DATELINE: DALLAS Where Cold Wind Blows and So Does Hot Air, Texas (Nov. 11, PetPowellPress) -- When I was a kid way back in the 1950s in Texarkana, you could still buy a poppy on Armistice Day -- named in honor of the day the War To End All Wars ended in 1919.
These are the poppies in Flanders Field -- more on Armistice Day, Veterans Day and the path of mankind in today's Contemplation. But before we examine the consequences of war, we'll try to help our animals. Kindness must start somewhere.
THE PATH THAT FRED IS TAKING
Back on October 27 we published a story from Judy Raab about a dog that was dumped near her home in Alvarado. She was desperate to find him a safe haven -- like so many rescuers, she already has bagged the limit on strays, wanderups and family heirlooms.
I checked in with her to see if the dog known familiarly as “Dangnabit” had found a home by any other name.
Indeed, he’s got a safe haven, but he doesn’t quite have a home yet.
Judy replied, “Sadly, no one responded. I was able to get him placed at the SPCA which is a no-kill shelter, but that was not ideal and makes me sad.”
The upper left photo was the picture we used to introduce the rescue world and anyone else who is reading to this adorable fellow who went by two names, Dangnabit and Fred.
The amusing photo on the right is the photo on the SPCA of Texas’ website -- click HERE to see the available adorables at the two SPCA shelters, one in West Dallas and the other in McKinney.
You’ll notice that Dangnabit is listed as Fred. But, of course, in the hearts of those trying to help him find a home, he may always be known as Dangnabit.
As Judy reported, “He is a good boy....Playful, not hyper.”
The SPCA traditionally brings out the best in animals before they’re adopted.
To see how to give Fred, the dog formerly known as “Dangnabit,” go to spca.org. While you’re there, you’ll be reminded that the SPCA has custody of a bunch of animals rescued in Gilmer at a suspected puppy mill. Remember, even if you don’t adopt an animal from the SPCA, you money can help provide food and vet care and other needs for animals that are waiting for homes.
[LARRY ASIDE: Finding a way to make unwanted animals wanted is a mission of the heart -- and the pocketbook! Nothing in life is free except the occasional dog or cat you find and after you find them, you start running a tab! We all ought to win the lottery, except most of us have hit the jackpot with the dogs and cats we take in.]
MEANWHILE IN CARROLLTON
The folks with Carrollton Animal Rescue Enterprise -- CARE, i.e., the city shelter -- sent out a note with a familiar message. Here it is: “Once again we find ourselves over full, and in need of rescue and adoption support. Please take a look at the animals in Urgent Need of placement, just click on the LINK it will take you right to those animals in need of immediate help. We do not want to lose anyone this week, so please, please take a look maybe there is one or two you cannot live without.”
You see the photos -- lifted from the CARE Facebook site. Some of them we’ve mentioned before -- Gobstopper the Cat and Drifter, for example.
To offer to help any of these animals before they wind up on the permanently dead list after 6 p.m. Tuesday, call CARE at 972-466-3420 or email [email protected].
[LARRY ASIDE: Remember, it’s not the shelter’s fault these animals are on death row -- the animals are either strays or owner surrenders. Humans have let them down OUTSIDE the shelter. Those are the villains of the piece. Now, help me off this soapbox before I fall on Inky the Cocker Spaniel and he sues me again.]
A SAMPLING OF THE DAS AVAILABLES
We’ve sandwiched this message between the photographs of the animals -- Danielle Fry, the Dallas Animal Services Transfer Coordinator issued an appeal for these animals because they’ve all been injured and the need help “as soon as possible,” she wrote in her Monday afternoon letter.
“These dogs are injured and need more vetting than we can provide. They have won the hearts of our staff and we are hoping that they can get a second chance on life! Please email [email protected] if you can help.”
And, you know, there’s no law against dropping by the shelter at I-30 and Westmoreland and simply asking how you can help. Maybe it’s a donation to a cause or maybe it’s time spent socializing an animal or maybe it’s just telling management that you appreciate the hard work done in the taxpayer-financed shelter. Remember, when you adopt an animal from the shelter, you are saving two lives: the life of the animal you adopt and the life of the animal that would be next in line for the needle if you hadn’t adopted and freed up a spot.
CONTEMPLATION: There is a sadness in the fact that what was once Armistice Day, commemorating the end of World War I, the War to End All Wars, evolved into Veterans Day, honoring those who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in many wars. I am old enough to have known World War I veterans when they were plentiful-- when I began my journalism career in 1965, they were vibrant fellows, lobbying Congress, insisting on veteran rights and benefits. That’s a photo of the World War I monument in downtown Texarkana, Texas, a matter of a few yards from the Arkansas state line. My most cherished memory (and I’ve told this before) is of a man from Texarkana named Weaver J. Barkman. He was the “public relations man” for the local VFW post. Mr. Barkman was always promising me a “box of bon bons” if I’d get his announcements into print in the Texarkana Gazette. Naturally, the paper always published veteran news and events. Mr. Barkman, by this time, was in his 80s or maybe even older and nearly blind, wearing glasses so thick that they looked more like goggles. But he was a tough guy -- and a sweet man, too. He would come into the office and get me to read the latest daily wire report on the Vietnam War and as I would get to the statistics, he would shake his head and say, “Those poor, poor boys. We really need to save their lives.” He was selected to represent the Texarkana World War I veterans in a visit to Congress one year. I knew he’d gone, but a week or so later, I saw him coming down Pine Street from where his “driver,” another WWI vet, had parked along the curb. Mr. Barkman was feeling his way down the side of the buildings, measuring his steps until he found the door of the Gazette. I waited on him as he places his hands on the buildings and moved forward. As he approached I said, “Hello, Mr. Barkman” and he remembered my voice. “Hello, Larry, how you
doing?” “Just fine,” I said, then asked, as he felt the front wall of the Gazette building, “How as the trip to Washington?” And he replied, “I tell ya, Larry, I never felt so damned much marble in my life!” Yeah, they don’t make ‘em like World War I veteran Weaver J. Barkman any more. At the 11th hour of the 11th day in the 11th month in 1919, hopeful people probably figured they didn’t need those tough guy American soldiers any more. We’ve obviously continued to underestimate the vile nature of man around the world.
When I was in Highland Park Elementary School in Texarkana, one of the poems we had to memorize was In Flanders Field. When I was a kid I marveled as the poppies growing in Flanders Field. As I grew older it finally dawned on me that the poem marked not the beautiful flowers but those loved ones who’d been taken because men in power can’t find any way out of a dispute except violence. And that is a tragic, tragic fault in our kind.
That’s the headline from the New York Times -- it celebrates the armistice, but brings indications of things that would come because people in power are frequently flawed. May we convince those in power around the world to be responsible with the lives of others. Is decency such a bad thing?
Read that famous poem HERE. It shows the consequence of human failure. Surely, in this magnificent 21st Century, we can do better than letting mayhem reign.
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