SCHOOL DAZE; FOSTERING, SUPPLIES & WOODSTOCK

EDITION OF MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2019 [PetPowellPress] Here we are, Monday Mornians (that a word?), the first day of school in lots of districts including Dallas. 
Yep, probably some kids who got a new dog or cat over the weekend during the Clear the Shelter event packed the book satchel (figuratively speaking) and left home. Now, the not-quite-adjusted critter is wondering what happened to the new friend. The house is quieter than the shelter and will anyone get fed? Oh, my. Yep, school has started — bless the beasts and children. We’ll continue this discussion in Contemplations and explain this sleeping cat, too. In the meantime. Let’s talk fostering and rescue.
THE WAY THINGS HAPPEN:
TIMING AND TEAMWORK
First, I saw an endorsement of fostering on the DFW’s FurGotten Friends Facebook page. Then, I saw a Facebook notice about a pretty sick little dog that had found her way onto the FurGotten Friend’s radar and into the care of some of the organization’s friends.
This is the girl. Stephen Foster, founder and president of the organization, reported on this girl’s situation over the weekend. He wrote, “Our friends who own Camp Bow Wow Dallas High Five found this girl on Northwest Hwy near 635. She was heat-exhausted and dehydrated so they brought her home. … They believe she is between 12 to 14. She has terrible teeth and really bad breath. She is so sweet with all their dogs and loves lap cuddles. If you recognizer her let me know. We're posting on Garland and Dallas shelter pages. Camp Bow Wow is covering all her vetting [dental, mammary tumors, etc. though she is heartworm negative] and fostering so if we don't find an owner she will be looking for a forever home.”
Fostering. Yes, that brings us to what originally caught our attention. 
Stephen wrote this brief and heartfelt explanation of fostering last week before the arrival of the little dog above. He wrote, “I've told people, who've been afraid of fostering, I've had 300 dogs come through my home. I spent this day going back and looking at all the dogs from when I started rescuing dogs in 2010 through today. 

“It turns out I've had nearly 400 dogs live here. Yes, there were many pregnant girls and their puppies or just puppies I agreed to take but, out of all those dogs and puppies, there was only one time I didn't cry my eyes out when I took them to their new forever home. That dog was crazy and I was happy his new adopters were willing to deal with it. LOL!!.

“I do understand when I hear I'm afraid of fostering because I will fall in love and not be able to let them go. What you have to say to yourself is: I just gave a homeless dog a home until they found a forever home. Now I can save another one until they get a new forever home. You, opening your home to to dogs in need, makes you the saviors to assure many other dogs will be saved.”
There’s the noble mission, outlined in a few paragraphs. 
And if you want more evidence of how fosters can help the “desperate situation,” consider the story of this dog Reba, a project of the FurGotten Dogs folks. She was, according to the post, “from a litter of puppies that were all fine and went to new homes with no health issues. But Reba was hit by a parasite that attacked her brain and nearly killed her. Reba spent her first six months between the vet's office during the week and a foster home on the weekends to keep her alive.
"Reba recovered and her extraordinary journey led to her becoming a wonderful girl with a little bit of a wobble when she walks or runs.” You can see a video of happy Reba an her running wobble during an outing in June. She’s a champion. Here’s the LINK.
THE BURNS FLAT LIST
OF SIMPLE NEEDS
In summary, the needs for the Burns Flat, Okla., shelter are supplies, adoptors/rescuers and cooler weather.
Cooler weather? Heck, yeah. For the past week , the western Oklahoma town has been “hottern Dallas.”
We got a note from the resilient rescuer in Burns Flat, Terry Lynn Fisher, who sent that photo of the Burns Flat open-air shelter. She also sent the needs. Directing the appeal to her supporters, she wrote, “As most of you know, I not only take total care of our small town pound, but I help with several other small towns around me.. The main one is Sentinel, a little town 13 miles south of me. Here are some of the needs we have as of right now.” 
Here you go, Dear Readers: “Food bowls, fly traps, tick meds (for dogs and kennels, small water buckets (Ace Hardware had a sale of the 5-gallon buckets so I bought a bunch of those; need small ones for little dogs);
“Zip ties, collars, leads, dog treats, food (anything except Ol’ Roy), moist food (the old toothless ones I have love Lil Cesar), bleach, cat foo, cat litter (we have ended up with so many cats in foster lately.”

Get in touch with Terry Lynn at [email protected]. Call her at 580-225-4863. Her PayPal address is [email protected]. Write to her at
PO BOX 578, 206 IROQUOIS TR BURNS FLAT OK 73624. Call her at 580-225-4863.

She’s also trying to help this little pup. "He is just a baby," she wrote. "When an elderly lady saw him walking down the street with that huge chain LOCKED around his neck, she could not believe it. She got him and called the police. He is in the little town I help south of me. Their pound is not a good place. We have him in a very short term foster home. He is about three months old and full of love and energy.

 “After the Police officer cut that nasty lock off, the pup rolled and ran and jumped around. Of course, nobody claimed him. They probably knew we were planning on filing charges.

“He has put on a little weight and is in pretty good health. But he needs a safe place to go.”
That brings us to this dog. Terry Lynn writes, “This is one of those cases that make me cry. This beautiful big boy was found wandering around in the country.
"He was so hot and tired. We took him in and he was accepted to a rescue. But when he went to get his health certificate, we learned he was heartworm positive — that meant the rescue would not take him.

“So, we are down to this. Do we just put him down, or do we do the very expensive and timely treatment? We do not have a place here to contain him for what is needed when treating heartworms. So, before the decision is made to put him down, I have to reach out and see if there is ANYONE willing to take this sweet lovebug on.” (Email Terry Lynn ASAP at [email protected].)

CONTEMPLATIONS
FISHSTICKS, THE OL’ SCHOOL & WOODSTOCK

Back to school? What did the first day of school mean in my era of the 1950s and ‘60s? It meant that after a 3-month-long parade of Friday lunchtime baloney sandwiches, homegrown tomatoes and Fritos, we’d once again be having fishsticks on Fridays.
[LARRY PERSONAL NOTE: Happy learning to the kids at Highland Park Elementary School in Texarkana — my alma mater {1954-60). Proud of you all for carrying on the Highland Park tradition of being strong learners — be sure to thank your dedicated teachers for their work and your parents and siblings for their support. It takes teamwork to get an education.] 

Oh, in the ‘50s and ‘60s, as I recall, we’d get out of school for summer in the last week of May, spend June, July and August clowning around, and then not have to go back to school until the Tuesday after Labor Day (the first Monday in September).
[Odd thing: I’ve been searching for about 25 years for a photograph of the Highland Park Elementary School of my era — when I was a columnist at The DMN, a reader asked if I could appeal for help finding a photo of the ol’ school. People had plenty of suggestions about where to look, but nobody had a photo. It was a majestic building from the ‘30s, maybe earlier. Ah, for a time machine. Or, check your closets for old photos, my fellow HP Elem kids.]
Back to the current school year: I’ve never understood why the school year was elongated. Maybe if I’d gone to school for 10 months a year instead of 9 I’d be able to understand that.
That cat? Of course, that is my editor, The Senator, demonstrating how he’d have reacted if he’d been my tutor in the ‘60s. [FYI: The Senator was at Woodstock. You may see him in some of the crowdshots in the famous documentary — he’s the cool cat. Every now and then I catch him mewing Goin’ Up The Country.]
—- Offer opinions or favorite Woodstock songs by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected], but, hey, man don’t let it harsh my Monday mellow. —-