EDITION OF WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY Feb. 3-4, 2021 [PetPowellPress] Anybody else learn the word “potpourri” from listening to The Paul Harvey News on AM radio? Yeah, well, here we come with a potpourri for this dual day edition.
How’s that for 3 lines typed in 2021 without mentioning either politics or a virus!
FIRST WE GO TO A REPORT
ON THE GIRL CHIQUITA
I’ll confess that the story of Chiquita, 13 and blind and “owner-surrendered,” set the tone for my entire day Tuesday. Wednesday, it’s a little better. Chiquita was in the Fort Worth Animal Care & Control Shelter where there are people working for her.
So, the latest note we've seen is a report on Kristen Barg Morrison’s Facebook page is that efforts are underway to get Chiquita to a rescue group in San Antonio. As Kristen wrote in her appeal, “She has a rescue that wants her. Can anyone spend a day saving a life?!”
More to come, no doubt, on this story. [LARRY ASIDE: There are 7.5 million residents in the DFW Metro Area, largest “metro area” in Texas. San Antonio’s metro area, 3rd largest in Texas, has around 2.5 mill. You’d think that among 7.5 million North Texans there’d be one who could love a 13-year-old, blind dog named Chiquita. I must be an optimist.]
THEN THERE’S THIS BOY
IN AN OKLAHOMA SHELTER
Just so you don’t think Texas has cornered the market on “owner surrenders of older dogs,” we got this note Wednesday from the relentless rescuer in Burns Flat, Okla., Terry Lynn Fisher.
“Lord help me,” Terry Lynn wrote, “What’s up with the seniors? My heart can’t take this.”
A friend sent her a note about an older Poodle that, Terry Lynn says, is in a shelter “about 40 miles from me. A horrific hellhole of a pound.”
The friend's note read, “Anyone want a hot mess senior toy poodle? ACO: ‘There is a poodle mix at the shelter — about 14 — that was surrendered because he was biting elderly owner. I feel if the teeth issue is taken care of, very bad teeth, and he's got cataracts going, so visually impaired to a point, maybe a rescue could take. He didn't make any moves while I was out there earlier."
To offer to help this guy, get in touch with Terry Lynn at [email protected].
WANDERING IN WILMER,
SHE NEEDS SOME HELP
This is Avery, a Bulldog mix girl. And we learned her story from 4-Legged Helpers, the non-profit that focuses on small shelters and wandering animals in a fix. Avery, apparently unwanted in Wilmer, fits right into the Helpers’ mission.
The note, sent by Helpers Leighann Hayden and Laura Macias, reads, “Avery is a precious girl and showed up on a property where someone has been feeding her but she desperately needs a home or rescue. GREAT and we mean GREAT with other dogs and even loves cats. Just the most precious sweet girl ever. Wilmer is still not even taking anything into their ‘shelter’ so dogs in this area are so out of luck.”
That means the 4-Legged Helpers have stepped up to try to get Avery into a rescue group or a safe home for the rest of her life. Call or text Laura at 214-949-2726 or email [email protected]. Avery is “available now”!
OLDER QUEENIE'S IN A SHELTER;
‘OWNERS WERE MOVING’…
Our pal, Judi Brown, volunteer dog biographer at Mesquite Animal Services’ Shelter, has found a dog whose situation surely will rip the heart right out of anybody with a heartbeat. Surely.
Judi writes, “Queenie is an approximately 15-year-old Husky/German Shepherd/Border Collie mix that was surrendered to the Mesquite Animal Shelter on 1/29 because her owners were moving. She is a sweet, gentle, loving dog that deserves to have a loving home with lots of warm comfy blankets for her final months/years of her life.
“Because of her age and fact that she only weighs 25 pounds she will be RESCUE ONLY (hospice situation). She has been taken to the vet and had a fecal test and a senior blood panel which came back OK.”
She getting additional tests and her teeth are of a concern. Judi says, “Currently she’s being fed soft food three times a day because she's so badly underweight.
“The staff and volunteers have been spending time with her and I think the consensus of opinion would be that we’re all falling in love with her.”
Our pal Judi adds, “You will, too, if you meet her.”
Judi also says that Queen loves to snuggle and “have her ears scratched. She gets around slowly and walks well on a leash. … Queenie needs to be out of the shelter ASAP.” Her ID is 46535909. Use it when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].
[LARRY ASIDE: We’ve been writing about the Mesquite Animal Services and its shelter for a while — years, I guess. We’ve admired staffers and volunteers through many canine and feline encounters. And, now, it seems, the Mesquite City Council may have reacted to the fact that Mesquite Animal Services is “doing the city proud” with its programs and its work. The latest development may be a result of elected officials taking a look at the standard set by the shelter and its workers and supporters and joining in on the effort to save ‘em all. Here’s a LINK to a DFW Community News story reporting that the Mesquite City Council has OK'd a $227,735 contract to increase the size of the Mesquite Animal Shelter while adding more kennels and a new play area. The story includes this info from Mesquite Director of Neighborhood Services Maria Martinez.
She, according to the story, said that “the live release rate of all animals who entered the City’s shelter was 95% in 2020 as compared to 90% in 2019. Martinez explained much of the success goes to the dedicated staff, volunteers and rescue groups working in collaboration on a daily – sometimes hourly basis.”
]
Remember, you can see more Mesquite Shelter animals by going to this ONLINE SHELTER SITE. In addition to the dogs, you’ll see such cats as Flit (#46478905), a 4 1/2-year-old Domestic Shorthair with some pretty big eyes in a shelter photo session. And there’s a cat we’ve mentioned before, 2-year-old Big Friendly, a male domestic shorthair mix with a championship set of whiskers. That third cat is 4-year-old Valentino (46477688) a smallish fellow who waits in the shelter with all the young cats, barn cats, mature cats and probably even some alley cats. Save ‘em all.
[LARRY REVELATION: Readlarrypowell.com endorses all dogs and cats without ever having met them. We’d extend the same courtesy to all humans — except, well, we’ve met some of them.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
THINGS CHANGE AND OTHER NOTES
I was walking past Martha’s work station in the home office and she says, “Here’s a question for you: 'If you could live anywhere in the world, what part of Texas would you move to?' ” Texans, of course, are proudly laughing. Martha said she found it on an Instagram account and then she sent me a copy of the illustration in case any of you want to pass it on! I picked Santa Fe because I believe that part of New Mexico ought to still belong to Texas. Oh, I'm kidding -- Texas owns me, to the chagrin of the tax collector. …
I do remember, though, working in Dallas when it was part of Texas — before back in the ‘80s when so many New Yorkers and New York businesses came to town that people began to refer to Dallas as “The Sixth Borough.” And when DART began building Dallas’ subway, they called it “The Seventh Burrow.” I’m kidding.…
Let’s talk weather, he typed on an afternoon in the “Dead of Winter” when the sun was out and the temp was pushing the mid-70s. It’s a good thing that the general rule for a snow in North Texas is it can stay on the ground for 24 hours, but it can stay on the streets and highways only until about noon the morning that it falls. It’s the “One Rush Hour Limit.”
—- Offer opinions or objections by clicking on ‘comments’ or by emailing [email protected]. —-
