CENTERING THE MIND, SAVING THE ANIMALS, CONTEMPLATING THE WAY THINGS GO

EDITION OF TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9-10, 2021 [PetPowellPress] Some days you find yourself bewildered by the way things go. Then, you turn the TV on and you are suddenly centered. How’s that for a Baby Boomer’s explanation of bringing immediate order to your universe? We’re going to address that in Contemplations, but first, we need to focus on the animal stories .
Wait, one more thing. I finished that sentence and hit the end of the typing highway. So I turned and looked at my two canine companions for the day, Porche Noel on her rug and the great Wendy (Wednesday Louise Wagstaff Arden) happily nosing my camera phone. And I asked a deep question,
“Y’all ever wake up and say, ‘I don’t feel like being a dog today.’?” They kept looking at me as if I might say something wise. Hah.
WHEN THE TIMING WORKS
IN BURNS FLAT, OKLA.

Yep, in animal rescue, sometimes it’s all in the timing. Consider this story from long-time Burns Flat., Okla., resilient rescuer Terry Lynn Fisher, who may hold the Oklahoma Record for saving animals from bad situations.

She wrote, “Came home with this baby today. Sadly, don’t have any place for the dog so I’m searching for help now then will go back and pick him up   I went to a doctor appointment  and stopped to get a drink at the Sonic … I kept hearing a kitten cry but couldn’t see it. I noticed this poor dog curled up in the grass there. 

“The girl brought my drink out so I asked her about him.  She said he has been there over a week and wouldn’t leave.  People would throw food out to him. She also said a Siamese kitten hung with him and they curled up together when the sun went down and it got cold. 
“I went to leave and as I pulled around back I watched a car go right over the top of this kitten.  I got out and this baby ran and jumped in my car.  I left some food out for the dog and the girl promised to keep an eye on it for me while I try and figure what to do with him 
“For now I need help with this cat. It’s not very old.  Maybe 4 to 6 months. If anyone can help please let me know.”
 To help Terry Lynn with this Sonic situation, email her at [email protected].
TWO FAMILIAR FACES,
SAME FAMILIAR SITUATION
We’ve cited both of these cats before. Oddly, in the general area of millions of people, these two cats cannot find a couple of loving homes.
You’d think that in an area with full schools and full freeways and and full animal shelters there’d be at least two people who have room for a cat in their homes.
Do they just not know that cats are available? Do they just not care? Are they the same people who don’t care about the dogs in the shelters, too? Equal opportunity don’t care/so what nonchalance about life.
Look, we know about these cats because we’re on the mailing list for 4-Legged Helpers, a small but focused non-profit that tries to let as many people as possible know about the plight of animals in small shelters. 
These two are in a shelter in Denton County that, the Helpers tell us, prefers to remain unidentified. So, your best bet at saving Sebastian and Oliver is going through the Helpers — call or text 214-949-2726 or email [email protected] The Helpers can arrange transportation if a non-profit — a genuine 501c3 rescue — will claim these two and save their lives. Such a simple act of kindness. 
Sebastian is a neutered “Creamsickle” Tabby. “He is a love bunny,” the Helpers say. In their appeal, the Helpers wrote, “Please, do you know someone willing to take and save him? … We are so sad for him — he needs you — please help.”

Yeah, the Helpers make personal pleas for these animals. Works a lot of the time — but these cats have been “on the list” for quite a while now. Oliver, the Tuxedo fellow, is another cat tied for the title of “Sweetest Cat Ever.” He is described as “very affectionate and extremely loving. … True purrfect Lap Kitty,” the Helpers say. He’s fixed and vaccinated. 

And when you go to the 4-Legged Helpers’ Facebook page HERE  you’ll also find an appeal for this girl Maggie. She’s in the care of a “very kind person” who found the 3-month-old, 16-pound girl “straying” in Dallas County. Rather than dump her in an odds-against-the-animals shelter with low foot traffic, the rescuer engaged 4-Legged Helpers in working on her behalf.
AND OPEY GETS A
PERSONAL ENDORSEMENT
This guy Opey is in the Mesquite Animal Services Shelter (one of the few in the area that has “dog biographers” to tell prospective adopters about the nature of the animals).
 Our pal Judi Brown, a veteran volunteer biographer, declares, “Opey is my favorite dog at the shelter and for that reason I want to pledge $75 to a 501c3 that will rescue him.” (Email [email protected] for more info.)

Judi writes, “All Opey wants to do is to put his head on your lap or get belly rubs. He’s craving love. He does not make a good presentation at the window but once out in the yard is a real love bug! Because he does not make a good presentation at his kennel window and is not the prettiest dog in the shelter he’s being overlooked! But he is one of the sweetest dogs there. Please pass the word on.”

He’s a 3-year-old, 67-pound terrier — might be a Jack Russell/Border Collie mix. He was, Judi wrote in her initial evaluation, “literally abandoned at the Mesquite Animal Shelter on 9/25. He was very timid and needed TLC to bring him around. He has been a volunteer project and still a work in progress. There’s no doubt he wants to make friends so with a slow introduction he could easily be your BFF! Opey is a very sweet, gentle boy that comes when he calls and puts his head on your lap. He likes to stay close. … If you’re looking for a gentle, loving dog to hang out with please come and meet Opey. He would do very well laying at your feet while you’re reading a good book or watching TV.” To ask about adopting or rescuing Opey, use his ID #48736131 when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected] 
Keep that number and the email address handy because it’s the info you’ll need for the rest of these animals, too.

This guy is Coconut, another project of biographer Judi. She says, “You’ll have to come in and meet him in person to witness his true beauty.” He’s a year-old mix breed “possibly Ibizan hound or Lab mix.” He came in as a stray on November 3 — isn’t fixed. Out in the yard, she says, “He has a very long nose and kept it glued to the ground to smell just about everything in the yard. … On top of that he was very active, even leaping and bounding around the yard for joy. He was constantly on the move. For these reasons I was not able to capture his true essence. Several times he started whimpering.... especially when he was looking out the gate. I believe he was looking for his owners. It made me sad but also made me realize he’s capable of deep love and loyalty.” When you contact the shelter, ask about #49008572.
And this girl is Lily (49015310), also a Judi project. Judi explained, “She got her name because she’s lily white with a sprinkling of freckles across her cute nose. Another name for her could be Sugar as she is truly that sweet! Lily is a 3-year-old mix breed (probably retriever/Lab mixed with some Dalmatian) that arrived at the Mesquite Shelter on 11/4 as a stray. She is not fixed. She met me in the kennel with happy wiggles and wags. It didn’t take much time with her to realize that she’s a real jewel. She is friendly but not overly so, she’s playful, she’s affectionate, and she’s well mannered! She sits for treats and take them gently. …. She showed her joy by bounding around the yard. I threw a ball but she was not interested.  When I sat down she came and put her head on my lap. One time she even tried to crawl up on my lap.... all 52 pounds of her! She comes when you call her! … Because she’s relatively calm and does not jump on you she would most likely make a wonderful pet for a family with children.”

There are so many more, but we’ll close with this guy Paul — his biographer, Debra Chisholm, says her dog scanner reading for Paul was “Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever (98%)” who was surrendered to the shelter on September 30 for the reason that he simply was not wanted.”
[LARRY ASIDE: You know, it’s probably best that he was surrendered at a shelter with a vibrant adoption program by someone who didn’t want him rather than staked out in a backyard and ignored or turned loose in a city park or on the side of the road or sold to someone who needed a bait dog. Still, “not wanted” is an awful thing for a dog to face.]
Debra says the 5-year-old, 43-pound, not-neutered Paul “is very athletic and can jump up and catch a treat in his mouth….He knows the sit and down commands. … He is enthusiastic and energetic and will jump on you in his excitement.  Paul walks well on a leash.  He likes treats and takes them gently.  He likes to play with plush toys.  Paul is friendly and has a sweet nature.  It's likely Paul has lived outside.  He had some tufts of fur missing on his back and hip but the fur has mostly grown back in the time he's been at the shelter. He also has some dry skin that could likely be remedied with some fish oil tabs or just a healthy diet.  Paul had a rough time of it at first, not adjusting to the shelter very well but has since had time to decompress and is feeling more confident and trusting of people.” Paul is #48774483 — use that number to ID him when you call the shelter at 972-215-6283 or email [email protected] quite.com. 
Remember, you can see more Mesquite dogs and, of course, lots of cats and kittens, by clicking on the shelter site HERE.
Among the cats, is #48104500, known as Grumpy. Though he may not be “grumpy.” He’s around 6 months old — he came into the shelter on June 29 — that means he was a tiny kitten when he arrived and now he’s a small, nearly grown boy with a great face and the sensational black and white coat of — based on our experience with cats at Readlarrypowell.com— a merry prankster. 
[LARRY APPEAL: Save ‘em all. Yes, it’s possible. We’re humans — we can do just about anything! We’ve been to the moon; we’ve got smarts, don’t we? We have good hearts, right? Don’t let any animal live a single moment as “simply not wanted.” Not a moment.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
TEA, FILM ANIMALS, YOUR DOG
Call this a “LARRY CONFESSION.” I’ve stopped drinking coffee and switched to green tea—that’ll explain a lot. I haven’t been jittery in a week — and I’ve begun speaking with a British accent. Notice how I swiftly typed “akcent” rather than the enhanced Texas version “HACK—SCENT, Y’ALL!". Lord knows what I’d have typed if I’d been hopped up on a gallon of hot java. …

In the opening I mentioned being a Baby Boomer and turning the TV on to help me find the center of my existence. On Tuesday morning, I found that Turner Classic Movies was showing It’s a Dog’s Life, a 1955 film starring Wildfire the Bull Terrier as the central dog (voiced by TV and film star Vic Morrow, a victim, decades later, of a helicopter crash on the set of Twilight Zone: the Movie.) Also in this film was Edmund Gwenn who, in 1947, portrayed Kris Kringle in the first film version of Miracle on 34th Street. And, in 1954, he also played a heroic scientist in the horror film Them! The International Movie Database summary of Them! reads, “The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.” Yep, sounds like it could have been written in the 21st century, doesn’t it? You know — if you swap tiny viruses for the giant ants.
Back to It’s a Dog’s Life, the IMDB site of the film lists a “Crazy Credit.” It’s from the movie’s prologue and it quotes the voice of evolution Charles Darwin: “I agree with Agassiz that dogs possess something very like a conscience.” Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) was a “Swiss-born American biologist.” While he may have been right about dogs, research reveals Agassiz was also so wrong and was, in today’s terms, a racist. Here’s a LINK to a revealing article in a 2019 edition of The Harvard Crimson. [LARRY ASIDE: My dogs can show remorse and guilt and happiness and they also have ambition. That makes them way smarter than a lot of humans who have held “lofty” reputations on this planet.]
—- Offer ideas or objections by clicking on ‘comment’ or by emailing [email protected] and put ‘MY DOG LAUGHS, TOO’ in the subject line! —-