SHELTERS, CANINES, FELINES, PEOPLE AND CONTEMPLATING A BOOK

EDITION OF THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2019 [PetPowellPress] Yes, Clear the Shelters is coming up on Saturday and that inspires a consideration that maybe we ought to partner it with a “Don’t Fill The Shelter Month.” Wait. Let’s make that “Don’t Fill The Shelter Week.” We don't want to get over-ambitious with the North Texas’ free-roaming Don’t Care/So What people -- they can easily fill a shelter in a month, so we’ll start small — one week at a time. A concept that cannot become reality, but it’s nice to dream about.
After all, the animals are not Ubering to the shelters. There’s a human involved at some point.
(That’s probably how Rick The One-Up/One Down Earhound, a year-old Pittie mix, came to be in the Dallas Animal Services care on June 26 and is currently at the PetSmart Everyday Adoption center, 16821 N. Coit Road. The cat is 5-year-old Tom. Yep. Tom Cat, a shelter resident since Aug. 12. See these and other animals and how to adopt or rescue them at dallasanimalservices.org. )
MEANWHILE IN FORT WORTH,
HERE’S A DOG NAMED DALLAS
This guy, Dallas (42459504), is about a year-and-a-half old and “available for adoption, foster or rescue” from the Fort Worth Animal Care & Control Shelter, according to a note from Paige King.
 If you’re going to adopt, you have to show up in person. If you want to tag for rescue, the email address is fwacctag@fortworthtexas. gov. The shelter is at 4900 Martin St. in eastern Fort Worth.

The little guy has “a skin issue” but the “scrape was negative” for mange. You can see a video of the still-cute in spite of his misery fellow HERE.
THREE CATS RACING THE CLOCK
By the time you read this, they may already be gone — gone to a rescue, or, well, sadly gone.
 Sondra York forwarded an appeal for these cats — the originator was Tammy Grable in the Brazoria County Sheriff’s Livestock and Animal Control Division in Angleton, about 45 minutes south of Houston. 
Three cats, all on the notice of a severe deadline Wednesday night. But, just in case a miracle is in the works, here’s who they are:

The first cat is 8880. The note reads, “Such a wonderful sweet kitten. Great with others and people. Loves attention and is very mellow.” Gender is unknown — same for the other two. 
Cat 8801 is an adult who is “an absolute sweetheart” who “loves attention and loves to just relax.”
And 8802 is also a kitten who, like 8801, is an “absolute sweetheart.” The report says the kitten “loves attention and loves to be next to you” 

The bottom line is in the note from Sondra: “Know of anyone looking for a new kitty or that might foster one of these or a rescue group that might take them in? They only have ’til Friday. I am sure transport could be arranged.”
The contact is the Sheriff’s Livestock and Animal Control Division 979-388-2365 or (cell) 979-997-2486 or via email at
[email protected].

MEANWHILE IN LANCASTER
“New dogs still coming in,” read the note from Laura Macias about the state of things in the Lancaster Animal Shelter. You know, by know, how this goes — the shelter has little human foot traffic and too much paw traffic.
If you’re a 501c3 rescue, transport can be arranged, Laura says. 
To help these animals, call or text Laura at 214-949-2726 or email [email protected].
Two of the most urgent are Maryann (left) and Lauren.

Maryann is “just precious — sweetest little girl ever.
And Lauren is described as a “great dog — beautiful color and she is very cute and very lovable. Everyone who has met her adores her….”
MEANWHILE IN DENTON

The story of Joyce — “our sweet wonderful Joyce” — is nearing a climax — whether it’s a happy solution depends on humans. Our tipster, Amy Poskey’s note
reads, “This precious girl is slowly fading away at the shelter.  Not only is Joyce HW+ but now she’s losing weight and her hair is falling out most likely from a poor diet and all the stress at the shelter.  One of our wonderful shelter volunteers, Joyce McKennedy, has fallen in love with her namesake and has been trying so hard to get her adopted, to no avail.  Joyce has offered to cover the cost of her HW treatment and DASF will provide a $100 voucher to go towards her HW treatment, as well.”

Joyce (ID 83126) is about a year old, a Labby mix who weighs 36 points and has “a cute little nub of a tail.”
The email contacts are [email protected], [email protected], and/or [email protected]. Call the shelter at 940-349-7594.
CONTEMPLATIONS
HOW ABOUT A VISIT TO PAROS,
A BEAUTIFUL ISLAND IN AEGEAN?
Reader of books Amy Briscoe, writing for the Between The Covers Facebook site, gives a great review of House No. 5, the book by our longtime friend and The Dallas Morning News columnist Bob St. John and illustrated by his wife, the artist Sandra St. John. 
I read Amy's review and it reminded me that I haven’t had an actual vacation since 2004. I’m thinking the Greek island of Paros would be the perfect spot — if I can get there without having to fly. 
Here’s what Amy wrote: “Speaking of memories…if you haven’t read House No. 5, Paradise on Paros, by Bob. St. John, you’re really missing out. It is literally the perfect summer read. I stayed up for 2 nights straight because I just couldn’t put it down. Bob will take you to Greece and introduce you to old friends and you won’t ever want to come home. I laughed, I cried and I laughed some more! I’m currently reading it again because I couldn’t stand for it to be over. Get it on Amazon & thank me later! And if you see our friend, Sandy, give her a BIG hug for making sure Bob’s brilliant work was published.”
That's Sandy at an art show. 
The book you can find on Amazon HERE and also on Barnes & Noble’s website. [LARRY NOTE: When you read the opening pages of House No. 5, you’ll read that Bob and Sandy asked me to edit this book. It was a privilege. It was an adventure, traveling via written word with Bob and Sandy and discovering the wonder of a beautiful island and its people.
A PERSONAL NOTE: Bob and I were columnists at The Dallas Morning News at the same time — before I became a columnist, I edited Bob’s column in Metro. One time he handed me a sheet of paper with about 50 commas printed on it. “What’s this,” I asked. And he said, “You’re having an effect on me. These are the commas I was going to use in my column today and decided not to. I thought you should have them.” Bob was always happy to talk about the joy he and Sandy found on Paros — the book is, yes, a love story. And an adventure story. But don’t take my word for it — get the book. House No. 5 is a labor of love — and, as Amy wrote, a work of laughter. I miss Bob’s laughter, but his sense of humor is vivid in the book.]

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