A dead dog trapped – its head between iron bars -- on a porch. A Maltese is thrown out of a high-rise window. A little Chihuahua shows up in a fix at the animal shelter –maybe shot. You can just about bet that a Chihuahua was not going after someone’s throat.
What do these three situations have in common? Dallas.
A man and a woman had a fight in a high-rise in downtown Dallas and the woman left and it is suspected that the man threw her Maltese, Diego, out the 19th story window. See the Fox 4 story HERE. The police are looking for the guy.
You know how big a Maltese is? Six, seven pounds. Tiny. In wind currents that high, the white, fluffy dog probably thought he was flying. Is there no limit to cruel behavior in some people? What will happen to the people in this case?
Who knows?
Alexandra Kelsey, one of our Houston tipsters, heard about this story and wrote, “And let me guess, the woman didn't leave the guy who threw her dog out the window.”
Yeah, we’ve all seen such stories. Love triumphing over sense – we don’t know about this case. We know that stupid has the upper hand right now.
Alexandra had contacted me to ask if I’d read about the Dallas rescuer who stepped up and saved a dog that had been burned in a fire. I hadn’t. Read that WFAA-TV story HERE.
DO YOU REMEMBER PABLO? The story of the tiny Maltese reminds me of an instance in the winter of 2009 when a man and a woman had a Valentine’s Day argument and, somehow, a dog named Pablo wound up dead beneath the skyscraper-high Spur 408 overpass at I-20 in southwest Dallas County. Here’s the link to the Readlarrypowell.com story (click HERE ). You should know that if you Google “Pablo overpass dog” you’ll find several reports on that dog’s death. You won’t find any reports on charges being filed. The general theory is the dog was thrown off the overpass.
Oh, yeah, let me remind you of the local movement with the name that is betrayed by the apparent facts at hand: Dallas Loves Animals. It's a team effort -- but it's a small team, six-man football in the NFL of idiots and mean people.
At 3:02 p.m. yesterday, Dallas Animal Services (indeed a place with personnel who do love animals in spite of the circumstances) sent out an emergency message. It came from Animal Control Officer Mark Cooper who works with rescue groups.
Part of the text: “This dog was found as a stray by a citizen who brought him into the shelter moments ago. This little male Chi appears to have been attacked by another dog because he has multiple open puncture wounds and a SEVERELY broken rear leg!!! He is friendly but in extreme pain. Our incredible vet staff is working to decrease his pain and clean the wounds to the very best of their abilities. The poor baby is chipped and his owner has been notified and she is here at the shelter in tears because she loves her dog but cannot afford the vet fees to repair his leg and treat him medically. She has agreed to sign him off so I can get a rescue to save him. Here’s the deal.....we can only hold him until 4:30 then we must make a drastic decision to prevent him from suffering any longer.”
Tara Harper of Paws In The City immediately reacted -- she made the “I’ll help the dog” call from a local emergency room where she was tending to her mom.
Later in the evening, the report was that the folks at City Vet suspect that the dog with the mangled leg was shot, not struck by a car or attacked by another dog. You can help Paws In The City pay for this dog's treatment by going HERE.
Yeah, Dallas Loves Animals – specific people in Dallas.
It’s hard to say that the municipal government entity known as The City of Dallas loves animals – check those euthanasia stats. You hardly ever hear a city official – elected or hired – making a speech against the horrific euthanasia rates in this town. (Former Councilmember Dr. Elba Garcia sure made an effort to change things – she was a driving force behind spay/neuter efforts in town and she is highly regarded as a pro-animal elected official.)
Here’s another thing: You can’t really say all the residents love animals. Sure, some of us do, but, again, look at those stats – those thousands and thousands of doomed animals aren’t being trucked in from out of town. They’re not popping up like weeds and being harvested off a vacant lot next to the shelter. They come from somewhere in this town. Oh, no, of course, not from YOUR Zip Code – you know, the Zip Code where you NEVER see a stray….
Look at the assorted stories of mayhem and neglect. And we can’t forget this, either: we once had a guy in charge of the city shelter who is now about to go on trial for felony animal cruelty for letting a cat die inside the walls of the multi-million-dollar shelter.
Dallas Loves Animals didn’t evolve until after that lovely event. There is a hard-core group of do-good animal people trying to change things but, you know, the cavalcade of idiots is overwhelming in this town.
And these lives of thousands and thousands of animals are so far down the “concern list” in the offices of most elected officials that it’s a wonder they even bother to budget dog and cat food for the shelter. You almost think they wish they could slick the city out of the animal business. Like, things would be better financially if they could figure out a way to humanely starve the animals in a converted branch public library that they’d managed to close with minimal protest. Or maybe, they could use a closed city pool to drown the animals instead of having to buy death juice and the syringes.
Some will say I’m being unfair to the city council. OK. Let me quickly apologize because, outside of Delia Jasso and Carolyn Davis, I’m hard-pressed to cite seeing a council member at anything other than a ribbon-cutting or a …. Well, somebody help me here. Anyone? Oh, I nearly forgot that now-Councilman but then Mayor Dwaine Caraway gave felonious dog-killing/dog fighting quarterback Michael Vick a key to the city... Look, surely someone can tell us who from City Hall is doing anything at all about the constant slaughter of domestic animals other than saying “Tsk. Tsk. That’s a shame. But first, we’ve got to rename some streets and cut a tax break for somebody who wants a downtown building for free.”
This town has a lousy reputation for how it allows animals to be treated. Seems to be earned.
Now, we understand that new Mayor Mike Rawlings is monitoring the situation regarding that dog found dead with its head jammed between iron bars on the porch of a vacant West Dallas house.
That is good. We don’t know what “monitoring” entails. Perhaps it’ll mean encouraging the entire West Dallas area to get smart about taking care of animals. Or, here’s a longshot for you, encouraging the entire city to be kind and decent to animals -– or is that just too abhorrent a suggestion? Care for animals? Be responsible? What an affront!
Perhaps the mayor could have a personal audience with Angie Manriquez and the other people who work with the abused and neglected dogs in West Dallas. He could actually check up on the lousy way animals are treated in West Dallas – the West Dallas animals that aren’t dead yet. There still are some, you know. So, to summarize: File charges against anybody who throws a dog or cat, file charges against anyone who shoots a dog or cat, file charges against the person or persons who neglected or abused the dead porch dog.
Yes, it is easier typed than done. But, you know, sometimes doing the right thing takes effort. Righteous effort.
But, here is the problem facing animal activists and elected officials alike: What is the right thing when resident don’t spay and neuter and they let their animals run free and multiply and they surrender the offspring by the baskets-full?
There has to be a way to reach the “general public” – it’ll take elected officials leading in their districts. It’ll take public/private partnerships and determination.
It’ll take city officials and, of course, animal nuts – which reminds me of the Metroplex Animal Coalition publicity campaign, “Real Men Neuter.” Yes, more men, fewer nuts.
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