ANIMALS NEED HELP; A POET'S INFLUENCE; AND THE AWFULNESS OF DALLAS...

EDITION OF MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2019 [PetPowellPress] There is no such thing as a lazy summer morning, is there? Here’s our Monday report. In Contemplations, we’ll discuss poetry in classrooms and crime in Dallas. One touches hearts, the other breaks hearts.
OVER THE WEEKEND…
Longtime rescuer and advocate Beverly Fyfe tipped us to this report on Todd Stephen Smith’s Facebook page and noted that this incident grew from animal community disgust to an investigation and a report on Telemundo Channel 39. 
You see the photo of a starving horse — that was on the Smith Facebook page. 
The live horse was “picked up,” the dead horse was “removed.” Todd explained, “I got a call today from Carlos with Telemundo Chanel 39.Tonight he wanted to interview Jeremy Boss and me. My friend Jake that took the time to call me is really the Hero here. Folks If you see something report it. And if you don’t want to get involved, call me or somebody. Tonight at 10 tune in to Channel 39 if you like Spanish TV. God Bless the Horses.”
He added, “I want to thank my friend and fellow surveyor Jake Hall for calling me this morning and asking what he should do. I advised him to call 911 which he did. He is waiting for the police to come. If you see something wrong report it. This is off Leatherwood and Overton Rd in S Dallas. We need to STOP ANIMAL ABUSE.”
The news team at Telemundo 39, i.e., T39, did a story with interviews and video for the Saturday evening news.
[LARRY ASIDE: Many of you will, no doubt, be able to translate the report. I don’t speak Spanish but in the T39 report on the discovery of the dead and ailing horses, one of the witnesses to the scene said something that I did comprehend and join in expressing, “¿Por qué? ¿Por qué?” And, don’t we echo that with our English “WHY? WHY?"]
A SIX PACK TO GO?

Well, maybe not all at once, but there are six of them. Word came from Gail Whelan of Companion Animal Network. 
The note begins, “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: We have to admit that the ancestries of the father(s) of this litter are not known. We DO have the beautiful, sweet, mama dog…The father(s), we believe, were possibly Black and Tan Coonhound, possibly Rottie mix, or even Dobie mix. What we DO know is that their mom has been a wonderful role model and the people who found her have given these puppies so much love and attention! They WILL be large dogs, but beautiful.

“BACKSTORY: A sweet young dog appeared at a house in the country having been abandoned because she was pregnant! This loving family took her in and has cared for and loved her and her puppies since their birth. It is now time for the puppies to find their FOREVER homes!

“These puppies have been trained to a doggie door and have VERY few accidents. They are 11 weeks of age, up to date on vaccinations and have been wormed. They are on heartworm preventative and flea/tick preventative.

“These are exceptionally smart puppies and will make wonderful family companions. The mother is about 65 pounds.” To apply to adopt, call Gail at 903-967-3226 or email [email protected].
SCOUT FROM TULSA

One of our Tulsa tipsters anonymously reports that this dog Scout needs some help now. He’s a 3-year-old, 80-pound Lab mix who adores people and cabinet counters, as demonstrated in these photographs. 
He needs a “loving home or foster,” our tipster tells us.
He’s currently at a vet’s office, but time is running out. And, the note reads, “He has a ride within a 10- or 12-hour journey from Tulsa.  Please, can anyone help him?”

He’s potty-trained, doggie-door trained and “loves to be around his peeps,” the note read.
Great kitchen counter photo.

CONTEMPLATIONS
POETRY, LIVES AND THE FUTURE
As a guy who is frequently puzzled by some of the poetry in The New Yorker, I still find myself admiring the tenacity of poets. And teachers. Both work to help people understand the world around them. On Sunday morning, I read a touching commentary by Joel Garza, a teacher at the Greenhill School in Dallas. The essay, written for The Dallas Morning News, dealt with the death of a poet who had become a friend to Garza’s students. You can read it HERE. Maybe poetry wasn’t your favorite topic in school. Maybe you’ve avoided poetry ever since someone handed you a diploma. But you might learn something about humanity when you read Mr. Garza’s piece. It might be sweeping, it could be simple. For example, I was clearly moved by the prose, but I also learned the word “tercet” — I must have been a absent the day in high school when we studied types of poetry. Doggerel, I know. Iambic pentameter, I know but don’t understand. Epic. “Epic” is a word to describe my respect for poets and my ignorance of their gift. I understood it a little more after reading Joel Garza’s commentary. … 

The same day I see Mr. Garza’s work in print, I click to the obituaries in the paper and the first one I see is that of Sara Elizabeth Hudson, the young — killed on her 22nd birthday! — recent college graduate who had come to Dallas to build a future but found a horrifying fate, instead. And there is the little 9-year-old girl, Brandoniya Bennett — dead because two guys were arguing and the gunfire killed an innocent child — those two guys were younger than Sara Elizabeth Hudson. The awful side of Dallas had nothing for either of the young victims — except our hearts, after-the-fact. Do you know who preached the little girl’s funeral? The pastor was Dallas School District Trustee Maxie Johnson whose 21-year-old son Whitfield was shot to death in Dallas the same day the little girl killed. That was reported by the News -- how sad can a city get?
How can this all be in Dallas, Texas? And, during the weekend, there were more deaths, more violent offenses, more lives ended, more hearts affected by crime. Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall returns to work Monday after medical leave — tough day ahead, I suspect.
Police chiefs come and go, politicians come and go (sometimes to prison in Dallas). No police chief has ever beaten the criminal element in Dallas. There aren’t enough police officers and there are too many people with, as I’ve heard prosecutors tell juries in Texas courtrooms, “a heart fatally bent on mischief.” Besides, in many murder cases, the "criminal element" is frequently a relative -- by blood or marriage. The "wild cards" are tough to figure -- like the "feud" that killed the little girl, or the Good-Lord-oh-no! death of Sara Elizabeth Hudson or Whitfield Johnson. Or the neighbor who was shot while standing in his front yard. That kind of thing.
I don’t have an answer for controlling crime in Dallas. Probably it will take a combination of strong elements — one of them is a willingness of people to choose right over wrong. That’s the willingness of the peaceful to fund the legal pressure against crime. 
But crime really is the criminal’s decision. Even in moments of the most hot-headed crimes, there is an opportunity to stop. I’m not sure "official Dallas' is a kind-enough city to influence people to do what’s right if they think they can always get away with doing what’s wrong. God help Dallas.
—— Offer opinions or solutions by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected]. —-