DISTEMPER CASES CLOSE SPCA INTAKE/ADOPT FOR 2 WEEKS

EDITION OF WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY JUNE 8/9 [PetPowellPress] Distemper is forcing the SPCA of Texas to suspend adoptions and intake at all locations for at least two weeks, the organization announced in a news release late Wednesday afternoon.

You can get the details — including info about adoptng foster animals and those at off-site locations — by clicking this LINK
  to the SPCA news release. The target date for reopening “routine” business is June 22. 

ALLIE WAITS TO BE A MOM;
SHE IS AVAILABLE TO BE HELPED

So far this is the story of two dogs. But it looks pretty certain that there will be more. Human help is needed. 
When it comes to expectant mammals, most of us can’t really guess the due date — so, perhaps this girl Allie, by the time you read this, will no longer be a “VERY PREGNANT YOUNG GERMAN SHEPHERD.” These are photos of Allie as she waits at the Ferris Animal Shelter, one of the small facilities monitored by the non-profit 4-Legged Helpers. In mid-afternoon, the report was she had neither been helped nor adopted nor had she delivered a litter of puppies. There’s still time to get her to a “better birthing place” than a city shelter with a limited staff and a mission that isn’t “obstetrics.”
A Helpers note said transportation is available to a rescue or a foster. 
Call or text the Helpers at 214-949-2726 or email [email protected]. And, the note also reads, “Puppies just cannot be born at this shelter.  They will not make it.  Please PLEASE help. This young dog is an absolute sweetheart!  Came into the shelter with her sister Avery.  She is a smaller sized GSD.  Her sister is what we call a ‘pocket shepherd’.”
And Laura Macias of the Helpers told us, “Actually she and her sister were dumped next to the I-45 highway. I actually had seen the truck that dumped them both. I saw the truck with them in the back and then the next day the dogs were on the side of highway waiting around. I am not sure how long they had been there. I tried to get them but they were not coming to me. I had to get to work.
 The Ferris ACO found out about them and had to finally trap them both to get them. So stray, yes, but dumped, also.” 

Avery’s already tagged by a rescue, but Allie the pregnant pup is waiting.
MEANWHILE IN MESQUITE,
THREE READY TO GO
This first guy is a “senior sweetheart named Apollo,” according to the note we got from Mesquite Animal Shelter’s volunteer dog biographer Debra Chisholm. 
She says Apollo was “surrendered to the Mesquite Animal Shelter on 6/6.  Owner wrote on the form as the reason for surrender ‘can't care for him anymore’ and also stated financial hardship.  Apollo is a handsome mixed breed boy who weighs 62 pounds, is 10+ years old and is not neutered.  Owner admitted she has never taken him to a vet, though did just before surrendering to get a rabies shot. He has a mellow personality, is submissive, well-mannered, calm and gentle.  Apollo walks beautifully on a leash.  … He kept his kennel clean and when I took him outside for his photo session, he went immediately.  He was extremely interested in sniffing out the scents and I had a bit of a rough time getting him to look into the camera.  He has not yet acclimated to the noisy shelter environment and lays in his kennel shaking.” Outside, he’s calmer. He’s #50362871.
Use that ID when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].

This is “spunky pooch Amelia.” Debra says she’s a 4-year-old “mixed breed girl that arrived as a stray on 6/3 … Amelia weighs 38 pounds and is not spayed.  She has plenty of energy with some to spare!  She is a tail-wagging, lively, playful girl with a confident demeanor.  She walks very nicely on a leash and when I led her past kennels of other dogs she did not show any aggression. … She knows the sit command and will do so continually as long as you are willing to dispense treats (which she loves).  This frisky, perky girl does jump on you in her excitement so that will be an issue needing to be addressed.  Amelia is friendly and would be more than happy to consider any adoption or rescue offers from good people as she is most anxious to find herself a new home.”
 She’s #50345481 in the shelter — use it to ID her when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].

Debra describes Barney as a “fun-loving, happy-go-lucky” Beagle/Bassett mix who came in as a stray on the 3rd of June. [DEAR READERS, See Contemplations for the “3rd of June.”]
Barney is about a year old and weighs 31 pounds. [LARRY ASIDE: “Who’d lose a dog like this and never go to the shelter to loo for him? Sheesh…]

He’s not neutered. Might explain why he’s a wanderer. Debra writes, “There are so many good things to say about this boy and why he would make a wonderful pet.  He's playful, has an outgoing and confident personality, is energetic without being hyper and is a real sweetheart.  He has obviously been well-cared for and yet his owner has not come to reclaim.  He has adjusted ok to the shelter environment.  Timid and shy?  Absolutely not!  He sits for treats (which he loves!), may be house-trained, walks nicely on a leash and when I led Barney past kennels with other dogs barking at him, he did not show an unfriendly attitude in return.” Barney is #50347062. Use his ID when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283.
See more of Mesquite’s adorable adoptables by clicking HERE.
SOME OF THE TEXAS CARES
KITTENS; THEY WERE TWEETED
I clicked onto Twitter on Wednesday and one of the first things I saw was the photograph of an array of kittens.
It came from Texas CARES, the North Texas cat rescue-and-adopt people. I’m happy to post the photo, but, also, I really like that Texas CARES flag. 

The text with the photo reads, “Pandora, Pandemonium and Pixel are just a few of the sweet kitties we have available for adoption. Check out our website for their bios and our adoption application!”
 That website is HERE, i.e., texascares.org. You can read about the non-profit and how to get involved, too.

CONTEMPLATIONS
TUNES AND NOTES
Here’s a note “about the 3rd of June.” If you were a teenager in 1967 listening to AM radio (FM had yet to become a hot rock band, so to speak), sometime in July that year you realized that there was a skyrocketing hit by a singer named Bobbie Gentry. It was Ode to Billie Joe. And when I was writing about Barney the dog arriving as a Mesquite stray on the “third of June” I was taken back to 1967 and the opening line: “It was the 3rd of June, another sleepy, dusty delta day….” That was some year. And to hear the Ode, click HERE.
AND WHEN I WAS WRITING BARNEY BEING A WANDERING DOG, it took me back to 1961 and the early rock legend Dion and one of his big hits that seems to reflect the moods of the stray dog Barney, "The Wanderer." CLICK HERE.  
WE’LL CLOSE these contemplations with a performance of my latest song, “Don’t Frighten The Audience.” I’m kidding. Even I have some standards.
—- Offer hope or ideas by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put 'DROP THAT GUITAR, TUNELESS!' in the subject line. —-