ReadLarryPowell.com

Topics for a Wednesday & millions for charity...

People who won’t have anything to do with computers are missing out on some high entertainment. My favorite email this week has this subject line:
”PLEASE KINDLY HELP ME INVEST THESE US $58,000,000.”
The body of the letter said this guy wants 60 percent of those funds to go to charities and “I have set aside 40 percent for you and your family. Keep this secret to yourself.”
So, nobody tell anybody. Just read and forget I mentioned 40 percent of $58 million.
That photo? That is the Readlarrypowell.com staff impersonator, Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, giving us his impression of an on-line con artist racing into the Cyberteria at Crooksville and spotting a big steaming platter of Mom’s Monkey Business Meatloaf served with a ladle of tepid It’s Not All Gravy and a dessert of Mock Apple Pie in the Sky.
Our midweek report (and note the connection between this first item and the second item, in case you are one of those people who swears you never see strays in Dallas):
A COMFY DOG NEEDS SOME HELP: This dog is “becoming quite comfortable” in a neighborhood near Coit and Arapaho north of LBJ and west of Central.. This is him lounging at the end of a sidewalk in front of a residence.
He appears to be, the neighbors say, a Lab mix who weighs in at more than 60 pounds and has a small white blaze on his chest.
That’s not all he has. He’s also an “intact male.” That could explain why he’s roaming – caught a hint of romance somewhere and left home in search of amore.
According to our tipster Bj Ries, the homeowner’s association “thinks someone left him behind.”
The folks in the neighborhood have called for help but “so far he has not been picked up by Animal Rescue.”
Yes, they meant Dallas Animal Control which, Bj says, “came out last night but they couldn’t find him.”
He was seen this morning, but has vanished again – and he’s walking with a limp now. So, the dog doesn’t know it, but he needs a safe haven.
[Larry aside: We’ll just hope that someone from a rescue group will say, “Yay, a big black dog with testicles AND a limp! Heck, yeah, we’ll take him. They’re cheap to fix and easy to adopt out in Dallas!”]
So, to summarize: Good people are trying to help an intact dog beat the odds. To help them, call Sheila Smith at 214- 536-6265 or email [email protected] or call 469-222-5831.
BIG FIX OPPORTUNITY: The Big Fix For Big D continues with a special opportunity on Friday at the J.C. Phelps Rec Center at 3030 Tips Blvd. – that’s in Zip Code 75216, one of the Zip Codes that is in the south-of-I-30 target zone for Big Fix For Big D.
Those Zip Code areas – they’re listed on that artwork – click it to make it large enough to read – are targeted because they have demonstrated a lack of understanding of the birds and bees and a dramatic fertility in free-roaming and unsupervised cats and dogs.
You can read more about Big Fix For Big D at the eponymous address www.bigfixforbigd.com.
We got the info about this in a note from Metroplex Animal Coalition President Elaine Munch. And seeing a MAC note about spaying and neutering reminded me of MAC’s great promotion “Real Men Neuter.”  If you have a moment for some fun, you could click HERE and read about it. Real men do neuter, you know. We don’t even need to be in a specific Zip Code, though, of course, Readlarrypowell.com’s international headquarters fall squarely within the Big Fix Zip Codes and we are not eligible for the $20 fixes because all our critters were fixed years ago – back when you did it because it was the right and smart thing to do, not just because you got a deal.
EVIDENCE OF FERTILITY: Oh, look, even more evidence that there are unfixed animals in Dallas. This little family is at Dallas Animal Services – last night DAS Rescue Team Member Danielle Fry sent out a request for help for these dogs.
It reads: “Dallas Animal Services is at the moment housing the cutest little momma Chihuahua and her babies.  They are in need of rescue.  The babies are no longer nursing but we are hoping someone can take all of them.  Two of the babies do have what we believe to be a birth defect.  Their back right paws are missing.  They are such a cute family and love each other so much.  They all seem to have some hair-loss.  We did not find anything with a skin scrape and we tested the areas with a woods lamp and the patches of hair loss did not fluoresce.  Due to the appearance we are still suspicious of them having ringworm and have been treating them for it.  Because they may have ringworm we are unable to put them in our adoption program.  We are asking everybody to let this family into your hearts and help these sweet babies.”
To offer to help this family, email  [email protected].
In many shelters, ringworm, which is no big deal in the outside world, becomes a fatal illness. Animals are euthanized before they can spread it to the rest of the population. Just a fact of shelter life. 
BE ON THE LOOKOUT DALLAS: Marlo Schrader, a former volunteer with Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas, tipped us to this accidental vanishing. Accident is the key word.
This fellow has been known lately as Fabio, then Brewer, so who knows if he’ll come when called. But he’s on the loose because his adoptive folks were in a car accident Monday on an access road at Central at Forest and he was last seen around Dallas’ Hamilton Park near Willowdell Drive at 6:30 p.m. He’s wearing a collar, leash and is microchipped.
There’s a search party in the neighborhood this morning.
If you see him or know his whereabouts, call 214-750-4477 or email [email protected].
SLOW IN CARROLLTON: Cats on “the list” remain on the list (we mentioned it yesterday) at Carrollton and so do some dogs.
These two, for example.
That big beauty is Petunia who came in as a stray. She’s about 40 pounds and adorable, of course. Just under a year old. And she’s listed as a Retriever/Plott Hound mix.
That other little dog is Chico – a whopping 12 ½ pounds. He’s somewhere between 3 and 5 years old.
And why is playful, adorable Chico in a shelter at this age? He was “left” by his people who said he was “get out out a big too much and they were tired of coming to the shelter” to get him. This time he’s been in the shelter 23 days.
That girl Petunia has only been in the shelter 20 days – that’s 3 weeks of having a chance to charm someone and not a single person falling in love with that lovely dog face.
To ask about any animal in the Carrollton shelter, call 972-466-3420, or email [email protected].
THE BIG ADOPTATHON LOOMS: Yep, starting Friday, there’ll be some volunteers asking themselves, “Why couldn’t that cold front wait 2 more days?” Details are on that artwork – click to make it larger.
CONTEMPLATIONS: The World Series opens tonight and I’m so hopeful that the third time is the charm for the Texas Rangers. What? They didn’t? They’re already on vacation? Oh, it’s coming back to me now. No pitching and a millionaire who can neither hit nor catch a baseball at key moments. … The election is 13 days away – and I ask once again, “Why not make Congress take performance enhancing drugs”? … I heard a broadcast news story that there’s a chance Dallas will put parking meters around the new deck park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway. They have parking meters around Dallas City Hall and if you get caught in a meeting – say the Dallas Animal Shelter Commission meeting – and it runs longer than the 3 hours worth of nickels and quarters and dimes you shoved into the meter, then the city gives you a nice ticket -- $35 for overparking at city hall. I’ve been to Dallas City Hall many times and never found it worth a $35 visit. I hope that park is worth the visit. Thirty-five bucks for overparking? That’s immoral.
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Notes on a Tuesday...

Our report today will be composed of brief notes. It is Brief Note Tuesday throughout the literate world, unless I misread the calendar note and “BNT” means “Bacon No Tomato.”
Since I don’t eat bacon (Free the pigs!), we’ll go with Brief Note Tuesday.
And we’ll have a contemplation that may stir animal lovers.
SPEAKING OF LITERACY: The greatest pro-women book fair in North Texas opens on Thursday – it’s the 30th American Association of University Women’s Book Fair, organized with muscle and brains by the members of the AAUW’s Arlington Branch.
I’ve written a long appreciation of the fair and it is posted below today’s report – you can click on this art work to get the details, but if you scroll down you’ll get the inside story on some of the items that will be for sale – from an early Larry McMurtry work to a Victorian valentine with a canceled stamp.  Proceeds from the fair go to supporting educational advances for women.
FROM THE STATE FAIR ADOPTION BOOTH: You may recall that DFW Rescue Me reserved an adoption booth – the Bark at Fair Park Booth -- at the State Fair of Texas and invited Dallas Animal Services in to showcase some of Dallas’ unwanted dogs. The result? The DAS staff worked days and the DFW Rescue Me volunteers worked the evening and weekend shifts. Jim Wenger of DFW Rescue Me reports that the combined efforts resulted in 125 adoptions during the Sept. 28-Oct. 21 run of the Fair.
Just FYI: Unwanted dogs and cats continue to be available. Go to www.dallasanimalservices.org or to the DAS Facebook page HERE and catch up with the DFW Rescue Me adoptables HERE or on the group’s Facebook page HERE,
Oh, and on the DAS Facebook page you’ll see the number 93 as the number of dogs that “found new homes.”
According to Mr. Wenger, “They adopted 72 to public. We pulled 21 from their fair 'stock' and adopted 53 to the public. 125 to the public total combined adoptions and 93 out of the shelter between adoptions and what we pulled.”
No count on the number of corny dogs consumed.
Those cats? Well, they’re among a bunch of youngsters that the DAS rescue team is trying to get into rescue groups. There also are plenty of cats available for adoption. To rescue, email [email protected]; to adopt, email [email protected]. Some of the cats are having health problems that can be more easily fixed in a rescue situation, the staff says.
STATE FAIR HUMAN RESULTS: We got a note yesterday from Sue Gooding, the State Fair PR person who never sleeps. The Fair brought in so much money that I’m surprised Jerry Jones hasn’t tried to buy it. Here was Sue’s note: “Fair visitors spent $36.6 million on food and amusement rides. This amount, which represents revenue from coupon sales (State Fair currency for food and rides) came close to 2010’s all-time high of $37.3 million.  The 2012 amount is $2 million more than last year’s revenue total.”
(FYI: State Fair adult general admission tickets held firm at $16 – same as year before. There are about a zillion ways to get discounted admissions.  Sept. 27-October 20? Yes, that’s the run of the 2013 fair – and The Return of Big Tex, no doubt.)
SLOW AT CARROLLTON: Cats on this week’s “list” at Carrollton Animal Services are familiar faces. For example, there is this cat Argentina, who came in with her 4 kittens. That was 51 days ago – the kittens have been adopted. Argentina waits.
The Carrollton Animal Rescue Enterprise folks say that there’s bee only one cat adoption since last Friday.
The clock is ticking. To rescue or adopt animals in Carrollton, call 972-466-3420, or email [email protected].
THE AMUSING NOTE ABOUT A FOUND CHIHUAHUA: Just when I think things are so plain, I get a glimpse of the real world.
Now, the story of this “found” Chihuahua in Mabank, Texas, was sent to Readlarrypowell.com by Sydney Busch of Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake. As you probably know by now, the Friends operate the world’s most successful spay/neuter clinic at Gun Barrel City. You'll see the irony if you look carefully at this photo.
Sydney got the picture from Janet Bouchard, an independent rescuer who is trying to help a colleague.
Janet wrote, “One of the woman I work with sent me this picture of a Chi who wandered up to her house in the country (Mabank) She told me she isn't a dog person and doesn't know if he is neutered, his age or if he is micro-chipped. She did say she thinks he belonged to someone since he wants to get in the house and her car. Does any one recognize this cute little boy? She wants to get him a home, his or another one (ASAP).”
To help this dog, email veteran rescuer Janet at [email protected].
We have no doubt that Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake will be able to make an appointment for this dog on an upcoming Tuesday at the spay/netuer clinic in Gun Barrel City.
[Larry aside: I have never met this dog. And I don’t think you have to be a dog person to take a look at this photo and spot at least half of a set of something peeking out that might indicate this dog is not neutered. Could be an optical illusion. Or, of course, we may have run into someone who thinks “neutered” has to do with political stances. I don’t know. Maybe it does.]
CONTEMPLATIONS: We got this note yesterday from our pal Beverly Fyfe, a veteran rescuer, who works with Angie Manriquez, known famously as the “Fairy Dogmother of Dallas.” She earned that title – first she began by monitoring animals in West Dallas, a notoriously rough area for critters.
Beverly was talking with Angie and got the latest reports including these notes:
--” There are so many [free-roaming dogs] now that the dogs are beginning to run in packs.  There are a lot of females in heat - - which means that in a few months, her efforts and hard work [to get animals spay/neutered] will be unsustainable.”
-- “One family called Angie over the weekend to say that a pack of dogs had come into the yard overnight and killed their female Pit that was chained (in violation of the City Ordinance that so many people worked tirelessly to get passed a few years ago).  This is just in her area of West Dallas - it is the same in East Dallas and South Dallas.”
So, we’d like to hear your thoughts on these situations – how responsible are the citizens for this, how responsible is the city, how overwhelmed is Dallas Animal Services, etc.
More importantly, what can be done to make things better? 
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The greatest Book Fair in the Known Universe is about to reappear in Arlington -- 30th year!

This portion of the Readlarrypowell.com report is dedicated to my first love: books.
Books are invaluable for education and escape.
And you will see I go on a bit with this report – but it’s for a good cause.
(Larry aside: I also love dynamically glazed apple fritters, but I may have loved them too much. I don’t think you can love books too much, although we do have boxes of treasured book we haven’t opened in years. That’s one of the differences between apple fritters and books – at our house, a box of apple fritters would not go unopened.)
Well, moving along we’re discussing something both my ultimatelove, i.e., my bookspouse Martha,  and I adore together: the annual American Association of University Women Book Fair. The 30th edition opens Thursday.
It is assembled with love and liniment by the AAUW's Arlington Branch. We’ve got a copy of the book fair catalogue and we’ll share it with you – keep reading.
Just a note, though: Usually Readlarrypowell.com focuses on animals. There are plenty of animal books at the fair. In fact, several years ago I got a treasured copy of one of the greatest anti-animal cruelty novels of all time, Beautiful Joe. You might find another one this year.
FYI: Proceeds from the Book Fair support the education of women (you can see that by clicking on the artwork to make it larger).  We support the education of women because we have two granddaughters, Hannah Rose and Emily Grace and a grandson, Connor, who, we suspect, will be greatly influenced by his educated big sisters.
[Larry soapbox aside: Education and literacy are such good things that you’d think they’d catch on in the general population, wouldn’t you?]
The venue for the fair – it opens Thursday -- is the Arlington Museum of Art, 201 W. Main –  a trip to the fair will allow you to see downtown Arlington, in case you wondered if the dynamic suburb actually had a downtown.
Proceeds from the fair benefit Reading is Fundamental, University of Texas at Arlington Scholarship, H.O.P.E. Tutoring and other educational organizations.
The fair also benefits people who like to browse for unexpected treasures – old books from your childhood, textbooks with favorite short stories from your school days, books you kept intending to read but never got around to it, etc. It’s a great trip into your own brain. And there are practical books, handbooks, how-to books, etc.
Every product in the place is marked down (usually half-off or more) from its usual price – unless it’s a really old book that might have cost two bits when published and is being sold for four bits or six bits now – thought I’d introduce “old speak” to the conversation.
I mention that because in scanning the available books in the “Texana” section, I ran across a listing for the 1968 Larry McMurtry book In A Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas. It’s priced at $95 dollars – quite a collectible since it’s McMurtry writing about the myth of Texas. [Larry the UnMcMurtry aside: Not sure which of these covers is the 1968 McMurtry cover, but, you can't judge a book by the cover anyway, I hear.]
Keep reading. I’m listing more of the eye-catching items toward the end of this.
But the key info is the Fair opens Thursday (4 p.m.-8 pm.) and you get in with a $5 donation at the door – this is significant because for the rest of the fair (Oct. 26-28) there’s no donation sought. But that donation helps the cause. And, also, on opening night there are a number of pro-type collectors and dealers who come through checking book numbers and weighing the value of assorted volumes. There are first editions, rare books, and other things, i.e., movies, records, CDs, etc. It's an exciting shopping experience.
Hours on Friday are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and on Sunday the fair opens at noon and closes at 5. Sunday is half-price day. Why? Because these are smart people and none of them want to pack up a bunch of heavy books and wrestle them out of the museum and into a truck and then out of the truck and into storage. Easier to sell ‘em and let someone else carry them out.
Now, every year Fair prepares a catalogue that highlights the extra-special available items. And, every year, I enjoy reading it and pondering what I find. Here are the key people for this 30th year catalog: The Catalog Selection Committee includes editors Ann Brooks and Suzanne Sweek and committee members Nancy Bennett, Sarah Garrett, Loraine Levine,  Barbara Prabhu and Kathryn Thilma. They’re cited on the back page of the catalogue. If technology does not betray me, you can read the whole catalogue by clicking here Download AAUWArlingtonBookFairCatalog2012  and quickly downloading it. You can also find it on Booksalefinder HERE.
I took the liberty of listing some of the interesting items in the catalogue. They are interesting to me because of the era or region they are from or, possibly, because I am nuts. We can’t argue that second suggestion.
Here are some of the selections I found interesting:
-- BACK YARD GIANTS by Susan Warren is a 2007 book in which the Arlington author “follows amateur botanists across the USA observing the fierce competition to grow the biggest pumpkin, finding it involves sabotage & treachery.” ($8).[Larry aside: Every year I try to grow pumpkins and fail. But author Warren really found a great topic to write about. Who knew pumpkins could inspire “sabotage and treachery? Well, it is an election year -- you never know what'll happen in the ol' punkin patch.]
-- THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Its First Hundred Years, Vol. 1-3. This assessment of the Trib, published in 1943, ’45 and ’46, links newspaper fans with one of the great newspapers of the nation. The price is $21. [Larry aside: Of course, in the 21st century anything that has to do with hand-held, printed newspapers is getting to be very historic.]
 -- AMERICAN PAINTINGS: Selections from Amon Carter Museum  by Linda Ayres, Jane Myers, Mark Thistlethwaite, & Ron Tyler. This volume is from 1986 and costs $10. [Larry aside: As you artsy types know, the Amon Carter Museum is in Fort Worth and the envy of Dallas, we hear.]
-- “A HILLTOP ON THE MARNE: Being Letters Written June 3—September 8, 1914" by Mildred Aldrich – published in 1918 in New York and Fair-priced at $4. But here’s the nifty story: “Three months after the author, an American writer and journalist in France since 1898, retires to the country, English, French, and German troops march through her area. In 1922 she was awarded the French Legion of Honor for influencing the US government to declare war on Germany, WWI.” [Larry aside: Yes, war is personal and this is a look at how it affected someone who simply retired to the countryside only to find tranquility betrayed by the idiocy of men.]
-- BERLINER THEATERWINTER is a 1927 book with German text that is described as a “compilation in German of the extremely active theater, opera and art season in Berlin during the winter of 1927..Contains 99 sepia-toned photographs from 55 different staged plays. (See the dramatic staging of Shaw's Major Barbara on p. 47.) List of persons connected with German theater.” $10. [Larry aside: You have to wonder what the people involved in the Berlin theater in 1927 were thinking about the way things were going in Germany. Holy smoke, what an interesting time.]
-- I AM JAPAN RAW SILK. This is a pre-war volume with a silk soft cover – it’s priced at $30. Published in 1933 by The Central Raw Silk Association of Japan, it was produced “on the occasion of the Century of Progress International Expositions, Chicago (Chicago World Fair).” [Larry aside: This really takes you back to a time when Japan’s leading export was not cars and electronics, but beautiful silk. There was a long journey between the silk era and the autos and TVs – rough one, too.]
--A VICTORIAN VALENTINE with its envelop and a canceled one-cent stamp dated Feb. 12, 1904 – the card isn’t signed. $6.
And here are three items with local interest:
-- STROLLING THROUGH THE PARK: 100 Years of the Dallas Park and Recreation Board by Rose-Mary Rumbley. That was published in 2005 and it’ll cost $10 at the fair. [Larry aside: Rose-Mary, as many of you no doubt know, is a longtime Dallas writer (pride of Oak Cliff!) and she’s also a lecturer on the history of things in Dallas. That's one of her many books -- and probably there'll be a copy at the fair.]
--  TEXAS FLOWERS IN NATURAL COLORS by Eula Whitehouse was privately published in 1936 ($6 at the Fair). [Larry aside: Why is this interesting? Because 1936 was the Texas Centennial and this surely fits right into that remarkable celebration. You may recall that Fair Park in Dallas was transformed  with new buildings -- they stand today --to celebrate the Texas Centennial – and that transformation is mentioned in former State Fair Public Relations Legend Nancy Wiley’s book, The Great State Fair of Texas: An Illustrated History.The book was published in 1985 and I’ve bought copies in book stores, but also at the AAUW Book Fair! It’s probably in the stacks this year, too.]
-- THE PETERS COLONY OF TEXAS: A History and Biographical Sketches of the Early Settlers by Seymour V. Connor with illustration by Francis Pearce. This book (priced at $18) was published in 2005 (earliest edition as published in 1959) and is “a study of one of the largest land grants in Texas history, totaling 16,000 square miles of North Texas.” [Larry aside: Evidence of the Peter’s Colony, established during the reign of the Republic of Texas, is still with us. For example, The Colony is named  after it.]
Finally we get to one of the more curious titles in the catalogue. It’s a book for young readers and it's priced at $6. The author is Antony PenRose and the title of his childhood memoir of the great artist is “The Boy Who Bit Picasso.” [Larry aside: I am familiar with Picasso’s work and I must say that if he looked anything like his art, how would you decide where to bite?]
Enjoy the book fair. Take something home to enjoy later. And remember that the money you spend isn’t going to stockholders, it’s going to stakeholders.
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Monday faces and projects...

It is the faces that will get you in a shelter. Like this one.
On Monday, after a bit of an entertaining weekend, we began to open email at 3:30 a.m. – can’t explain it. Insomnia has a grip these days. Not even the cats wanted to be up with me today.
Of course, I may find out later that Dallas endured an earthquake about that time.
You may suspect by now that this spectacularly somber face belongs to a dog who needs a home. More on this dog Luna later in today’s report.
Keep reading. Thanks.
VOICES FOR JUSTICE: Perhaps you remember Justice, the little 4-month-old pup that was fatally burned during a curious moment of human behavior in the spring. Four people have been charged in connection with this act of animal cruelty.
Justice was in the care of DFW Rescue Me when the damage to his system overwhelmed him. But there was quite a dramatic impact on the rescue group.
DFW Rescue Me has created “Voices for Justice,” a special program for elementary schoolkids.
The next free presentation is scheduled for 2:30 pm. Oct. 26 by volunteers and trained rescue dogs at Vista Academy of Dallas. The kids will get animal-friendly materials to take home.
The idea is to educate kids about responsible animal care via positive messages, DFW Rescue Me says.
The program has a pledge for kids. It reads:
”1. I pledge to treat animals with the love, care and respect they deserve.
”2. I pledge to remember that all animals have feelings, just like I do.
”3. I pledge to ask an adult to call 3-1-1 if I see an animal being hurt.”
Kids who make the pledge, get a certificate and a purple bracelet with the inscription “Voices For Justice.”
The education program, part of DFW Rescue Me’s “education arm,” is financed by The Justice Fund, which many of you contributed to when you donated at the Justice Candlelight Vigil at Dallas City Hall in April.
Organizers are seeking more schools to participate. Email [email protected].
THE BIRTHDAY CAT: The official greeter at the Tri-County Library in downtown Mabank in East Texas is Whisper The Library Cat.
We got this reminder about Whisper’s birthday party from Sydney Busch of Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake.
The Friends not only operate (so to speak) the world’s most successful spay/neuter clinic at Gun Barrel City, they also participate in the Whisper Story – Whisper is a joint project of the library and Friends of the Animals.
Whisper will be celebrating her 4th birthday at 10 a.m. Saturday. It’s a party that is open to the public and there’ll be cake, maybe cat cuddling and, of course, books.
(Larry aside: Fort Worth has a Library Calf named Page. And Dallas had a library cat but had to lay it off during the recent budget crunch. Oh, I made those up, but they are both believable.).
AT COLLIN COUNTY: As is usual these days, we got the morning mail from volunteer shelter walker Alison Roberts who reports that, yes, the Collin County Animal Services Shelter in McKinney is running into space problems that could result in euthanasia of animals to make room for the next load of unwanted animals.
You don’t have to be a genius to know that if you want to see the animals in the Collin County shelter, you can Google the shelter and find a couple of places to see the animals. There’s the city site  (navigate from HERE and see the volunteer-driven Facebook site HERE.
 Among the dogs in danger are this 2-year-old Shepherd mix with the wonderful face, Luna (#378140.
And that obvious Earhound is #378689. (No name yet for this year-old “Staffordshire Terrier.”)
The important email connection is two addresses (send notes to both) [email protected] and [email protected].
MEANWHILE IN BURNS FLATS: Terry Lynn Fisher, the dedicated rescuer in the small western Oklahoma town of Burns Flat, is dealing with the traditional challenges – full shelter, animals need out.
We’re just spotlight one of them. Terry Lynn writes, “This beautiful boy showed up on the front porch of a family here in town. He could hardly walk so we took him to the vet. All his toes on the front right side are broken. He MIGHT have been run over, but they said it looks like someone might have actually done this on purpose.
”He has a belly tattoo, and we traced him back to the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter -- we found the owner, and she said she had been looking for him, checking shelters in her town.
”She stated he always gets out for a few days but this time he was gone 2 weeks. THIS DOG WAS FROM OVER 100 MILES AWAY FROM ME
“I am NOT comfortable with him going back to her... legally, he was in our pound for 4 days and I have had him in boarding at the vet for the last 5, so he is property of the town now.
”I need a safe place for him ASAP.... he has run up a vet bill and it is costing me $15 a day to board him.”
To help Terry Lynn place this dog or any animals, call her at 580-330-1459, email [email protected] or write to her at P.O. Box 578, Burns Flat, Okla.,73624.
A BIG TEX NOTE: We got this from the hardworking State Fair of Texas public relations person Sue Gooding. The report is Mattress Firm, which canceled its mattress-stacking contest out of respect to the burned Midway icon Big Tex (the contest was to be right in front of his display area, is taking steps to help the fair.
Mattress Firm will donate a portion of its State Fair proceeds to the restoration of Big Tex and also will be accepting donations online for the State Fair Scholarship Fund. (That link is HERE.) The 2012 State Fair was Mattress Firm’s sixth year as a fair sponsor.
CONTEMPLATIONS: What a weekend. My funspouse Martha and I caught the DART Green Line downtown and rode it to the State Fair Friday night. We saw the Chinese Lantern Festival, which was big and bright (as per the fair’s 2012 theme), then walked over to see the plaza that usually is home to Big Tex (because of the fire, he’d been big and bright earlier in the day). The plaza had been circled by TV news trucks. We hiked out of the fair, caught the return train and got home in time to turn on the TV and see the report of the big thrill ride that malfunctioned.  Those people wanted a thrill ride, they got a thrill ride. So, it was a newsy, long day at the fair. ,,, My son Bret had a theory that Big Tex’s blaze was “self-inflicted because of that Texas-Oklahoma game.” The Longhorns lost, 63-12. Ooof. We’ll let you know what forensics finds and whether Big Tex, soon as he’s in new duds and a new hat, will be spending the off-season recuperating at a Gambler’s Anonymous rehab spa. … On Sunday, Martha and I were at Worldfest, the international festival presented by the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth and the City of Addison in the city’s Circle Park. Martha worked the Council’s booth with her colleagues and I emceed a shift at the stage sponsored by the Mexican Embassy in Dallas. This meant that I couldn’t watch or listen to the Dallas Cowboys game, so I taped it and last night I watched it (even though I knew the final – Dallas beat Carolina, 19-14,). It’s just that the Cowboys were so lackluster that midway through the second half, I thought they were going to lose the replay.
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Teenager on the phone...

As you can see, the tone of this photo is definitely autumnal – shades of orange blending to create a mood for October.
The cat is Peaches -- isn't it cute the way her front paws are crossed! -- and she’s been featured in Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap before. Bu this is a fresh photo and it speaks beyond the usual slumber photo. It speaks to our century and the era of cell phones and apps.
There are cat apps, right? If there are cat naps, surely there are cat apps..
It was the caption, however, that brought Peaches' picture into focus for the weekend feature.
Our pal Andy Fisher, former newshound and writer at NBC (when he wed Annie, he got Barley the Dog and Peaches the Cat in the deal), wrote:
”Where's Peaches? Well, like most 14-year-old girls, she's on the phone!”
Made me smile -- for two reasons.
One is that, indeed, that’s Peaches is apparently napping on the phone. If you've had teenagers, you know they can, indeed, nod off while on the phone.
The other is that Mr. Fisher is evolving into New Jersey’s leading animal nut. [He sent us not only Peaches on the phone, but, back in the spring, he proudly sent this sleeping/napping photo of Barley on the carpet and Peaches on the desk.]
The guy is an animal nut, I tell ya.
FYI: "animal nut” is a term of admiration and endearment at Readlarrypowell.com. In reality, "animal nut" ought to be more than a "term" -- it ought to be a goal shared by all humans. Be a better planet.
[Any animal nuts anywhere may offer your slumbering critter pictures for publication on the World Wide Web via world wide wead weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.  Email the photo/photos and info/infos to [email protected]. Remember, when it comes to sleeping and napping, we insomniacs lay awake nights envying the animals.]
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Big Tex burns? Oh, my...

Son of a gun, Big Tex, the symbol of the State Fair of Texas, went up in flames this morning.  Staggering news.
Those are photos shot by Catherine Baxter of Dallas Animal Services (forwarded to us by DASdirector Jody Jones). Catherine was on the Fairgrounds this morning to participate in the Bark at the Park adoption booth DAS and DFW Rescue Me partnered to operate.  (The animals are safe and still available -- get one today and you'd have a real Big Tex story to tell, maybe even name the critter after Big Tex.)
As you can see (click on the art to make it grow), only the frame of the big cowboy is left -- looks sort of like Arnold Schwarzenneger at the end of The Terminator.
All of the 52-foot-tall cowboy’s clothes burned off except the sleeves of his shirt – his face and hat are gone. No doubt you can Google this for more news on it throughout the day.
Stunning, especially as the fair goes into its final weekend.
This story has gone wild all over social media this morning.
As many fans of Big Tex and the State Fair know, the Midway’s reigning cowboy started life as a giant Santa Claus in Kerens, Texas, more than 60 years ago – 2012 is his 60th anniversary as Big Tex.
State Fair spokesperson Sue Gooding reported that the fire appeared to be the result of an electrical problem.  The fair, with its now ironic theme “Big and Bright” continues through Sunday evening. 
A PRAIRIE PAWS INVITATION: Talk about what appears to be an unusual thing. When’s the last time you saw your city’s mayor and city manager inviting you to an event supporting the town’s animal shelter?
I opened a note from veteran animal advocate Debbie Barclay regarding Grand Prairie’s Prairie Paws Animal Shelter fundraiser and there was a letter of support signed by both Mayor Charles England and City Manager Tony Hart.
That’s the artwork on the right – click on it to make it larger.
The content of the letter was supportive of the city’s animal shelter. It reads, “Grand Prairie’s Prairie Paws Animal Shelter sees thousands of animals a year and works hard to find homes for every adoptable animal that comes through the door. Many times, though, the dogs and cats are in need of major medical care. These expenses are generally covered by the generosity of animal lovers.
“The Shelter has created a new event to help raise funds for this purpose: Yappy Hour - a wine-tasting and pawsitively awesome silent auction from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012, at the Ruthe Jackson Center, 3113 S. Carrier Parkway, Grand Prairie. The proceeds will benefit the Animal Welfare Fund and cover the cost of surgeries and other major medical veterinary costs not covered by the day-to-day budget.”
Now ol’ cynics will declare, “You know Charles England didn’t write that!” and, of course, they’d probably be right. But the point is, he and the city manager signed it on behalf of the animals. The animal shelter advocates in Grand Prairie appear to have won the ear of the mayor and city manager and both signed the letter making the pitch on behalf of animals.
[Larry aside: Kicking things around, I can’t remember the last time I saw a mayor and city manager team up to support a fundraiser for their own city’s animal shelter. Congrats to Prairie Paws for having key city hall support in its efforts. Shelters can often find themselves as unwanted as the animals they host – just a drain on a city budget made necessary by irresponsible and aggressively don’t-care residents.  If you can demonstrate that your town’s mayor cares, please let us know – we’ll be happy to post a list called Mayors Who Like Animals. Heck, might even present a picture feature called “Animals Who Like Mayors.”]
SITUATIONER AT DALLAS ANIMAL SERVICES: The Dallas Animal Services rescue team reaches out to its rescue partners to help with tough-to-adopt or injured or easy-to-adopt animals. Yes, OK, all animals. Now and then there are special cases – injured dogs, ailing cats.
Overnight rescuers got a thank-you note from Dallas Animal Services’ Danielle Fry.  It reads, “Tonight we would like to send a big thank you to all of our transfer partners that have helped by pulling animals this week!  We could not do our jobs and remain sane without you!!  We would also like to give a big THANK YOU to Operation Kindness!  They stepped up today and pulled all of the injured dogs that were in the email earlier and then some. One of the extras was a pit bull puppy with a terribly mangled leg that came in after I had sent out the email.
”We appreciate all that you do for these animals!”
Then, because it never ends in Dallas, she asks or help with the Husky girl in these photos – they’re a couple of weeks old and the coat might be thickening for the winter.
Danielle writes that she wants “to highlight one of the sweet hearts that has been here for a while.” She’s a year-old Siberian Husky who has demodex mange – that’s the side of her mangy but beautiful face in the second photo. Obviously, in the first photo, she is a genuine Earhound.
Danielle writes that rescuers “won’t be able to walk away from her without falling in love.  She loves to talk and just wants someone to love on her.  This poor baby has been here since September 26.”
Email [email protected].
FYI, several animals who were designated as “VSPs” – Very Special Pets – after having been in the shelter for 45 days or longer, have been given extensions on their “due out” dates. They are, of course, due out via rescue, via adoption or via the needle. You can keep up with the VSPs and other shelter news on the DAS Facebook page HERE.
Also, Danielle sent an attachment with her note that has a list of animals that have been in the shelter for longer than a week. If our Readlarrypowell.com technological skills work, you can click on this link Download 1019DAS7DAY12 and it’ll show you that list (sans photos, but DAS is working on that.)
If that technology fails me, you can also see DAS adoptables by going to www.dallasanimalservices.org and navigating to the PetFinder and PetHarbor sites.
STILL NO EXTRA HELP FOR THE FORT WORTH CATS: We spokes with Sheryl Frederick again today – she’s the Fort Worth feral cat supporter who has been look for help for the “cat ladies” who have been tending to 15 colonies – about 300 cats – that were left helpless when the fellow who had been tending them left after about 15 years of tending to them. They’re mostly on the northwest side of Fort Worth, along Jacksboro Highway.
These people, under the added strain, run out of time and food and energy. To offer to help (and there has yet to be a single offer) email [email protected] and Sheryl at [email protected].
THE COLONY'S EXPRESS: We mentioned this earlier in the week, but all animal efforts probably can use a reminder. Click on the art to read about The Colony's special adoption program.
REGARDING THE PET MEMORIAL PARK: Theresa Brandon of the Cedar Hill pet Memorial Project reminds us that the group’s second annual public meeting starts at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cedar Hill Cinemark Theatre.  There’ll be a presentation “on what has occurred during this last year in the history of this beautiful community asset: Pet Memorial Park.
”Immediately following the Public Meeting we will go the Pet Cemetery where the Chamber of Commerce will host the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 11:30 am helping us to celebrate not only our ownership of the Park, but our 1 year anniversary as a non-profit as well.”
Other topics at the meeting and ribbon-cutting? Theresa says, “Anecdotal stories about what happened during the battle for the property at the auction last March 6 on the courthouse steps in Dallas!  See the Channel 11 footage of that historic moment.  Hear all about our plans for the War Dog Monument and view the video "Join the Vision!" (Email Theresa at [email protected].)
NOTES:
-- Animals and cookies? Big drawing power. Happy Tails of Gun Barrel City will offer animals for adoption at a fund-raising bake sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Tractor Supply on Highway 31 in Athens.
--The Rowlett Animal Shelter is having an adoptathon this weekend (Info is on that artwork – click on it to make it larger.) 
Our pal Dawna Carabajal, the rescuer and animal advocate, is a big supporter of the Rowlett shelter and says, “The shelter has reached max capacity and we need some adoptions or they shelter will be forced to make room (you know what I mean). … All adoptions have been reduced to $25 and that is for a fully vetted animal. They have small, medium and large dogs and cats, both young and old. The event is Saturday from 10-5. The shelter is located at 4402 Industrial Street, Rowlett, TX 75088 (about 20 miles NE of downtown Dallas).”
CONTEMPLATIONS: You’ll forgive me if my contemplations have to do with Big Tex. I must have written thousands and thousands of words about the big State Fair of Texas cowboy during my career. That's a photo taken this year by the State Fair's PR staff. Through the years I've taken photos of my sons Bret and Bart (in order of birth) with Big Tex – one of the first text messages I got this morning came from  Bart. “Big Tex is on fire,” he wrote.  And my pal Lee Zethraus, a native Dallasite with reportage and family links to Big Tex, too, wrote “The world is upside down.”  Messages came in from other animal-friendly people who are Big Tex fans, too.
Yep, Big Tex is – silly as it sounds – a part of the family – a part of many families. And how many people have said this to their fairgoing friends? “Meet you in front of Big Tex.” FYI, I have no doubt that Big Tex will be back in amazing glory for the 2013 fair.  And every year the State Fair folks search and search for a theme to promote the fair. I’m betting “The Return of Big Tex” is already in the running for 2013.
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Lions, tigers, bears -- garage sale benefits them...

Lots of people have fascinations with lions and tigers and bears and whatever is unlikely to be wandering naturally through your North Texas backyard.
Now, there are people who think it’s OK to keep a tiger in a 3-bedroom ranch-style home or a bear in a garage or … look, people are what they are.  That is why big cats and bears and little ones, too, wind up in sanctuaries instead of their natural habitats. Some people fail them, other people help them.
Veteran animal advocate and our tipster Cathie Desell has been staging fundraising garage sales for a while in an effort to help the animals at the International Exotic Animal Sanctuary north of Fort Worth at Boyd, and other rescue groups, too.
All the info about the sale is on that artwork. Just click it to make it larger. The sale starts on Friday morning (it runs through Saturday), so that’s why I’m slipping it onto Readlarrypowell.com late Thursday afternoon. Some of you garage sale shoppers start way early in the morning and this might help Cathie and her crew make some extra dough for the critters.
In the meantime, if you go to the sanctuary website at www.bigcat.org, you’ll see there’s a little story headlined “Pumpkin Season Has Arrived.”
And, sure enough, it seems like pumpkins may be the favorite toy/treat of a lot of those big ol’ mammals. (They hold onto them better than a Cowboy holds onto a football -- that's what I heard, anyway.)
Here’s a photo of a tiger and if you click on it, it’ll grow so big you’ll step back from your computer.
The sanctuary, by the way, takes all kinds of donations – even pumpkins for the animals. {That's a photo from the sanctuary's website gallery and we'll give credit to the brave photographer if we can determine the identity. Not sure which tiger this is.)
All we know for sure is that if this tiger shows up on your front porch on Halloween, just go ahead and hand over the candy – it’s hard to yell “Trick Or Treat!” when you’ve got a pumpkin in your mouth, but you’ll get the drift of the conversation. In this case, treat is probably better than trick.
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Sometimes the cry of the day is "WOOHOO!" and other notes...

Late last night Readlarrypowell.com posted a pig story. It’s below today’s report and it points out that dogs and cats aren’t the only critters vulnerable to impulse shopping by people who are wearing blinders while speeding down the Highway of Wretched Reality.
Before you get to that story, please take some time to read these other things. Some of our stories are even – GASP! -- upbeat. And we’re starting with a sensational bit of news involving this big ol’ dawg.
THE DUNCAN REPORT: A few Valentine Days ago we conducted a little “Love” fundraiser on behalf of Duncan who was a resident of Straydog Inc.,  the legendary sanctuary and adoption agency operates on a big plot of land about an hour-or-so southeast of Dallas in the Greater Cedar Creek Laketroplex.
People really responded and donated enough money to help Duncan get some veterinary surgery that corrected a hip problem. Still, Duncan wasn’t adopted. He’d come into the sanctuary, as I recall, after being abandoned on a rural road – Mom was struck by a car and killed. One pup ran off into the woods never to be seen again and a rescuer was able to nap puppy Duncan and get him to Straydog. That was in late 2008, as I recall. He’s been there ever since.
Except that last night I got this note from Straydog (and all animal!) supporter Cher Imrie. “Just wanted you to know that Duncan, the big ol' Irish wolfhound kinda dog, from Straydog, has finally been adopted. Check it out on Straydog's Facebook page or their website Straydog.org.  YIPPEE! YAY!! WOOHOO!! Cher”
Yes, indeed, “YIPPEE! YAY!! WOOHOO!”  I must confess, your hard-hearted critter writer endured some misty-eyed moments at the thought of this big lug of a dog getting a home.
The report on Straydog’s website reads, “Duncan (an Irish Wolfhound mix, who has 3 times more hits on PetFinder than any other of our dogs) has been adopted by a retired couple who live in and are refurbishing a plantation mansion in Tyler, Texas, and it looks like a wonderful home for Duncan.”
So, there you have it. Big dog, big heart, big news. Put www.straydog.org on your “favorites” list and you’ll see how this distinct facility works to help animals. It has lots of fans, but always needs more money. And more adoptors.
FOLLOWING UP ON FORT WORTH DOGS AND A CAT STORY: A couple of editions ago we told the story of rescuer Deb Danilow saving a couple of little dogs that were roaming in her far south Fort Worth neighborhood – remember the Schnauzer woman kicking a Maltipoo on her front porch?
And Deb said that there had been more than just the two dogs running free.
Last night we got a note from her excitedly announcing that she’d seen the third dog, “the little white terrier who was with the other two on the first day !
”I drove the neighborhood after dark for about 30 minutes and on the last street (only two blocks from my own street) I SAW HIM! I had my big dogs with me and I decided to make the block and drop all but one of my dogs at home and pick up a small dog crate.
”By the time I got back only a few minutes or so later I couldn't find him. I searched for close to an hour. He must have gone between houses and bedded himself down. So I have seen him twice and only about two blocks apart. That indicates he may be staying in the area.
“I knocked on a lot of doors and gave out my contact information to call me if anyone sees him.
“I am so glad to know he is alive but equally concerned I find him as soon as possible and catch him. I am going to offer a reward and put up posters to get people motivated to help me catch him.”
But that’s not all from Deb. She sent the cat photo and says, “Look at this beautiful kitty baby I rescued from the streets two weeks ago. She was abandoned outside and is de-clawed and has had her front teeth filed down.  How could anyone leave her OUTSIDE or dump her without any ability to defend herself!
”Fortunately she found her way to me and she is now fully vetted and has already found an adoptive family.”
The family is picking up this cat today, Deb told us. And she added, “What a joy it is to meet these souls on their journey from hell to safety.”
DAS CRUELTY CASE CAT GETS HELP: Yesterday the hustling rescue team at Dallas Animal Services sent out a request for help for “a sweet cat that is in need of rescue immediately. She has not been eating very much and we are afraid that she may not make it. This sweet girl is part of an open criminal investigation and charges are pending in this case. Due to those reasons we are not able to disclose any additional information.  All we can tell you is that she is super sweet and in need of additional medical treatment.  She also can only be released to an approved transfer partner of DAS.”
We got a note early this morning that she’s going into the care of Homeward Bound Animal Rescue.  (Remember, you can see more Dallas Animal Services animals that need help, i.e., homes, by going to the DAS Facebook page or www.dallasanimalservices.org.)
BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS AND A WISH LIST: We got an announcement that the DFW Humane Society and the Hope Fellowship Church will host a Blessing of the Animals festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the Irving Animal Care Campus, 4140 Valley View Lane. Rain or shine, they say. At the same time, they’ll be collecting shelter pet needs including cat litter, liquid laundry soap, towels, dog treats, pet toys, blankets and the ol’ reliable “monetary donations.”
You can see more about this at www.dfwhumane.com.
THE SECOND ANNUAL PAWS IN THE PARK: As a longtime newshound, we always breathe a sigh of relief when there’s a “Second Annual” event. Organizers usually crow like crazy announcing the “First Annual” event but  the odds are long against organizing a second annual anything, so you’ll note that for the first one, people tend to just refer to it NOT as the “annual” event until, indeed, it becomes annual. (Click on the poster to make it larger.)
We’re proud to note that Friends of Arlington Animal Services has reached the key goal, staging the SECOND ANNUAL Paws In the Park Doggie Fun Walk.
It’s scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in River Legacy Park, 701 NW Green Oaks Boulevard in Arlington.
Details are on this poster and at www.facebook.com/FAAStx where you can register for the walk (scheduled at 10 a.m.)
MEDIA NOTE: Our pal Barry “B.L.” Curtis goes on the air this Saturday. It’s his debut show -- The Curtis Report -- on the radio station KHVN – 970 AM – in Dallas/Fort Worth. From 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. you can hear him talking about American topics from a conservative view.
I’ve known him for a while. Don’t expect any dead air – and I mean that as a compliment. He’s pretty engaging and I’ve never known him to be grasping for the next words on any topic.
That artwork (click on it to make it larger) is the promo for his show. Gives you an “American” feel, doesn’t it?
I kidded him that it was a 48-star flag – but he’s not that old.  Younger voices on the air all the time, you know.
[Larry aside: It occurs to me that when I was born there were just 48 states. I’m not alone in that. I just suddenly was staggered by that recollection. People who were around when there were just 48 states frequently find themselves staggered. Of course, I’m not as old as anyone in the Rolling Stones.]
TOFFEE’S SWEET SURPRISE:  You never know what’s going to show up on the front porch at the international headquarters of Readlarrypowell.com in Oak Cliff, Texas. This time it was a sweet surprise.
We have found other unexpected things on our front porch – dogs, kittens, possums, raccoons and one skunk. This time was much better than a skunk, maybe even as sweet as puppies and kittens and certainly more acceptable than a hissing possum or a stubborn raccoon. Keep reading, though. There’s an animal connection.  (That's him in the photo.)
Our surprise was a box containing Sweet Trapp Gourmet Toffee – it’s gourmet toffee, a Dallas product and it came from Sweet Trapp owner Paula Trapp who you have read about here before.
She’s the woman who got out of a car in terrible traffic on Hampton in Dallas and pulled a dog to safety. That’s the dog’s photo! (Speaking of photos. Seriously, if you click on www.sweettrap.com you’ll see something else sweet – the most beautifully photographed chocolate since the invention of the camera.)
Anyway, Paula sent the toffee as a thank-you for helping publicize the story of Hampton, the rescued dog. I had some of it – it was so good I felt guilty eating it without talking to my doctor first and begging forgiveness. In the meantime, my gourmetspouse Martha enjoyed it in a rare complimentary fashion – she nibbled toffee while she READ. When she does that, it’s a compliment – it means the treat is good enough to fit into her favorite activity. She doesn’t let anything stymie her reading unless it’s fabulous or a critter.
Paula included this nice note thanking Readlarrypowell.com for publicizing the dog and she added, “Max (AKA Hampton) has a wonderful new home by a lake! Yay!!”
That’s a dog who was dodging traffic, was saved by a toffee-making woman, was held in Dallas Animal Services until he could be placed and now lives by a lake and enjoys a good life.
And I have eaten some grand toffee and acquired a new craving.
CONTEMPLATIONS: Our Chihuahua Rosie is stalking me this morning. I’ve given her treats, snuggling, tummy rubs and signed over the title on my pickup, but she remains intent on getting my attention.  She’s a dear old girl – found her mangy and hairless in Kiest Park more than a decade ago when some kids were throwing stuff at her. She stink, stank, stunk – called her “Rosie” because she didn’t smell like a rose.  … Speaking of smelling like a rose, we read this morning that Newsweek magazine is halting its print edition at the end of the year and going all on-line. It is a strange, new world, isn’t it, my fellow love-the-smell-of-new-print fans. … This thing with Lance Armstrong and performance enhancing drugs is the shame of the athletic community. But the real question is, if these things help with performances, why don’t we make them mandatory for the Texas Legislature, the U.S.  Congress and anybody in the White House? … That is not a photo of a Congressman at the public trough, that's a Serenity Springs Sanctuary resident pig and it’s a reminder to keep scrolling down and read the pig story we published late last night. Thanks.
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Some pigs are "some pig," and some breeders are some kind of pigs, too

All most people know about pigs is what they learned from Charlotte’s Web.
Just like Charlotte wrote in her web, we could look at a pig and confidently declare "Some pig!" and that would exhaust our knowledge.
That photo? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen this up close before.
That is what it looks like to kiss a pig. For years now I’ve testified, Dear Readers, that Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, is our spot-on staff impersonator. Here he is giving us his impression of a pig offering a kiss. I’m kidding.
 That is the kisser of Nellie -- some pig pucker -- a rescued pig living at Serenity Springs Sanctuary.
That is where we can find someone who actually knows about pigs and the challenges they face because of people.  And, to borrow from the French, she says, “I'm one pissed pig lady.”
We’re speaking, of course, of Terry DeGaw, founder of Serenity Springs Sanctuary, the Montague County spot that, when it has room, takes in pigs and assorted farm animals, a dog or cat here and there. It’s located on 25 “wooded, hilly” acres at Forestburg. Many of its inhabitants are pigs. (We'll explain these pig pictures later in this report.)
Why do so many pigs -- 90 at last count -- live at Serenity Springs? Because some people have a blind spot to reality. Pigs are not apartment pets unless you own the apartment building in a city that doesn’t have a “No Pigs Law.” 
By and large, pigs don’t make good housepets unless they're living with good humans. The pigs might not even make good yardpets if your yard is smallish you want a manicured lawn. Pigs root. And a rooting pig is a happy pig and a happy pig may root more and by the time the happy pig is happiest, the yard looks like somebody dug it up and tried to turn it in an obstacle course. [Larry aside: I don’t really know if they’re happy when they’re rooting, but they seem to be.]
When the pigs grow too large for a studio apartment or tear up the yard, their people are suddenly disenchanted at this betrayal via genetics and they dump the pig like it was a litter of kittens, a box of puppies or a bag of fast-food trash.
Now, we’ve set the stage here and we’re getting back to why Terry is angry. How angry is she? She’s angry enough to ask for advice from me! (FYI: No president has ever been that angry -- yet.)
Look, I'm wise enough to appeal to Readlarrypowell.com’s sage readership -- you people know everything and have connections, too. You have answers that have helped thousands and thousands of animals through the years.
Terry writes, "I thought maybe you could give me some advice -- ideas or something that would help me get the word out regarding the new push to sell micro-mini, pocket and tea cup pigs. There is just no such thing. 
”People are being told the pigs won't get bigger than 30 pounds and, in reality, that weight can be reached prior to them becoming a year old and they continue to grow until they are at least four years of age.  The last few pigs I have taken in are here due to this ‘fact.’  I am constantly getting calls regarding these overweight micro and so on piggies.
”I have posted on Craig's List that there is no such thing -- doing that in several cities that seem to be selling more than others. I am flagged --probably by the breeders and removed within the same day.
”Do you have any ideas of how I can get the word out and stop this insanity?”
So, there’s the question.
[Larry aside: We’ll start by suggesting that people copy our link and send it everywhere with a copy of this segment of Readlarrypowell.com. Also email, mail it, post it on animal and non-animal websites and Facebook pages. The, of course, you could staple it on the foreheads of likely pig purchasers, but, of course, that would be wrong.
[About the photos: You’ll note a flock of pigs around a mudhole. They are the same pigs – the first photo was when they were about six weeks old. The second group shot is of the pigs when they were 3 months old. The black pig standing alone on the naked earth is one of the tiny pigs at just over a year old – Tinker Bell is her name. The mother of these pigs was rescued by Terry from a Dallas-area shelter when the pig was pregnant – she’d been dumped because she’d outgrown the 30-pound limit the owners had been promised. And she was only 4 months old and pregnant. “No idea what happened to the boar,” Terry says.
And, as you can see in the other photos from the Serenity Springs site – Arnold, Bruiser and Chloe simply are not lap pigs.  And the last photo is of Terry's great-niece Caleigh Holt posing with a couple of Serenity Springs' residents. One is Chops and the other is Butterball -- surely you can guess which is which.]
Now, the sale of pigs by unscrupulous breeders and acquisition of these alleged small pigs by unenlightened customers directly affect Terry and her operation at Serenity Springs. She doesn’t need the pig population to rise while the price of livestock food and care is going up like it was owned by a gasoline company. It costs money to eat like a pig.
Besides, Serenity Springs is “out of room,” she says.
This isn't just a story about pigs. There are humans involved in the heartbreak of some of these situations.
 One of Terry’s most recent crises involved the Plano pig Panda. The owner of the local pet store told the gamily that pigs were OK in the city. That was 2 years ago, they say, and suddenly the city told them to get the pig out of town within 7 days. “They are heartbroken.  Panda was bought as a gift to their daughter as therapy after she attempted to commit suicide.  Why would someone be able to sell pigs in a city that doesn't allow them? I don't understand the reasoning regarding not allowing pots in the city...although...many cities have changed that ordinance. “
Panda now lives at another sanctuary – but only after Terry spent a lot of time scouting out the story and making connectdions.
You can see how to contact Terry at Serenity Springs by going to the website HERE  or on the sanctuary’s Facebook page HERE.
You can email her at [email protected].
”Breeders lie,” Terry says. “There is NO such thing as a micro-mini..the tea cup...pocket pig...or any other name they may come up with.  Granted, some of the pigs may remain small due to the in-breeding that is practiced by some breeders.  Unfortunately many that have been inbred have shorter life spans and often have medical problems….I have received several more inquiries from folks that bought on a whim [and are now] looking to place their pigs here and thinking they are doing me a favor by considering me as the caregiver of the pig they irresponsibly bought.  Their whim becomes my nightmare.
”There is also the fact that the breeders don't tell the folks that they may not even be allowed to have pigs in their area...and the buyers don't think to ask.
“To be honest...I have pretty much had it with the human race.  Everything is disposable in today's lifestyle.  Most have no idea what responsibility is...and they certainly don't seem to be educating their children to be.  Maybe I'm just getting old...more of a cynic...and have a heightened irritability.”
Then Terry adds that she’s starting regard her self as a “full-blown ‘b-word’” who “has lost a great deal of my ability to be diplomatic.  I am learning more and more often why there is no ‘e’ at the end of human.”
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Peanut's adventure ends safely...

We’ll never know what Peanut the Doxie did last night. But we do know that she is safe, thanks to a note from Wendy Melton of the League of Animal Protectors – Peanut is a LAP dog.
Just as the evening rush hour was arriving in Dallas, we got word from Wendy that Peanut had been found and is home -- that's after apparently slipping out an unattended door about 4 p.m. Tuesday and vanishing. That sent people into a night-long panic.
Wendy messaged, “She was seen wandering around about 2 blocks from her home near businesses [Illinois-Edgefield area of Oak Cliff].  With the help of local staff at business, some Dallas police officers in the area and volunteers on foot, she was found and cornered until her mom showed up to snatch her up..”
There you go – it takes a village to save a Peanut.
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