Triumphs and challenges -- a Monday with fog...

Let’s say this while we can:  the Texas Rangers won a World Series game and the Dallas Cowboys won a football game (Surprise!)  -- both beat teams from St. Louis. How often are these circumstances likely to occur?
I’m not worried about the Rangers winning another World Series game, but the Cowboys play the Philadelphia Eagles next week and, well, they’re not the Rams.
OK, moving along in no particular order – just the way I cut-and-pasted this morning in the fog that covered our neighborhood in Dallas.
PICTURE THIS: Something about this photo gets to your ol’ hard-hearted correspondent. Big dog reaching out. Likely to die in a shelter because nobody wants a big ol’ dawg.
This is Roper, a Lab mix in the Collin County Animal Services Shelter in McKinney (thanks to shelter walker Allison Roberts for the photo and the info about this dog, #320155.) He’s already neutered – that means someone cared about him at some point.
And he knows how to sit and shake – and that means someone spent enough time with him to suggest that he had a home he could trust. He’s on the euthanasia list at the shelter. So much for trust.
What else is in the shelter? Allison wrote, that the “shelter is still full and we had 9 very skinny, some almost emaciated, dogs surrendered by one man Saturday (4 adults and 5 large puppies).  Saving any dog on the list will save a life. “
Never ends, does it?
To ask about an animal at the shelter, email both  [email protected]  and [email protected]. You may also call 972-547-7292, press 1 and leave a message.
AT DAS, SOME VICTIMS: Back on Oct. 13, Heather Ezell sent out a request for help on behalf of some dogs. And, frankly, the situation was overwhelming for one person and would be overwhelming for more than one person and, so far, has been overwhelming for a bunch of people.
Heather discovered this situation when she had to stop her car, get out and shoo a dog off the road in the area of Singleton at Guldon in West Dallas.
When she was busy getting the dog off the road, she writes, “I discovered it was a part of a group of starving dogs who had been abandoned.” They were in an open warehouse near the road.
Heather took some photos – a group shot and a puppy picture.
She got in touch with the SPCA of Texas, a Dachshund rescue group and others.
And she wrote, “In my opinion a couple of the dogs would benefit most from humane euthanasia.  They are suffering from skin and eye disease and starvation. I prefer to defer to a rescue group who can make the best decision for animals and has a relationship with a vet to take care of the animals even if EU is the best route.”
As it turns out, all of the animals except one wound up in the Dallas Animal Services shelter and rescuers Karla Kirk and Pat Rodriguez have been trying to get the word out about these dogs to try to find homes or rescue groups.
This morning, Pat sent the “cage photo” from the shelter and reports, “All six dogs have mange, some more severe than others.  The dog in the best shape is the male dox and he’s very friendly.  He loves attention and is gentle. The worst dog is mom dog.  Her mange appears the most severe, she has some teeth issues, and also a leg issue, and finally, she is on the shy side.
“These are mainly symptoms of neglect and with proper vet care and good food/attention, I’m betting she could be just fine. The other 4, two tan dogs that look alike, one darker tan dog, and then one black puppy fill out the rest.  The two dogs that look alike are a little active bunch and they avoid being caught, but I had no problem petting them once I had them in hand.  The tiny little black dog is extremely loveable, he wants to be held and likes it a lot.  The final one is scaredy like the other two, and I didn’t get a chance to catch her.  We’re looking to get these dogs to safety.  I’m not sure how long the DAS shelter will keep them, so we need to move fast.”
The contact is, of course, rescue coordinator Mark Cooper at [email protected] or call 214-670-8298.
Pat says that people who want to donate to the care of these specific dogs can do so through Dallas Animal Advocates HERE. “We’ll get the money to the rescue group that takes these dogs,” Pat says.
These dogs are fighting not just mange but the clock in the city shelter. As we all learned from last week’s euthanasia report to the Animal Shelter Commission, the needle never rests at Dallas Animal Services. Thank you residents of Dallas.
Of course, none of this addresses the key questions: Who did this to these dogs and can they be prosecuted?
There may ultimately prove to be no difference between these dogs and the dog left dead on a front porch on Aransas on the other side of West Dallas, its head stuck between the bars on the railing. Nobody knows anything and the animals will be just as dead.
STEREOTYPICAL CAT IN A SHELTER: Well Halloween approaches and, sure enough, there’s a cat in the Carrollton Animal Shelter who looks like a bit of seasonal artwork. This is Lucy, a stray who wound up in the shelter and is on the euthanasia list for Wednesday.
You can see video of Lucy doing her stretches and then working her charms on a human by clicking HERE. You can see many other Carrollton adoptables by going HERE.
Some shelters and rescue groups won’t adopt out black cats as Halloween approaches. Probably a good idea – people are so nuts.
OVERFLOWING IN BURNS FLAT: Our hardworking tipster in Burns Flat, Okla., Terry Lynn Fisher, reports that “we are overflowing here” and she’s looking for help in getting animals out of the little shelter.
For those of you who wonder, Burns Flat is in Western Oklahoma, due north of Wichita Falls,  Texas, by about 140 miles. Not close to Dallas, but the issues are the same. Too many animals in the shelter, too few willing good homes in the city.
Here are Terry Lynn’s explanations of how these two wound up in the shelter:
ROSIE: “Surrendered because she made a mess on the lady's white couch. She is in heat! Duh! Very sweet and loving, maybe 2 years old. She appears healthy and loves kids and other dogs. She cries when I leave, in such a mournful way I feel guilty.”
BATMAN: “This boy was dumped because the idiot owners kept leaving the gate open and he would run out. He is young, under a year. I love the way his big ears stand up. He is very playful and loves the other dogs...He is happy as can be when I am actually with but when I put him back in the pen, he is so very sad... This guy adores children.”
Terry Lynn explains, “If more [animals] come in, some will have to leave, whether it be through rescue or sadly, a trip to a vet.”
It used to be worse. Before Terry Lynn got involved in the shelter, the preferred method of euthanasia was a bullet.
To help Terry Lynn help the animals, call her at 580-330-1459 or e-mail [email protected].
CONTEMPLATIONS: Before you start organizing your Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl watching party, it was just the St. Louis Rams. They should have thumped the Rams. ... I heard  on the radio this morning that the McRib is coming back to McDonald’s –it’s the barbecue sandwich that magically appears ever so often. Back In my newspaper column years, I wrote a line of which I remain proud. I described the McRib as “the Brigadoon of Barbecue.” If you don’t know Brigadoon, that's a witty line lost on you and, probably, you think the McRib is real barbecue.  Having had actual barbecue (I was a carnivore back then), I’m not sure the McRib is real barbecue, but, well, I don’t really think a McDonald’s hamburger is a real hamburger, either. Of course, as a vegetarian, it’s all irrelevant in my world. ... Way foggy in Dallas and Fort Worth this morning. Maybe this is the fog from which struggling pitcher C.J. Wilson will actually emerge in tonight’s World Series game.
--- To comment, click below, and, bless C.J. Wilson’s heart and arm, GO RANGERS ---