasia helper, bring me two mediums, a large and three cats – I’ve got a litter of mutts and a calf coming in.” Look, kids, these shelter workers aren’t enamored of this experience – how do you put it on a resume when the city decides to RIF you?)
I’m sure all shelters operate in different fashions...So, the question is: Should there be a standard way to schedule the deaths of these animals. would that help rescue groups plan better to get the animals to safety? Or are there so many that there’s just no way to standardize death?
OK, back to that puppy. We got that photo from the array shot by noted Irving Animal Shelter walker Russell Posch. That is a little bitty dog who was surrendered to the shelter because, according to the official notes, “Needs too much attention.”
I hope to God they don’t have kids. Also, I hope they don’t stumble into a meeting of animal people and announce why they dumped their little dog at a kill shelter.
See more Irving animals HERE.
Oh, wait, for crying out loud, Seagoville’s small animal shelter has 40 dogs and, according to a weekend note from the hustling city and volunteer staffers, the killing starts on Monday the 26th unless they can get the population reduced through rescue and adoption.
The shelter has a load of adoptable animals. See them HERE. The Seagoville shelter has the most Texas-sounding names I’ve ever run across in a shelter. Among them are Hondo, Rojo, Ringo...and there’s a Brenda, a Sally and a Peggy, too. But if you’ve ever said, “I wish I had a lop-eared dog,” there is this fellow Felix.
OK, that’s it for this segment today.
Wait. Maybe it's not.
Only a thoroughly stupid person would not know that you can go to a city shelter to get a dog or cat. The prices vary. For example, if you want to adopt a dog from the Dallas Animal Services shelter, which kills animals by the THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS each year, you’ll pay $85 for a dog and $55 for a cat. FYI: That beautiful white cat is Bose, available at the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center for $55 – came in as a stray. Will go out either as an adopted cat or one of many bodies in a bag.
At Seagoville, which is struggling to establish itself as a “no-kill” shelter, you can adopt Border Collies, pits, Chihuahuas and all sorts of Labs and Lab mixes for $15.
Fifteen bucks to adopt an animal at Seagoville – and you have to make a deposit to prove you’ll get the animal spayed or neutered, too. But, basically $15.
That’s pretty low, isn’t it. Well, it’s not the lowest in the area. At Sachse Animal Control, the adoptions are free. FREE. Here are the Sachse rules: The adopting party must (1) “Have proper facilities to care for the animal”; (2) “Have the animal spayed or neutered within 30 days of adoption”; (3) “Obtain all necessary vaccinations for the animal within 10 days of adoption” and (4) “Sign an affidavit stating the animal will be cared for in a lawful and humane way “
That big, black and white cat is Lazy Girl – she’s a Sachse cat – free if you’ll just promise to do the right things and love the danged cat. Earned her name, the shelter says. Lap cat.
Now, probably a big city shelter must be run by different rules than a small shelter. But all shelters have better adoption fees than rescue groups. Of course, rescue groups invest in the health of the animals before they allow them to be adopted. It isn’t like rescue groups are merely conduits for animals – they take the hard cases. A city shelter kills the hard cases if a rescue group doesn’t step up.
There is a theory that if people pay a substantial fee to adopt a dog or cat, then they will take better care of that animal.
Maybe so. Maybe not. Depends on the people. Depends on the animal. And if that pay for it/love it philosophy is the case...well, OK, all we can definitely state is that shelters in North Texas kill thousands and thousands of unwanted animals each year, including some purebreds that people paid a ton of money for and just didn’t give a hoot about after a while.
So, once again, we demonstrate that when you have an animal problem,  you have, at the heart of it, a people problem.
 Fix the people and the animals will be fixed, too. OK, that's easy enough.
STRESS IN A SMALL TOWN IN OKLAHOMA: We’ve been writing for many years about Terry Lynn Fisher and the challenges she faces in little Burns Flat, Okla., a town in the western edge of the state, about 100 miles north of Wichita Falls, Texas. Yep, way out there.
But stress isn’t limited by city limits, state lines or Zip Codes.
There’s been municipal upheaval lately in Burns Flat – the animal control officer Terry Lynn depended on to help her keep that shelter kill-free has moved on after a spat with the city administrator who, in his former position, was the guy who shot Terry Lynn’s dog Oddball to death and that was the act that inspired her to get involved in animal rescue.
Life has many twists and turns and knots in the gut. Terry Lynn has operated like a machine for many years -- people from Texas have helped her out. People from other states have joined in. Sometimes the crises are unexpected. Sometimes life is overwhelming.
Here’s Terry Lynn’s latest note:
“I am so stressed. ... I have 2 [stray rescued] dogs at the vet from being run over by cars. The town has been riding me and causing trouble with me pulling dogs. I am actually having a "personal" crisis.
“And now, Thor....” [That is Thor’s photo.]
“ Thor is my pound baby I have had FOREVER.  I love this boy. He is great. Today [Sunday], I went to clean and feed at the pound and as I pulled up, I saw him shaking his head. I have never seen him do that, so it puzzled me. As I walked up to him, his right side of his head looked weird. I got in his kennel and freaked out.
“Something has hurt him and BAD. There is a hole in his neck and it is oozing pus. It is crusty from his ear to the hole. He is in a pen alone, so I have NO clue what has happened to this sweet, timid boy.
“ My vet is wanting me to get the 2 injured dogs out and that bill settled, so I do not even know if he will see my Thor. I am so scared that he will die. He has been through so much in the past. I need help with him fast.”
E-mail Terry Lynn at [email protected]. Write to her at Terry Lynn Fisher, PO Box 578, Burns Flat Ok 73624. Call her at 580-330-1459.
The vet office is Elk Creek Clinic, 1301 Airport Industrial, Elk City Ok., 73644. Or call 580-225-4863.
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR PINKIE: Remember yesterdays BOLO report on the missing big ol’ dawg Pinkie?
We're repeating it this morning. Pinkie's still missing. Here's the story:
My pal Sharon Dooley, a veteran rescuer, has taken her dogs Tramp and Pinkie to work with her for a long time. They became fixtures at the office.  Last week, Tramp died.
On Friday morning, Pinkie, who was accustomed to being at the office with Tramp, vanished from the fenced yard at the office at Today Homes on the southwest side of the Red Oak Road exit off I-35. (That’s south of Dallas, maybe 8 or 10 miles.)
Pinkie is Sharon’s dog – they’ve been devoted to each other and Pinkie has been at Sharon’s side through some tough personal times.
This is one of those “can’t imagine” situations where no one except Pinkie can be certain of how or why Pinkie would vanish around 9:30 a.m. on a busy Friday morning.
One theory is Pinkie was looking for her companion, Tramp.
In the meantime, if you have seen this big (65-pound) mostly white dog with the “pink” highlights, brown markings and upright ears, call 903-875-9462 immediately.
Pinkie’s home is in Dawson (in Navarro County), but she “offices” in Red Oak near Hilltop Trailers.
CONTEMPLATIONS: Yes, the Dallas Cowboys won a game, quarterback Tony Romo show his courage (wonder if they shot him up like a racehorse to get him back on the track?), but while that was going on, the Texas Rangers were taking one more step toward the American League playoffs and that is a grand and amazing thing. ... Another Texas victory? Heck, yeah. Margo Martindale, who played “Mags” on the FX drama Justified, won an Emmy last night. She’s from Jacksonville, Texas – was Miss Jacksonville High School in 1969, according to her IMDB bio. She may have been the most sinister female character – nope, maybe the most sinister character of any gender -- to appear in a TV show. Holy smoke. Congrats to the kid from Texas. ... Now, I know a lot of animal people did not watch the Atlanta Falcons victory over the Philadelphia Eagles last night, but, since some of you hate Philly quarterback Michael Vick, holder of a Key to the City of Dallas and a convicted dog-fighting dog-killer. So you might have enjoyed watching him getting his neck nearly broken in a harsh tackle that also caused him to bite into his tongue and, as he was helped off the field, he was spitting out blood all over the place. Sorry you missed that, I guess. One more note: The stadium had a ton of adults proudly wearing Michael Vick No. 7 Atlanta and Philadelphia jerseys. Those people need to be “seen to” by a psychiatric professional. They ought to be ashamed of themselves – if they have enough intellect to comprehend “shame.”  Dunces.
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Pinkie is missing...

BE ON THE LOOKOUT: My pal Sharon Dooley, a veteran rescuer, has taken her dogs Tramp and Pinkie to work with her for a long time. They became fixtures at the office.  Last week, Tramp died.
On Friday morning, Pinkie, who was accustomed to being at the office with Tramp, vanished from the fenced yard at the office at Today Homes on the southwest side of the Red Oak Road exit off I-35. (That’s south of Dallas, maybe 8 or 10 miles.)
Pinkie is as animal people declare "Sharon’s dog" and nobody else's – they’ve been devoted to each other and Pinkie has been at Sharon’s side through some tough personal times.
This is one of those “can’t imagine” situations where no one except Pinkie can be certain of how or why she would vanish around 9:30 a.m. on a busy Friday morning.
One theory is Pinkie was looking for her companion, Tramp.
In the meantime, if you have seen this big (65-pound) mostly white dog with the “pink” highlights, brown markings and upright ears, call 903-875-9462 immediately.
Pinkie’s home is in Dawson (in Navarro County), but she “offices” in Red Oak near Hilltop Trailers.

A face for sleeping...and other dozers

 

When I saw this face on the black and white dog, I thought, “Now that’s a dog that knows how to sleep!”
I also thought, “If I run this photo, people will look at it and be reminded of a beloved uncle or dad or maybe even a grandpa or grandma who, after a nice filling meal, has nodded off on the couch and begun to drool."
Thus, Keely and her pals Ginger and Shelby and Jessi  are the spotlighted critters in the world wide read Readlarrypowell.com weekend feature Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap,
We get the stories of these photogenic slumberers from their human, Jacque Hagerty of Austin.
That slumbermug shot of Keely shows the dog in a comfy spot right up against Jacque on the couch.
Ginger, however, is a very light sleeper and getting her with her eyes shut was a challenge.
You can see how tough that can be in what Jacque calls the “Bunkbed Picture.”
Keely and Ginger heard the camera – maybe they sensed the camera – and their eyes popped open and their heads popped up. Perhaps in an earlier life they were pursued by the paparazzi.
Jacque has a theory about how she was able to catch Ginger sleeping in the photo with the two brown dogs on the couch. She says that is Shelby behind Ginger “looking out the window. Shelby is a yellow Lab mix that was another of our rescues. Apparently Ginger only sleeps when someone else is on watch.”
Jacque also explains, “My little boxer mix, Keely (the black boxer) likes to sleep anywhere comfortable, even under the bed. But lately she has decided she wants to sleep on the back of the couch cat-style.
“Ginger (the fawn boxer), our other boxer mix, was sleeping in her favorite place on the couch and Keely didn’t let that stop her from getting up on the back, too.
Ginger and Keely were adopted from Austin Boxer Rescue (ABR), says Jacque. She says that Ginger arrived in Fall 2008 and Keely in Fall 2009. “We didn’t adopt one last year so I guess we’re due. “Unfortunately, we are also at the limit with 4 dogs filling our home and our lives these days.
“I’m a volunteer with ABR and work with incoming dogs pretty much daily. At least once a month I fall madly in love with one and wish I could adopt more.”
Oh, and that other dog? That’s the household terrier, enjoying two “right poses” – upright and downright.
Her name is Jessi and she’s 6. She was, Jacque says, “one of 8 puppies born to rescued parents.”
I asked if she might be watching a football game. “No, not a football game but I can see why you would think that,” Jacque says. “This was actually during People's Court.”
[To nominate a sleeping critter that you’ve fallen in love with for the spotlight of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap, send photo and info to [email protected]. Remember, at Readlarrypowell.com, we endorse sleeping on couches – on the cushions or on the back, whatever shuts your lids. Some of the best sleeping in the world is on a couch during a football game, we are told by people who are not insomniacs. Ah, to sleep, perchance to dream of a Dallas Cowboys victory or, of course, of a favorable ruling on People’s Court.]
(HERE’S A BOXER PS: You can get your own sleeper from Austin Boxer Rescue by going HERE . In the Dallas-area, the go-to Boxer outfit is Legacy Boxer Rescue whose online address declares its mission: www.savetheboxers.com.)

PM Edition, in which some people come off pretty bad while others try hard to take up the slack

Here is our Friday afternoon edition. Just pretend you were standing out on the lawn of your smalltown house in the early 1960s and, as the Mickey Mouse Club began on the black and white TV inside, a kid on a bike pedaled past your home, reached into the big bag in the basket on the front of his Schwinn and threw a thin PM paper into the thorny roses about 10 feet from where you were standing. Ah, nostalgia. The family Cocker Spaniel, left, barks vibrantly at the passing cyclist. Then retires to read the paper he fetched.
Alas, we have afternoon stories for afternoon readers who might have afternoon solutions.
BLUE, THE OLDER LAB: Gina Piner of Homeward Bound Animal Rescue reports on a tight situation in Arlington. It involves Blue, an older Lab fella, 7 or 8 and a solid 56 pounds. He’s officially DA 15 ID A13851866. But, you know, Labs don’t answer to chains of numbers. Blue works.
“We are trying to save this wonderful older Lab at the Arlington Shelter.  He has been in adoptions because he is just a wonderful dog!  He knows ‘sit’ and he is very well-behaved! He is one of the favorites at the shelter and he is running out of time.  There are $300 in donations for any rescue group that will save Blue.”
Blue, also known as Marquette inexplicably,  has a brown eye and a blue eye –hence the name Marquette. I’m kidding. Hence, Blue, of course.
Well, ol’ Blue is the Golden Paws Senior Pet of the Month.
We’ve had an old dog or two or more at our house for years. This is only a middle-aged dog, if you take care of him and try to give him as much love as he gives you. That’s the equation.
Here are the rescue contacts at the shelter: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] or [email protected].
You can visit the shelter at 1000 SE Green Oaks in Arlington – that’s on the south side of I-20. Call 817-459-6156. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. On Sundays it is closed no matter how much barking and mewing you hear inside.
GENERIC AND KITTY: “You have got to be kidding me!” exclaimed the typing fool. “A mutt named Generic and a cat named Kitty! What are the chances?”
Well, let’s examine that.  I think this may be the first time I’ve run across a dog named Generic. In fact, this may be the only mammal so-named on the planet.
Of course, there may be a zillion cats named Kitty.
Both of these have “stories.” They have “stories” thanks to people.
Both of these animals are among several dogs and cats on the Carrollton Animal Services euthanasia list for Wednesday. They can be saved via a weekend adoption, of course. Call the shelter at 972-466-3420, or email [email protected]
The story on Generic, seen here doing his impression of a Meerkat licking his chops, is that the little guy was picked up “a couple of times in the same week for being at-large and this last time,” the shelter says, “his person decided that he did not want him back. So here he sits. His person said he had no name so we had to give him one.”
This is a 10-year-old dog with no name. Ten years old and 14 pounds. He wasn’t at-large, he was at-small.
Oh, and get this part. The shelter says, “He kept escaping his person who would tie him up to a railing outside of his residence using a very poor restraint. More than likely, all this little man wanted to do is go inside and be loved on and play. He does appear to be house-trained and to get along well with other dogs.”
For crying out loud.
Now, of course, a cat named Kitty is bound to have something distinct, you’d hope. Yep, Male cat, front declawed.
Why?
Because people are idiots, but I think this gives us a clue as to why the cat’s human dumped him in a kill-shelter.
He was surrendered because, the shelter says, his people “are moving and cannot seem to find the room for him in their new home.”
The declawing is an indicator that the people valued chair legs and sofa fabric more than they valued the cat. Obviously they whacked off the ends of his toes just so he wouldn’t tear up a cheap chair.
For crying out loud. A 10-year-old dog and a declawed adult cat, both dumped. Absolutely justifiable – if you are an idiot.
SOAPBOX MOMENT: You know what. I think I’m glad these two animals wound up in the Carrollton shelter – even in a city-run shelter that has to euthanize to make room for unwanted animals, these two probably have a better chance at happy survival than they do with the people who had them. Carrollton's shelter makes an effort to save animals.
OK, help me down off this soapbox – I think I hear boards cracking and I know Inky the Cocker Spaniel just bark a warning to the rest of the dogs. “Run, run,” he woofed. “Fat man fallin’!”
A GARLAND STORY: Usually stories about Garland Animal Services have the word “protest” in them. Not this time. The Garland Animal Services folks helped rescue a young puppy who had fallen into a giant drought-caused crack in the yard of a home in Garland. Fell right into the hole. You can see Channel 8’s story HERE. The story doesn’t say when the pup will be available for adoption. But it sure would be a shame to learn that Garland had saved the puppy only to kill it later. Surely that won’t happen. Anyone with Garland ties able to tell us about this?
CONTEMPLATION: Should cities charge people who are surrendering animals to shelters? Of course, if they did, each morning shelter workers would find dozens and dozens of animals wandering the grounds, animals who have become frustrated at trying to do their own intake paperwork. It’s pure folly to think that dumpers would take responsibility for financing the care and feeding of the surrendered animals, plus paying for a syringe full of death juice. How about this? Once a year, all the people who dumped an animal for such reasons as “moving,” or “fiancé didn’t like it” or “don’t have room” or “puppy grew up” or “cat keeps having kittens,” will be gathered at the Cotton Bowl for an awards ceremony. Yes, they’ll be awarded a brand new beating. No, Stop. It’s wrong to advocate violence, especially against the rampantly stupid. Sometimes humans don’t try hard enough to not be beasts. No offense to beasts.
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Lucy's time over? Fish Hook needs help. A rainmaker reference.

Nobody has pulled this dog Lucy from Dallas Animal Services yet. She is going to die today if nobody claims her. We published her photo and story yesterday.
When it was her time to get the needle earlier this week, there was no more death juice. An empty syringe saved her life. For that day.
Dallas Animal Control Officer Mark Cooper, the rescue coordinator, began campaigning on her behalf and for a little Schnauzer mix and for a boxer-mix named Rhea. They’re all doomed today unless a rescue group or adoptor claims them.
That’s Officer Cooper in the photo with Lucy. She’s clearly vicious. Call 214-670-8298 or e-mail [email protected]. He’s also looking for a place to park a really pregnant Chiweenie until she gives birth – at any moment, he says.
And before we get to a dog named Fish Hook (so-named for a reason), let’s talk weather.
One of the e-mails we opened first thing – way early because for the second day in a row Rosie the Chihuahua was interested in conversation at 3:30 a.m. – included a great sentence. A sentence of hope and relief.
A note reminding us that A Different Breed’s regular adoption session Saturday (12:30 p.m.-5 p.m. at Pepper Square, Preston at Beltline), included this sentence: “Weather is finally turning beautiful and makes walking the dogs outside a JOY instead of a chore!”
Anybody else hear a deacon shout “Amen!”?
That forecast is bound to be good news for both the Euless Trinity High School’s GAP Club (Girls Awareness Program) Pet Fair and Metroplex Animal Coalition’s Wags 'n' Waves fundraiser at Hawaiian Falls Waterpark in Garland. Click on their names to get the details, but come right back because we’re going to tell you about Fish Hook.
ON THE CLOCK: Krista Mc Anally, who manages the Humane Society of Cedar Creek Lake shelter at Tool, Texas, is beating the cyberbushes these days for homes for four long-term wards of the society. In fact, they’ve been in the care of the Society for so long that it appears no one wants them, so they are scheduled for euthanasia on Wednesday the 21st.
One of those dogs is this Lab fellow, Fish Hook. The others are Anchor (no kin to Fish Hook), Charming  and Dakota. (They’re all on the Texas Little Cuties PetFinder site – HSCCL and TLC partner to try to get extra eyes looking at the shelter’s animals.)
Of these four dogs, none are fixed and none have been tested for heartworm. Krista says the shelter will test upon request.
I guess there’s no sense spending the money if they’re just going to be killed anyway. What’s the use of knowing whether a dead dog had heartworms? Save the money and spend it on living animals. Unlike dogs and cats in North Texas, you can’t just find the money lying around on the roadside.
And that brings us to Fish Hook. He’s a year old and was brought to the shelter by animal control. When he came in he had a “4- or 5-inch fish hook” through one of his front legs and had been shot by a small caliber gun in the hip.
Amazing.
Anyway, having survived that, he’s currently taking antibiotics, is good on a leash and, of course, loves people and other dogs.
But he really loves water. He is, after all, a Lab. Though I have run into one or two landlubbing Labs.
To ask about any of the animals at the Humane Society of Cedar Creek shelter, call 903-432-3422 or e-mail [email protected]. And you can drop by for a visit – Tool is only about a pleasant hour or so drive southeast of Dallas. You can see more animals at the Texas Little Cuties PetFinder site HERE.
HOW YOU CAN RUN UP A BILL WITH A DOG: Step 1: Rescue the dog.
Yeah, that’s where it all begins. You do a good deed. That’s what has happened in this case.
Animal Allies of Texas managed to get this lad out of Collin County Animal Services when he came in suffering from a number of dog bites.
Garnell McMichael of AAT reports that Andy the Dog was suffering from rampant infection and swelling from under his leg to the end of his leg. He lost a lot of tissue and needs aggressive care.
Probably there’s more surgery in his future.

Now, AAT recently took in two dogs and their 8 pups – abandoned on the streets – and that, also is wearing down the financial reserves.
“We are completely drained financially and need your generous donations to pay our vet bills,” Garnell writes to the general animal-loving Readership.
There’s a “chip-in”  HERE. The AAT mailing address is P.O. Box 496385, Garland, Texas, 75049-6385. For the PayPal link, click HERE.  The organization’s vet is Metro Paws Animal Hospital, 1910 Skillman St. Dallas, 75206 (Call 214-887-1400).
THE STORY OF SMOOCH: This is a prime example of networking, something the animal rescue community does with vigor and much success.
We’ve gotten a couple of e-mails about this guy Smooch and, indeed, Deb Elkins of Terrell reminds us that Readlarrypowell.com wrote about the little guy and his siblings back in August.
Val Laughton, who sends out a bunch of animal e-mails a day trying to find help for down-on-their-luck critters, sent out a note that read, “Smooch was found in a box, huddling next to his two little brothers.  It was August 1. The heat was 100 degrees plus.  The three puppies were covered in ants. The outlook for the babies was grim.”
Deb says, “At that time they were just 3 puppies that were dumped at a vet's office in Terrell.  I was looking for a rescue group or groups to snag these guys to get them seen and adopted while they were still cute, silly pups.  No one had any room in their inns so I bullied family members to foster and decided to run with the ball (or, in this case, pup) myself. 
“I pulled the three amigos, named them Rascal, Tucker and Smooch, and have been getting the word out via Nancy Pollard, PetFinder, and starting tomorrow with adoption events. The boys fit the traditional puppy job description; play, eat, poop, snuggle. They are ready for homes.
“Smooch is particularly fun to cuddle because as soon as I pick him up, he molds himself against my chest, goes limp, and sighs.

“If anyone wants to cuddle him, he will be at the Whole Foods Market on Abrams in Lakewood this Saturday (10 a.m.-4 p.m.).  We are attending an adoption event for White Rock Dog Rescue.”
E-mail [email protected] if you want to beat everybody to a Smooch.
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].
CONTEMPLATIONS: That cat? That’s Griffin, taking it easy in Rosie’s bed, since she wasn’t using it. And, of course, Griffin is a clear example that, as “cat people” will tell you, cats are good companions, preferring mostly to nap and read or work on their “cat apps.” Too many unwanted cats in North Texas, you know. So far the prevailing solution is not to make them wanted, but to make them dead. Still, the inventory continues to be resupplied. Why is that? Anybody explained to the idiots around here that knowing about "the birds and bees" means knowing about cats, too? ... On the most recent 100-plus degree day I was watching Channel 5 and the weather reporter on the hot, cloudless, searing day was a woman named – no kidding – Shade.  Yep, Remeisha Shade. ... In honor of the lack of steady rain in the State of Texas, today’s pop culture reference takes us back to the 1950s drought in Dallas: The name is Homer Berry. Any of you whippersnappers recall Homer Berry? Cities hired him. Why? He was a “rainmaker.”
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An empty syringe saves a life...maybe

We’re at the midway point in the month of September and who can believe it is going so swiftly?
Some things are constant. Time moves on. It gets hot in Texas.
It also gets cool in Texas.  It was cool this morning. Our dogs slept in – of course, they did. They all decided to get up at 3 a.m. to see what Rosie the Chihuahua was barking about.
We never did figure that out. One human stayed up thinking about it. Rosie, naturally, is sleeping peacefully now. [That’s her. Relax. It’s an old photo. I didn’t wake her up just to take her picture.]
Maybe she sees things we don’t see. Like maybe she has special 3 a.m. lenses that allow her to see the spirits that come through and move the TV remotes so we can’t find them the next morning.
OK, today’s report:
REMINDER:This is Donor Bridge day – HERE'S AN UPDATE A5 5:30 P.M. The Donor Bridge online system is apparenly overloaded, but will eventually load, we're told. Also, there's a number to call in case you can't get through via computer, 214-346-5500. That's from one of the hopeful recipients, Metroplex Animal Coalition. D Magazine's Frontburner says the hours of donation have been extended from 7 p.m. to midnight. We'd check with the Communities Foundation of Texas site, but, well, you know -- people's hearts were apparently bigger than CFT's servers, which is a good thing, I guess. (Now continuing with the report posted earlier today...)
The Communities Foundation of Texas has set up  a way for non-profits to get money and matching money. You want to help by donating, go to the Donor Bridge site HERE. It’ll walk you through the process. Donations close at 7 p.m., though, of course, your favorite charity accepts gifts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until the mission is accomplished. And, until people wise up and behave, some missions are never accomplished.
THE EMPTY SYRINGE: Dallas Animal Services is always sending out notes about dogs that need a break. Animal Control Officer Mark Cooper, the rescue coordinator for the shelter, issued a plea earlier this week for a little mangy pit boy – Metroplex Mutts claimed him.
Late yesterday Mark sent out a note about several dogs on the clock for Friday at the Dallas Animal Services Shelter.
This shelter, because residents of Dallas are so cavalier about the lives of animals, kills thousands and thousands of unwanted animals a year. Now and then a dog or cat gets a break.
Officer Cooper’s note included photos of several animals on the clock and this one caught my eye. Yeah, she’s a danged pit bull and that’s pretty much a death sentence in Dallas.
Here’s Mark’s note and if you don’t gasp when you see why she got some “extra time,” then the quirks of fate escape you.
He writes, “This is ‘Lucy,’ the luckiest dog at DAS! She was supposed to be euthanized today and the officer ran out of juice, and she was spared!”
Ran out of juice. For crying out loud. An empty syringe saves a life – for a day, maybe.
“Because the lab officer felt it was a ‘sign’ that this wasn’t her time he asked that I save her. She is amazingly sweet and very young and healthy looking. She’s literally sucking my finger in this picture while wagging her butt!”
You want to save this dog? Call Mark Cooper at 214-670-8298 or e-mail [email protected].
If nobody speaks up for this dog and others, let me assure you, they’ll just reload the syringes and order more juice.
ON THE CLOCK IN THE COLONY: Like the much larger Dallas Animal Services Shelter, The Colony has two things – more animals than it needs and people who are trying to save them rather than kill them.
Sometimes it works out.
Among the latest animals on the clock is this guy Sparky. He looks like he knows he thinks he shouldn’t be up on the furniture. (At our house, he’d own the furniture. We have a limit in Dallas, however.)
In a note about him, Patricia Barrington, the Animal Control Division Manager for The Colony, wrote, “Would you look at that handsome mug? Sparky the Spectacular is a really awesome dog.  He’s a Pit Bull Terrier- type dog and is around 2 years old.  Sparky is neutered and knows all the popular commands.  He likes romping around with other dogs and having a good time. Sparky’s most endearing quality?  He’s a lap dog -- a 65- pound lap dog. He’s very gentle about getting himself on a person’s lap; gentle yet determined!  He’s a love.”
So, clearly, he was uncomfortable being on a couch without a lap between him and the fabric!
That cat? We’ve written about that kitty Nilla before. Yep, still not claimed. This is Nilla, the kitten who came into the shelter and only after someone who cared bothered to look (the shelter workers cared enough to look) did anybody discover that her tail had either been cut off or bitten off or ripped off. She’s recovering nicely and is a lovely kitten with no tail to worry about.
You can see more animals in The Colony’s shelter by clicking HERE. To offer to help, e-mail [email protected] or call 972-370-9250.
ABOUT THE LONGHORNS: Remember the beautiful longhorns of Tres Rios Ranch at Blanco, Texas --  living on the parched territory was taking a toll on them and the rancher, you may recall. Lacy Milani-Ingalls writes, “We found the perfect option for the herd in Arkansas where they can live on 700 acres of beautiful green grass with spring-fed ponds and creeks!  The rancher who owns the ranch is familiar with longhorns and is willing to take them on and not allow them to be sold for meat. I want to say thank you SO much to every single person who reached out to me to see if they could help, and to every person who helped me forward this email on around the animal world!  I have gotten offers for help from SEVEN different states and offers for everything from adoption of individual longhorns to offers to purchase the entire herd!”
CONTEMPLATIONS: Why is it so difficult to save animals in Dallas, Texas? Is there something that keeps people from acknowledging the incredible numbers by which they are killed each week? Why is it that the city’s shelter can kill (by last count) 17,624 animals from Oct. 1 to July 31 and still have animals left to kill? How do we know there are still animals left to kill? History. The shelter's own stats show that from Oct. 1 to July 31 the previous year, Dallas Animal Services – thanks to the don’t care, dumbass residents of our bloody city --- killed 19,074 unwanted animals. Yeah, that’s an improvement of 1,450 animals. Yeah, go ahead and applaud the improvement – that the taxpayers of Dallas financed the killing of only 17,624 animals in that period. Geez, no wonder they run out of juice sometimes. I don’t know who makes the stuff, but the company will never go out of business as long as the City of Dallas is populated by people who say, “I just don’t see a problem with that” or “Oh, really? I thought they found homes for them.” Idiots.
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Money....oh, and animals.

Today’s prevailing category is “Money Makes the World Go Round.”
Thursday is actually a big organized charity day though, of course, every day is a day to be charitable toward animals.
And, does this dog look familiar to you? More on that in a second.
STRAYDOG NOTE: The great animal sanctuary Straydog Inc. is nearing the $6,400 mark in an attempt to qualify for a $10,000 matching grant. Straydog supporter Wendy Reiner tipped us to this campaign. The deal is, to qualify for the matching funds, the new funds have to come from new donors or from people who have not given to Straydog in the past 12 months. You can get the details at www.straydog.org. Deadline for winning the big grant is Sept. 30.
DONOR BRIDGE DAY AND COFFEE WITH JAMES BIAS, TOO: OK, first I’ll tell you I don’t have a clue about the phrase “Donor Bridge Day” – it sounds like a title made up by someone who finds comfort in the peculiar jargon of the non-profit world. If I’d created the title, it would have been, “Hey You Give Money Day.” But, of course, what do I know about jargon or money?
I do know the Donor Bridge Day goal though and that is to raise money for non-profit charities. It’s organized annually by the Communities Foundation of Texas and the way it works is from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. you click on the Donor Bridge page HERE and they walk you through donating to your specific charity or charities.
Our first reminder of Donor Bridge day came from Tawana Couch, the founder of the Society for Companion Animals, the organization that arranges to save animals from the Dallas Animal Services Shelter and flies them off to other areas of the country where they’re more likely to be adopted. A donation to the Society will serve as a link to other money – I guess you could call it a “bridge” to more money. Matching funds, you know.
Metroplex Animal Coalition is also on the list for Donor Bridge Day. Money given to MAC will pay for spaying and neutering the dogs and cats of low-income pet owners. Since the inception of MAC’s program, more than 15,650 surgeries have been provided for animals belonging to 9,932 Dallas-area residents.
Now, the SPCA of Texas, also on the Donor Bridge Day list, has a special way of celebrating the day, “North Texas Giving Day,” they’re calling it. The press release explains, “To celebrate, we’re hosting a virtual coffee break! At 10 a.m. sharp, grab a cup of coffee and join a special conference call with SPCA of Texas President James Bias. He’ll be talking about our brand new Animal Care Center opening in October and our groundbreaking puppy mill initiative. After the virtual coffee break, we hope you’ll have even more ‘grounds’ for clicking on www.donorbridgetx.com to support our mission.”
You RSVP for the coffee break on the SPCA’s  Facebook Event Page. “To dial in at 10 a.m. this Thursday, Sept. 15, call 1-888-886-6603.When prompted, enter the following conference code: 17171#.”
Remember to support any charity during the Donor Bridge hours, click HERE and follow the prompts.
FYI: James Bias is pretty good company for a coffee break – he may even make you laugh out loud. Easily worth the price of admission.
STIPULATIONS OF THE DAY:  All city-run shelters are full of dogs and cats on the clock. All rescue groups are full and needing fosters and financial support. People who don’t spay or neuter their pets may be pinheads. Our apologies to pinheads who do not have animals.
A FAMILIAR FACE: I got a note LouAnn Norris had written about a pitbull dumped at the Trophy Tractor offices at 602 Wildlife Blvd. in Grand Prairie.
I downloaded the dog’s photo and thought, “This must be an old note.” After all, back in July I’d written about a pit bull being dumped at the tractor place.
So I checked with LouAnn.
“It is a new dog,” she says. “This is a female. I do believe it is the same people dumping a lot of the dogs we find – some of them look soooo much alike it’s amazing – even their personalities are alike. 
“This girl has been around here for about 3 weeks. We have been at this location for about 11 years and have found homes for at least 10 or 12 dogs and 2 cats over the years.  We all have at least one animal in each of our homes from here, too LOL.”
You can ask about helping this latest dumped dog by e-mail [email protected] or calling 972-264-6700.
This dog “is extremely playful and friendly and soooo sweet,” says LouAnn. “She gets along well with other dogs (we have 2 shop dogs here permanently).  I will gladly donate towards her care.”
WAITING FOR HELP: We wrote about this little guy yesterday – mangy pit bull in Dallas (a traditional situation, it seems). The difference is Dallas Animal Services officer Mark Cooper, the rescue group coordinator, has fallen under the spell of this dog and is trying to find a place for him to go before he winds up on death row.
No word yet today on the dog’s fate, but he’s about halfway through his stray hold. The pressure is building.
[AFTERNOON UPDATE: Officer Cooper says the little guy was "tagged" by Metroplex Mutts. Tricia Todd of Metroplex Mutts says the group will pick the pup up tomorrow. We'll let you know what's next.....]
To help a DAS employee save one more dog this week, e-mail [email protected] or call 214-670-8298.
CONTEMPLATIONS: A transformer in our alley caught fire last night and we were without air-conditioning for about 4 hours – the temp was around 100. Second time this summer we’ve run into an a/c challenge.  The word “misery” reminds me of sweat. ... Today is the anniversary of one of the worst events in baseball history. In 1994, because the players were on strike, acting commission Bud Selig cancelled the season. That was bad for baseball.  ... OK, here’s a question:  If the U.S. Postal Service goes out of business, will the term “going postal” evolve into an economic expression?
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