GO AHEAD. MAKE MY DAY, MY DOG'S DAY, MY CAT'S DAY, MY LEGISLATOR'S DAY, ETC.

EDITION OF  FRIDAY MAY 17, 2019 [PetPowellPress] If I type “Go ahead. Make my day,” your first thought may be Clint Eastwood. But look at that dog. Maybe from now on your second thought will be of this guy, Clint, an under 4-year-old Earhound/ Pug/Chihua- hua mix at the Mesquite Animal Shelter. We’re mentioning him, then we’ll get into the Operation Kindness foster plan and assorted other animal stories and even a note about that famous Clint Eastwood line. We’re an eclectic website, but we really love dogs and cats. 
Clint (#41651882) arrived at Mesquite Animal Shelter on May 10 as a stray. He’s got a cherry eye situation on the left. Our tipster, the shelter volunteer biographer Judi Brown says, He’s got a very sweet, endearing personality…He likes to stay close and likes to be held.” Clint weighs 13 pounds — he’d weigh a little more but he’s already “fixed.” (Call 972-216-6283 or email rescues@cityofmesquite.com.)
WAIT: HERE’S A WAY TO
‘MAKE MY DAY’ IN AUSTIN
The Texas Legislature is heading toward sine die, the end of the session. The Texas Humane Legislation Network (thln.org) warns that “time is running out for Senate Bill 295,” the bill that would require safe and kind shelters and outlaw idiotic tethering [LARRY ASIDE: Not the actual wording — I paraphrased.] THLN wants people to call their state reps and urge the to get SB295 voted out of the House Calendars committee. Here’s the message they suggest: “The dogs of Texas are running out of time. As your constituent, I’m asking you to please help us get SB 295 out of Calendars Committee and to the House floor today.” Read more at thln.org. Go ahead. Make some good dogs’ day.
ON PRAYERS & PASSAGES,
A TRIBUTE TO A LOVED DOG
Our longtime friend and contributor, the rescuer and animal advocate Dianne Cole Hall has written a touching tribute to this girl, Abby. She had quirks; she had rules; she had love. When you read the tribute — click on our Prayers & Passages button in the upper right corner of this page — keep some tissue handy. Even ol’ veteran hardhearts will be touched. Thanks for reading about Abby. — Larry Powell. 

THE FOSTERING MISSION
AT OPERATION KINDNESS
Go ahead, make some cat’s day, too. 
We got a note from Victoria McNamara of TrizCom Public Relations about the Operation Kindness commitment to fostering. She wrote, “I am on a mission to spread the word and to provide details and information about the benefits fostering brings to both the felines and the homes they are placed in.” [LARRY ASIDE: I’m a veteran journalist; I’ve seen the public relations specialists get caught up in their clients — but when it comes to puppies and kittens, the enthusiasm isn’t professional, it’s personal! If you’ve ever fostered, you know about the emotional attachment.]
Fostering is, indeed, a key element to saving lives and finding homes for animals tagged “unwanted.”
 There’s a link to the Operation Kindness Fostering news release HERE.
You can get more info at operationkindness.org. The spotlight of the news release is a rescued Granbury momma cat Simone and her kittens (only three of four would agree to be photographed), Simon, Squeak, Socks and Squirrel.
At operationkindness.com you can see how to volunteer to foster. It’ll fill your time with something to love rather than something annoying. But why bring up politics when we’re talking about being a do-gooder who saves lives.
INJURED HUSKY NEEDS HELP
This baby is in the Everman Shelter and is injured, our tipster Heather Harrison reports. He’s a 4-year-old who is “very sweet and friendly,” Heather says. She adds that he came in with an “injured hind end. Was bleeding on intake. Now stopped. Is mobile and able to walk. Currently on pain meds. Non-reactive to other dogs through kennels. Off stray hold. Needs immediate rescue.” The contact point is Heather at nickale7@yahoo.com.
[LARRY ASIDE: For those who don’t know, Everman is just south of Fort Worth and a little bit east of I-35W, i.e., the roads are paved — somebody go help that dog.]

TWO LEFT-BEHIND BABIES
NEED ONE NEW HOME

 Yeah, this is one of those heartbreaking situations. Depends on good-hearted humans to help these two dogs. Their human has died and now they need one home.
Sissy is 10, Abby is 8. They’ve been together for all 8 years of Abby’s life.
Spayed and house-trained. “Wonderful lap dogs,” says the tip-note we got from Sydney Busch of Friends of the Animals at Cedar Creek Lake.
The contact points are anncoleman2142@gmail.com or 903-887-6167 or 903-275-1020.

WAITING WITH CLINT
AT THE MESQUITE SHELTER
Judi Brown, our reliable tipster who is the volunteer biographer at Mesquite Animal Services, continues to distribute wonderful capsules of dogs waiting for a rescue or an adoption. She sent Clint, our opening dog. And added, in her most recent parcel, Ida the Shepherd mix and the beautiful Betsy with the fantastic face.
Ida, about 2, came in as a stray on May 5. Her eyes are bright and lively. And so is she. Judi writes that 44-pound Ida (41610090), already spayed, “is seemingly a very happy dog. When I sat down she put her head on my lap.” Affectionate. Also interested in checking out her surroundings. “She wanted to make friends with all the small dogs in the bay. However she barked at the bigger dogs.”
That brings us to the dog Judi calls “sweet Betsy.”
She is BACK in the shelter — yep, had been adopted. Judi writes that “the owner reported that she got along fine with their four-year-old toddler but that she growled at their infant. So.... it looks like she will need to be adopted into a family that does not have babies.” Two-year-old Betsy weighs 56 pounds — she first came into the shelter on April 22 as a stray. She has great eye coloring — and she loves to hang out with humans at the shelter. “She is joyfully exuberant! She leaped around the yard with happiness. She chased toys but did not retrieve them.”
To ask about the Mesquite animals, call 972-216-6283 or email rescues@cityofmesquite.com.
A FANTASTIC PHOTO
OF TRANQUIL FACES

Credit for this photo goes to the rescuer/advocate Kimberly Jones. People who follow her on Facebook have been aware of the challenge of Mickey — the striped Tabby got into a cat fight, disappeared, finally returned and was caught nd taken to a vet to be patched up and neutered. He’d clearly lost the catfight — lacerations, punctures, humility. But he knew who he could trust.
 Kimberly’s post explained, “My feral babies Mickey & Magnolia (in the photo). Mickey went back outside today after healing from his neuter and injuries from a cat fight. He immediately ran off to find Magnolia and then they showed up together for dinner & to say ‘Hi.’ Mickey won't come close to me right now which hurts my heart but I know he will eventually.”
Determined Kimberly also managed to trap the Tomcat who “beat up Mickey” — as you can see in the cattrap photo, he’s a pretty sizeable Tomcat. Much larger and older than year-old Mickey, in cat years. Kimberly added to her post, “And, yes, I trapped the Tomcat and took him to Spay & Neuter Network and got him neutered.”
[LARRY ASIDE: If all goes right, the city has two boy ferals with calmer attitudes — perhaps Tomcat and Mickey can just sit around, purr and chuckle every now and then as they discuss their surgeries and medical care like most old men who don’t play golf. Special thanks, by the way, to Kimberly Jones for being so determined to help these cats. And thanks, also, to the goodhearts who donated to help her properly get these ferals into healthy condition. This attitude of love is a big part of what helps gain control of the unwanted kitten situation in Dallas. Trap/neuter/return or trap/neuter/turn into a housecat — pick the path and make life happy for Tomcats and Girlcats, too. You can also trap/spay/return or trap/spay/adopt. Whatever you do, don’t just do nothin’. Help me off this soapbox before a board snaps and I wake every animal in the house except for The Senator, my Tomcat who expects me to make unexpected noise.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
A TIGER, A RACCOON & A MOVIE LINE
Watching one of the lunchtime news shows Thursday, I glanced at the screen and saw a tiger just as the anchor said, “The 350-pound tiger was found in the house by people who went into the house to smoke marijuana.” Boy, don’t you know those were some people who thought something had kicked about the time they opened that front door? [LARRY ASIDE: The woman who owned the tiger faces cruelty charges and the big cat is now at Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch at Murchison. Here’s the CNN story. …
Anybody else remember that story earlier this year when the football player from the University of North Texas and some pals sicced some dogs on a raccoon they let loose? Here’s the Denton Record-Chronicle story . We’ve been trying to find a report regarding any sort of legal followup. Anybody out there know? The horrible event occurred in Oklahoma. UNT? Not sure what’s happening on the legal front. But, the terrified raccoon isn’t going to be revived. Death by cruelty. Surely that’s a crime. ...
Back to “Go ahead. Make my day.” What could possibly be the connection to my hometown of Texarkana? Well, according to research, “Go ahead, make my day,” grimly said by Clint Eastwood’s Det. Harry Callahan in 1983’s Sudden Impact, was written by Charles B. Pierce. The line is No. 6 on the American Film Institute’s list of top 100 movie quotes, Wikipedia notes. And the late Charles B. Pierce was the writer/director of The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972), shot in and around Texarkana, and the original The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976), the first film about the Phantom Killer Murders in postwar Texarkana. Mr. Pierce, a nice guy to young reporters back in the day, also worked for the TV branch of the company that owned my newspaper. He was star of a kid after-school show — the man who so successfully filmed terror and murder stories was Mayor Chuckles.
—— To offer your best movie line click on “comment” below or email dallrp@aol.com. —-