Freedom of speech and animal stories...

We have some happy rescue stories – Shep and Wigs -- to report today, but first we must speak about this highly publicized constitutional affront Just in case no one else stands up for the genuinely American Right:  freedom of speech.
A huge, profitable corporation has stifled freedom of speech and freedom of expression for one of its lowest-paid but most visible employees. Doesn’t sound so funny when expressed in the barest of forms, does it?
The Dallas Cowboys – if media reports are to be believed   (Google them) – have killed a cheerleader’s Twitter account because she good-naturedly tweeted about being run down by the Cowboys’ Jason Whitten on national television on Thanksgiving Day.
That’s right, someone paid to lead cheering has been told to pipe down. This is, of course, corporate oppression by an organization that once used legal maneuvering under the “eminent domain” laws to remove people from their homes so a football stadium could be built in Arlington, Texas.
Good thing they don’t let football teams hold seats in Congress, eh?  We’d all be paying rent to a football team and sitting very, very quietly except during football games.
And now, with freedom of speech and expression gloriously embraced at Readlarrypowell.com, we move on, careful not to offend anyone who writes the checks. That solemn dog? That is Inky, not just the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, but also a board-certified attorney sworn not to allow the stifling of freedom of speech, be it tweet or woof.
Now, watch your tweetmouth and read on:
SHEP’S ADVENTURE: You may recall that people were desperately searching for Shep last week after he took off through an open door following a neighborhood run with his humans on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 20.
The Shep Recover Team reports success. The initial note came from our tipster Sally Hoover. Then we quickly got an explanation from rescuer Marsha Fleming’s daughter Ashley.
“Happy to inform you and all of your readers that Shep is home and safe! We got a call from a very nice lady named Pam who told us that Shep had taken up residence under the bushes on the side of her house! She set up food and water for him and a small carrier that her dogs no longer use.|
“We headed out there at the crack of dawn Saturday morning, and he had already gotten up for the day. He came to my Mother after some herding and baby talk. Shep is so very happy to be home! Thank you, Larry for posting our baby. We are very thrilled he's back!
“Funny thing, he was literally across the street from his new adoptive parents’ home. Shep is a creature of habit, no doubt. He stayed in the area and God answered our prayers,” Ashley wrote.
Then this morning we hear from her Mom Marsha that there are “no happy reunion photos. I had his capture on my mind and didn’t even take the camera.”
She did include this photo of handsome Shep on the day before he was adopted. She says the photo shows “the red Richardson AnimalLuv Blessing tag that helped us find him. It rattles just enough and shines like a beacon. We are so glad that volutnteer Sally Hoover had him blessed at the Richardson City Wide Pet Day. That tag helped him get home!”
Now, there’s this development: He’s going to need another home. Marsha writes, “I talked to his adoptive parents last night and they don't feel like they can handle Shep so he is back in our [Before The Bridge] adoption program. He's a good dog and will need someone who can keep up with him!”
So, to give this guy Shep a good home, e-mail Before The Bridge Rescue at thecatlady75228@yahoo.com.
AND WIGS IS BACK HOME: Yep, another one of those Thanksgiving week wanderers has returned home. You may recall that Wigs sort of escaped from his yard and ventured out into the Oak Cliff/West Dallas area and vanished.
His human Kathi Kibbel, the pet communicator, reports, “A friend on Facdbook saw a posting on a neighborhood site and forwarded it to me. Wigs really liked being the only dog there.  He is not as happy as I would think to be home. He got his medicine tonight [Thanksgiving evening] and is sound asleep.”
[Aside: Geez, he’s almost human, eh? How many of us were worn out and snoozing by Thanksgiving evening?]
Kathi says her hubby told her that Wigs was “was trying to dart out again. I think he has the wanderlust in him now...LOL.”
Now, as it turns out, even though a pet detective traced Wigs out of the neighborhood and north of I-30 to Singleton at Vilbig near the Dallas Auto Pound, he was found far south of there near Kidd Springs Park in North Oak Cliff. He could have doubled back, I guess.
Kathi says his former escape route has been clogged by "many cinder blocks." He has a heart condition and is back on his meds and "special needs" treatment.
She included the “the email post that was forwarded to me and when I read it I knew immediately it was him.”
The post read: “Found a dog - or rather he found us. Wandered up on the porch on Sunday and my son opened the door and he came in and flopped himself on the couch. He looks like a Pit Bull with some Lab mix. Black with white on his chest and paws. Long tail. Seems friendly and house-broken. I don't think he had been out long - he was clean and well fed - but no collar.”
Of course, he had a collar on when he vanished, but probably scraped it off at some point during his escape or while he was on the lam.
This photo is of Wigs before his daring escape. He’s now back in the house and, of course, lounging on his ol’ familiar couch.
ASSTORTED QUICK NOTES (if I can control my keyboard):
-- The SPCA of Texas is running a Cyber Monday donation campaign and it’s right there on the website when you go to www.spca.org. You can even donate in honor of other people if you’re looking for a way to honor someone with a Christmas gift.
--PetSmart Charities and the City of Fort Worth are teaming to open another enhanced adoption center on Dec. 3 at the PetSmart at 2900 Heritage Trace in Fort Worth. Official ceremony at 10 a.m. This is the second “enhanced adoption center” opened by the partnership – PetSmart says it has increased adoptions from the Fort Worth shelter by 110 percent. (Hello, Dallas?). Read about it at www.petsmartcharities.org.
-- Several weeks ago we reported on an attempt to preserve the Cedar Hill Pet Cemetery (big-time media has finally followed up on it). In case you want to help, here’s the foundation website: www.cedarhillpetcemetery.org.
-- The annual Metroplex Animal Coalition's general membership meeting, including election of 2012 board members, will be at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the SPCA of Texas, 2400 Lone Star Drive in the industrial complex adjacent to the northern lanes of I-30 and just west of Hampton Road. Guest speaker will be DAS Manager Jody Jones and topics during the meeting will include the Dallas Companion Animal Project, known as the “no-kill task force.” To RSVP (they need a count for the refreshments), e-mail elainemunch@sbcglobal.net. (Larry aside: Relax, nobody will try to force a dog or cat on you as a door prize. Maybe. Some of us do have spare kittens right now...I hear.)
CONTEMPLATIONS: Can one week of unbridled feasting really result in that much of a weight gain on Monday morning? Stop the madness, eh? Put down the fork and step away from the pie. ... Christmas shopping – there are some people who finished in the summer. Now they are spectators. I hope their mirror freezes on the “smug” setting. ... Let’s remember that we all have a responsibility to ..where was I going with this...oh, yeah, to help people slowed by unexpected carbo and sugar intake to finish their sentences in ....uh..uh..a polite fashion? And, of course, our nomination for the new Dallas Cowboys cheerleader motto comes from the New Hampshire flag, “Tweet Free or Die.” That may be a little dire. Let’s go with something from Texas: “Tweet friendly!” Or, perhaps, let’s adapt Alamo hero Davy Crockett’s motto: “Be sure you’re right, then tweet ahead.”
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