EDITION OF FRIDAY, AUG. 26, 2022 [PetPowellPress] Here we go with the Friday edition — the finishing touch on an odd work week. We began it with a “rain day” and sailed — poor choice of word, let’s try rolled — rolled right on through to a sunny Friday.
Speaking of Friday, here’s an office-appropriate quote from Parade Magazine. It’s anonymous (probably on the advice of an attorney): “It’s Friday! Time to go make stories for Monday.” Make nice stories, of course. Read on...
AN ‘URGENT MEDICAL CASE’:
SUNNY IN MESQUITE
[LARRY ASIDE: Now and then I get to read the story of a dog first thing in the morning and, maybe I’m vulnerable at that time of day, but, I get moved to tears by the photographs and the story. Yeah, the way she’s protecting that leg sent me off to tissue-dabbing time. Somebody help this dog! Here’s the appeal:]
So, Dear Readers, it is our hope that by the time you check on this year-old, 62-pound dog someone will already have claimed her and gotten her into a loving situation with exquisite health care. We got the tip on her from our pal Debra Chisholm, the veteran volunteer dog biographer at Mesquite Animal Services.
She writes, “I have named this amazingly sweet youngster Sunny [#50952528] because of her sunny disposition despite a serious injury she has sustained.
“Sunny is a Retriever/Lab mix that was picked up by one of our officers on 8/22 as a stray. She has a major injury to her left front leg as well as hair and skin missing on her right back leg. She was taken to the vet on 8/23 …She is rescue only and needs her leg examined again to determine the extent of the injuries and what medical treatment will be necessary, and it may be drastic.”
Debra writes, “It only took minutes for me to see that she is a sweet soul, is friendly and likes loving attention. She seemed so badly to want to play and scamper about but I did not want to excite her with toys and balls because I did not want her to put pressure on her injured leg. There is so much to like about Sunny and it was her misfortune to sustain this injury. She needs out of the shelter ASAP”
Use her ID 50952528 when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].
As Debra wrote, “She has her whole life ahead of her and deserves a chance at a home with loving and committed owners.”
[LARRY ASIDE: We’ll spotlight more Mesquite animals later in this edition. Next up, we have a second notice about a beloved cat who needs a new home.]
OUR PAL KEEPS LOOKING
FOR CRYSTAL’S NEW HOME
We recently wrote about our long-time animal rescue pal Deborah Lynn Verner trying to find a good, safe place for her cat Crystal to live. Not one response did she get.
This isn’t a story of “dump a cat” — it’s a story of a beloved cat needing a home because her human is encountering rougher times — not rough times, but ROUGHER times — with her health.
And Deborah has fought through a lot of rough times to — in spite of health challenges — to save animals' lives. Saving lives is how she met Crystal.
Deborah writes, ““I rescued her almost 13 years ago as a kitten. Rather, she adopted me. She's a small Siamese mix (spayed). She's very shy but sweet. She is an indoor-only cat due to being front declawed.
“She gets along with both dogs and cats. She just doesn't like to be chased. …
She is not microchipped. She stays in my bedroom all the time, where she is most comfortable due to vision issues. She uses the litter box. She loves to lay in your lap, and will sleep next to you at night.”
And there’s this: “She comes with her Vet records, and remaining Tidy Cat Lightweight Litter. She eats Purina Cat Chow.”
Contact Deborah via Facebook HERE or email her at [email protected].
LUCAS AND LEVI JOIN
FERRIS HOUND PARADE
I feel like going all Mayberry with this latest development. “Well, don’t that beat awl….” Recently we were, on behalf of 4-Legged Helpers, posting a photo of the hounds Merit and Honor enjoying a meal at the Ferris Animal Shelter.
Then today, we got another photo of more Hounds from Laura Macias and the 4-Legged Helpers. This one has THREE Hounds in it. [LARRY ASIDE: If this pattern persists, next week we may have a photo of so many Hounds that it looks like a class picture at a big city high school! Somebody find the Hound person and explain the birds and bees and spay and neuter to them.]
Ah, back to the three dog picture: One of those hounds (the shorter, I think) is tagged already. The two remaining are Lucas and Levi. What do they have in common with Merit and Honor? Found in a notorious dumping area in rural Dallas County.
Laura reports that the shelter had Merit and Honor show up and then the Helpers got them tagged. Then, Laura was beginning to feel a little relief in the Hound Placement Challenge when, suddenly, here came Lucas and Levi.
To get more information on the newly available Hounds or to tag them for rescue or to audition to adopt or to volunteer with 4-Legged Helpers, here are the multi-purpose contact points: Call or text 214-949-2726 or email [email protected].
The latest Hounds appear to be around 8 to 11 months old and they’re lovable and “super sweet and friendly,” Laura writes.
And the kittens that were found on the side of a road? Both Jinx and Pebbles have been rescued at the Ferris Animal Shelter.
[LARRY ASIDE: That doesn’t mean there aren’t MORE kittens being “set free” on the side of the road near Ferris. If Hounds can be dumped in pairs, kittens can be dumped in litters. People are just that bright.]
BACK TO THE MESQUITE
LIST OF ADORABLES…..
We’re using this section to guide readers toward the available adorables in the Mesquite Animal Shelter. Fortunately, we have our guides, the volunteer dog biographers Judi Brown and Debra Chisholm.
This first spindly (for now) mixed-breed pup is Damion who, Debra reports, arrived as a stray on Aug. 12. He’s about 5 months old, neutered and weighs 31 pounds. And, as you can see in that blur in his photo, “He is a lively youngster with lots of tail-wagging enthusiasm’” He likes toi play with toys and balls and, yes, he likes treets, too, but hasn’t yet learned to sit for them. Debra says he “walks well on a leash” and “has an outgoing and confident personality.” Might be, she writes, “best-suited for a person or family who is active and would give him daily enrichment--walks, playtime, training (he does jump on you). If you're looking for a puppy and are willing to invest some time and energy into training, this might be just the dog for you.” Damion is #50880857. Use that ID when you call theshelter at 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].
Same system for this beautiful Earhound Bella.
Bio-writer Judi Brown says the 6-month-old, 55-pound, “Belgium Shepherd Malinois” was “surrender to the shelter with two siblings and her father (max) on August 18.
Why? “They were unwanted,” was the reason given by the humans.
Judi reports that Bella [ID #50924774] “Bella is very well behaved. When I first took her out she was trembling. After exploring every nook and cranny with her long nose in the laundry room she started to relax. Her sense of smell is obviously very important to her. She was not interested in treats. She didn’t appear to know the sit command. When I took her out into the yard and threw a ball and tried to entice her with toys, she was not interested. What she was interested in was investigating her surroundings and staying close to me to get extra attention. She’s very affectionate. When I sat down she came to me, put her head on my lap, and appeared to enjoy having her ears scratched! … At first she didn’t walk well on a leash. I think it was because she was so scared. As we were walking side-by-side, I kept telling her what a good girl she was and she started walking better and better. …”
Among the other dogs spotlighted by our biographers?
Bubba [#50836904] is the 2-year-old “darling white pittie” who came in as a stray on August 6. Judi says he’s been at the shelter so long because “he was in quarantine due to space.” And, Judi wrote, “Hopefully his new adopters will consider him a regular member of the family and share their house with him. He would like nothing better than to curl up at your feet while you’re relaxing! He might even snuggle with you! He did eventually come up to me and put his head on my lap.”
Judi also met Sonya [#50900527], a perfectly accented — 4 paws and the tip of her lively tail match — year-old “glossy black and white Retriever/Basenji mix. Weighs about 40 pounds and came in on the 15th as a stray — not spayed. Judi writes, “Once trust is built and she becomes your friend she gives you kisses and lots of tail wags. She stayed close to me and followed me around. That indicated to me that even though she was shy, she wanted my attention and friendship. She did stand by the door frequently indicating she wanted to go in. It was a nice day so I’m assuming she’s been an inside dog…I’ve got the feeling she hasn’t been worked with. As loving as she is and the fact that she wants to please there’s no doubt she would catch on to commands and be a very loyal companion.”
And there’s #50088024, Thor, a mixed breed who, Debra writes, is pegged by the Dog Scanner as a mix that includes Kuvasz, Golden Retriever, Lab Retriever and Anatolian Shepherd. The key thing in his past is he was brought in as a stray on Aug. 13 —- that puts him in a bad spot in a canine’s life. He’s about 3 and weighs 79 un-neutered pounds. “This is,” Debra wrote, “one exuberant, tail-wagging, fun-loving boy.
That dog in the blue neckerchief is Baxter. a 50-pound, year-and-a-half old mix that includes Malinois, Aussie Shepherd and Leonberger. Debra says he came in as a stray on the 16th and is “timid and uneasy in the shelter.” But there’s this, too: “He just seemed to want to stay close to me and receive loving attention…He needs to build confidence and trust in people” and, Debra says, Baxter “has captured my heart.”
See these animals and many more — dogs and cats — by going to the Mesquite Animal Shelter site HERE.
Among the cats? This 4-month-old girl Doris — she’s #50284238 and she’s said to be small. She arrived on May 27. She also is said to be a gray kitten — and while the towel may obscure her total coat, it does indicate that when it’s time to take a photo, she may be a little bit of a handful. Cat grow out of that! Right?
CONTEMPLATIONS
CHALLENGE, MUSING, LAWN
You think running the world’s most successful spay/neuter clinic at Gun Barrel City, Texas, is a snap? Sometimes there’s a call for a little extra service for animals on behalf of the Friends of the Animals Spay Neuter Clinic. For example, we got an email appeal from the Friends’ mainstay Sydney Busch. She asked volunteers, “Please, can someone pick up 3 animals from the Tool shelter next Tuesday morning between 6-8:30 and bring them to the Friends clinic - then take them back that afternoon??? The shelter staff is shorthanded and overwhelmed — these animals will not get spayed/neutered if someone doesn't help!! Contact Monika at [email protected] or Heather at 903-340-7216.” Teamwork. That’s the key. …
While watching The Fugitive, the 1993 film starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, one scene had the title character (Mr. Ford) sitting in a photo booth and getting some mugshots. Suddenly I wondered, “Have photo booths gone the way of phone booths?” Martha and I used to get our mugshots together in a State Fair of Texas photo booth every year. Anybody seen a photo booth lately? …
Today’s last contemplation: Why did the post deluge weeds pop up in my yard instead of the nice “lawn-quality” grass?
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