EDITION OF TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015 (PetPowellPress) -- Cats, dogs, people. That’s the great combination. Sometimes things work out. Like, for instance, Clyde the missing bulldog being found. And a momma cat and kittens being found. Not together -- well, read on. We’ll eventually address both Spuds MacKenzie ("Who?" asked anyone born after 1989) and National Pandemonium Day.
APPEALING? OH, MY!
Debra Chisholm, working on behalf of animals at the Mesquite Animal Shelter, sent the photos and info and said, “Feel free to edit in any way to make Danny more appealing.” If we made him any more appealing than that cute mugshot photo, he’d be running for president. Might win, too.
Here’s the story: He’s a terrier mix who was picked up on April 17 as a stray. He’s about a year-and-a-half old and weighs around 18 pounds. But, here’s the “more” to the story: “Danny was adopted by a rescue but has been with a foster due to surgery on his broken leg which he had upon arriving at the shelter. A pin was inserted on 5/26 and Danny Boy is nearing the end of a 60-day crate rest process. At that time he will be ready for adoption.
“There is a a lot to like about this charmer. Danny Boy is friendly and affectionate and is happy to be in someone's lap and cuddling. He is A-OK with other dogs. His sweet-natured personality makes him highly adoptable.”
To ask about adopting him, email dachisholm@sbcglobal.com.
[LARRY ASIDE: Oh, yeah, when you look directly into his eyes, watch out! Debra says he captured her when their eyes locked. The power of Danny -- maybe someone else will look into his eyes!]
CLYDE THE BULLDOG HAS BEEN FOUND
We reported on July 6 that Clyde the Bulldog was missing from his home and a family, including “three little girls” were heartbroken. It seemed that he might have been stolen.
We may never know that for certain, but we do know that around 5 p.m. Monday, he was found.
We got the report from our pal, the longtime animal advocate and rescuer Deborah Verner.
She reported that he was “spotted by a guy (an animal advocate himself) running across Centerville Road sometime last [Sunday] night. He tried to catch him but was unable. This was in the dark and after the guy jumped a fence trying to find him in a field of high weeds.”
The man posted a “JUST SEEN......ENGLISH BULLDOG!!" and, Deborah says, “Someone saw the posting, and posted it on FB on a posting that Anna did on the Lost and Found Dogs and Cats of Garland. Anna saw it, spoke to the original poster, and went looking. And, she found him!”
That’s the Clyde’s at home photo. And we cannot take a photo of the emotion of “relief,” but we’re betting the house was filled with it and you could see it on Clyde’s expressive face.
LOOKING FOR A HOME FOR BAGS
A local newshound, Erin Booke, is trying to find a home for this ol’ orange cat, Bags, her pal of a dozen years. She got him when he was a kitten. The challenge is, she wrote to Readlarrypowell.com, “We just found out that our human baby is extremely allergic to cats and that’s what’s causing his terrible eczema and other issues.”
But, everybody loves Bags -- he’s named for Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros. “He’s a good boy and in excellent health,” Erin says. And she’s working hard to find a place for him that won’t involve a lonely, unsettling stay in a shelter. He was adopted 12 years ago, when he was a kitten in waiting at Operation Kindness, the no-kill shelter in Carrollton. (To offer to help with giving Bags a good place to live, call 214-282-0883.)
[LARRY ASIDE: Erin is a local journalist. Readlarrypowell.com endorses orange cats and journalists who love cats.]
A MOMMA AND HER KIDS
Here’s a tale of a little family that got lucky and wound up in the care of Beth Bryson, a veteran cat rescuer. You can tell from the photos that she has an understanding of what cats need: A place to stay, the comforts of home and cable TV -- wait, maybe not cable TV, yet.
Here’s the story from Beth: “I have just trapped and brought into my bathroom a mama kitty and her three kittens that might qualify as ‘special needs kitties.’ Mama is dark gray and long hair, and her three kittens are black--two of them are bobtails. They had been living under my deck for about the last month.
“Two years ago I rescued and fostered a different family of kittens, and four of them are still with me, but I really cannot afford to go through that process again. My mom lives with me and she has Parkinson's and I'm her primary caregiver. She had a fall on Thursday and is needing extra attention. I can't leave the house unless there is a caregiver here with Mom. There are only a few hours outside my work hours that I have one.
“I did have ‘Mama Smokey’ spayed on Friday. Instead of releasing her back outside, I let her go in my bathroom where I had her three kittens. They were pretty afraid and not really eating, so I figured they needed her, but I wasn't prepared to let them all keep living outdoors, once I had them captured. I think the kittens are about 8-9 weeks. I have been trying to visit them in the bathroom and get them used to me, and now they are all eating well and using the litter box, and they seem less afraid of me, though they still don't want me to approach them. But at least they are curious now and learning that I bring good things. Mama seems like a pretty docile cat, so I'm hoping she will learn to trust me. The vet said that she is probably about a year or so old. I think she was a stray, not a true feral.”
The cats are currently in a comfy home in southwestern Dallas but Beth, as you can see, desperately needs some help with placing these playful kittens and Mom who kind of warms up but, at times, just “glares.” [LARRY ASIDE: Cats usually come around once they’re certain of their situation. That’s based on experience, not wishful thinking.]
To offer to help Beth, email newsfrombeth@yahoo.com.
A COUPLE OF FUN NOTES:
--Julie Goff, the Operation Kindness development manager, tipped us to an opportunity to have a burger and raise money for the no-kill shelter in Carrollton. Thursday is “Give Back Day” at Mooyah Burgers, 6500 W. Plano Parkway, west of the Dallas North Tollway and East of Midway.
Dine there from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., mention Operation Kindness when you order and 15-to-25 percent of your check will be donated to OK. Julie says, “The more people that go, the higher the percentage donated back to Operation Kindness.” She also says that Mooyah offers a veggie burger in addition to fare for carnivores. Julie calls it “the best veggie burger in town -- in my opinion.”
-- On Saturday the 18th Marshall Grain in Grapevine will host its 6th Annual Pooch Pool Party -- runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and it’s open to well-behaved dogs and well-behaved people with well-behaved dogs. The Marshall Grain store in Grapevine is at 3525 William D. Tate.
As you can see from the photo, there will be bathing beauties at the event. (Thanks to Marshall Grain’s Joyce Connelley for sending us this info.)
CONTEMPLATIONS: Watching Major Crimes Monday night, we saw a back pain commercial that opened up with a shelter dog and a woman who loved him. Nice to see dogs becoming official spokespersons for something other than beer, RIP Spuds Mackenzie, the Bud Lite spokesdog forcibly retired in 1989 after a big flap over, as Sen. Strom Thurman, the Dixiecrat from South Carolina alleged, using a dog to sell beer to people too young to drink it. Click HERE for an LA Times story on Spuds. Google “Sen. Strom Thurmond’ for interesting reading as far as personal hypocrisy is concerned. ... Favorite things we hope can make a comeback: Blue Bell Ice Cream; my 38-inch waist -- I'm no longer a teenager; bell-bottom dress pants; pushbutton transmissions; winning Lotto Texas tickets in the hands of the guy who just typed this. ... Speaking of celebrations: There’s an online site called Holiday Insights and it lists daily holidays, most of the time noting that it cannot find the origin of a holiday. For example, the site says today is “Pandemonium Day” and says it doesn’t know the origin. However, it also notes that July 14 is “National Nude Day.” It doesn’t know why it’s National Nude Day, but National Nude Day may be an indicator of why this is National Pandemonium Day. OK, everybody, keep your shirt on. And everything else, too.
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