EDITION OF TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 2016 (PetPowellPress) -- We all work with deadlines. I spent decade in newsrooms working against a daily deadline. It was a pressure-packed life, but NOTHING compared to the lives of people trying to help animals beat the deadline at an animal shelter.
Break a newspaper deadline and you cost money. Fail to beat a shelter deadline and you cost lives.
We’ve mentioned the efforts of the Friends of Rowlett Animals many times in the past. The latest appeal we’ve gotten is from the Friends’ Dawna Carabajal, one of our longtime tipsters.
That dog is Tucker and he’s on the clock at the Rowlett shelter -- needs to be rescued by 4 p.m. Tuesday, Dawna says.
Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Tucker is “rescue only.” Why? Dawna explains that it’s “because he has some trust issues with some people. He has snapped and growled at a couple of people, but with the proper handler he can definitely be rehabilitated in my opinion. Tucker has not bitten anyone. Tucker loves you once he can get to know you. Tucker knows sit really well. And he loves squeaky toys. However he can destroy a stuffed toy in seconds. He is getting better and is less mouthy now. He takes treats gently from your hand. A volunteer says about Tucker: ‘Tucker needs someone to work with him. He also appears to resource guard his treats. He's always happy to see me and gives me kisses but I've known him a while now’."
To tag Tucker email [email protected] BEFORE 4 p.m. Tuesday. Dawna says there are $305 in pledges for a rescue “on his Facebook thread” and that can be seen HERE.
HOW ONE DOG WINDS UP IN A SHELTER
At most shelters and rescue groups, the requests for help are overwhelming. And somethings the requests are overwhelmingly sad.
Especially for the animals.
This is one of those cases.
But there’s apparently still a chance to help a dog that has been the victim of a romantic mishap and while the humans may have endured broken hearts, Bosch the Dog is on death row in the Mesquite Animal Shelter.
We got the forwarding on this from Dinesha Schmidt at A Different Breed Rescue which had no place for the animal -- who isn’t full these days!?
The note from the woman who is concerned about this dog reads, “I kept my daughter's boyfriends Lab after they moved into a very small apartment over a year ago. They were supposed to come by and play, take him to his vet, etc., and never did. Then two months ago they split up and I ask ex-boyfriend to find the dog a new home. Supposedly he applied to [a local group] but when I asked him about it I didn't get a reply, that was two months ago, more recently I asked him about finding him a new home again and was told to deal with it.
“This past Saturday I dropped Bosch off at the Mesquite Shelter. I couldn't keep him, he needs more than I can give him. He's 10 years old has been fixed and needs someone who can give him all the activity he needs.”
You see above the info that appears on the Mesquite Animal Shelter adoptions page. Bosch is one of many Black Lab types waiting for someone to come by and choose him over a younger, cuter dog.
The second photo? That's Bosch when he thought he was the family dog.
The woman, clearly concerned about the dog after she surrendered him, sent it to Dinesha and wrote, “This is the most current picture I have of him, it's a couple of years old. Bosch is 10 years old, he's been fixed. I don't know if he gets along with other dogs or with cats. He did seem to be good with children when the ex's family came over. I'm not sure of his vaccinations as his owner always took him. I believe the shelter did give him a rabies vaccine before I left.
"I'm not sure what else to tell you except he loves to play fetch, he's not great on a leash, he does know sit and stay but he's not real good at either one with me. He was with his owner.”
Who owns this dog now? The City of Mesquite. A shelter with needles.
You can go the Mesquite shelter page HERE and see how to save an old dog. Call the shelter at 972-216-6283. Email [email protected].
You see, also, two photo collections. Both came from a volunteer Facebook site HERE. Click on the art to make it larger or got to that Facebook site and see how you can help them.
And, yes, I looked for Bosch on the Code Red dog list -- not there, yet.
Bless his heart and the hearts of all those other animals who, as this is typed, are just a handful of hours away from the needle.
CONTEMPLATION: A STREET DEADLINE
In Dallas, dogs roam the streets. Some make headlines. Some just touch your heart as you try to coax them to safety and they demonstrate what Readlarrypowell.com has long said about their species: “Dogs are frequently too clever for their own good.”
This is a sincere thank you to those who saw my Facebook post about this animal, a hard-to-influence dog who was determined to stand in the middle of the road inside Kiest Park Sunday evening and block traffic while avoiding capture.
I could not convince her that her safety was my goal, that I am this dog’s friend.
Through the years my rescuespouse Martha and I have pulled many dogs out of Kiest Park -- many we got into rescue groups, some we kept and paid to have their medical problems fixed and, ultimately, discovered nobody really wants a big ol’ dog that is intimidating on the surface.
You’ve got to look below the surface in a park dog. You never know the dog’s history. You can guess. I got my treasured purebred Cocker Spaniel, the late Inky, out of Kiest Park -- stricken by mange, he was barely past puppy age and had no coat, except on one long ear and had been dumped. One of our Chihuahua’s, the late, long-lived Rosie, came from the park -- some kids were throwing rocks at her to run her off because she smelled so bad from horrible mange.
And, these days, our lives are blessed by the gentle Rottweiler, the wonderful Texas Earl the Cheeseman, named for no good reason.
I got Earl out of Kiest Park about 5 years ago. Someone had dumped him. I watched him as he raced up to the door of each car that parked and when he didn’t recognize the driver as the person he loved, he would return to the shade of a tree and lay on the turf with his paws crossed and his big chin on them. After seeing him do this three or four times, I said, “That’s enough, pal, you’ve got a safe place with us.”
So, when I was unable to get that stubborn female Pittie to fall victim to my dog-catching charm Sunday evening, it was distressing. It remains distressing. She wasn’t running in a Dallas pack -- she was on her own.
But there were so many people who responded to my post, I’m convinced that somehow this dog may survive.
A rainstorm swept the area Monday evening. I know that if she is still there, she now has water that she trusts.
And perhaps she is cool, no longer standing in the road, breathing with a panicked pant, wary of approaching strangers.
Strangers who wish she had the power to look into their hearts and walk over into their arms.
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