FOR MONDAY'S EDITION: DOGS LINGER IN THE 'AVAILABLE' POSITION; A BIG OL' CAT; CONTEMPLATIONS ABOUT 'NORMAL'

EDITION OF MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2023 [PetPowellPress] On a morning after a tragic weekend, we hold off on commentary until Contemplations. Now, let’s move into highlighting the opportunities for big and wonderful hearts to help other big and wonderful hearts.
LOOKING BACK IN ORDER
TO HELP GOLD MEDAL THE DOG
LOOK HAPPILY AHEAD
How far back do we look? March. When this stray was rescued.
 We’ve been trying to help his devoted rescuer/follower Amy Poskey, veteran animal advocate in Denton, encourage someone or some organization to get this dog out of a shelter and into a lifelong happy home.

Why is Amy so determined to help this dog who loves tummy rubs and has great blue eyes?
 We found the answer in the opening of an appeal Amy sent out in March to her friends and acquaintances in the pro-animal world. She wrote, “Hey, Everyone! To make a long story short… I called the shelter about this sweet, stray boy and one of the ACOs was able to catch him.  Poor baby was timid.  Nobody came for him so now he needs our help!
"We have rescue but we need a foster to make that happen.”  
We looked at the Denton bio for Gold Medal at 9 a.m. Monday and here’s what we found. It opened with his shelter number:
“52361722.
“Located At: City of Denton Linda McNatt Animal Care and Adoption Center
“Description: My name is Gold Medal. I am a male, white and black Australian Cattle Dog mix. Age: The shelter staff think I am about 3 years old. More Info: I have been at the shelter since Mar 15, 2023. Data Updated: This information was refreshed 2 hours ago.”
Here’s the LINK.
You’ll find that Gold Medal is guessed to be between 2 and 5 years old, he weighs 50 pounds and he’s an Aussie Cattle Dog mix.
Is he house-trained? Might be. The report he “does not make much mess in his kennel.” 
Health? Heartworm positive, but, as Amy has noted, the payment for that treatment is covered. [LARRY ASIDE: We’ve adopted and fostered several heartworm positive dogs through the years. It’s basically not a big deal as long as you keep the dogs quiet and get to enjoy being mostly still and not so active — which is how most dogs thrive, anyway, right? Why do you think you own a couch?]
Gold Medal is neutered, microchipped, good with other dogs (nobody knows about cats) and, as you can see in that photo, can train a human to do tummy rubs.
As Amy wrote in the early emails, Gold Medal arrived at the shelter “really dirty” and was wearing a worn-out collar with chew rope still dangling from it. And there’s this: “The staff said that he was very scared at first and is still timid until you walk him or interact with him.  He seems very submissive and will flop over for a belly rub when he feels comfortable with his visitors.” 
He’s making progress everywhere except being rescued and adopted. If you can help Gold Medal, get in touch with Amy at [email protected]
AND THEN THERE’S ANGIE,
NAMED FOR LOCAL ANGEL…
Yes, this dog with the fab ears and face has been mentioned here before. She’s named for her rescuer, Angie Manriquez, the local angel for whom the rescue group Angie’s Friends is named. 
We got this batch of info from Gabriela Pataro,
She sent a report that reads, “HELP us find a Foster or  FUREVER home for Angie Dog and Honor Angie’s work.
“Angie dog was named in honor of Angie by Dallas Animal Services. Angie originally spotted this stray and a male in West Dallas.   She pursued the male and DAS caught the girl.  DAS is investigating the neglect of both dogs as they were  in poor condition and [the ‘owner/owners’ were] likely breeding her.
“Angie Dog has made great strides since her capture on  April 19. She is gaining weight and learning all about the world of good people, great food, health and rest." [LARRY ASIDE: You may interpret 'great strides' as "taking over the bed and snoozing like she owns it.]
The bio continues, “Her traits so far are: great intelligence, she’s quiet, non-destructive, not anxious, has good potty habits, knows a doggie door and is definitely a Velcro dog.
“She would be a ideal dog for a disabled person or a person needing a comfort dog.  She is not reactive to other dogs, ignores cats, doesn’t cry when she hears a siren, and enjoys her morning walk.  She is learning basic commands and knows to run to her crate when she is naughty.

“Her ideal home will have a yard, a dedicated human and Maybe another dog to play with.  Her current foster home is under distress because their pets are not receptive to Angie.  They had a bad experience with another dog and are not welcoming Angie Dog who has taken this graciously. She is grateful for the indoor life and human attention. The humans need relief from the commotion though. 
“Officially she is property of DAS  and as such will be treated for her low grade heartworm stage by DAS and spayed by DAS.  She is already fully vaccinated and microchipped.”

The Dallas Animal Services adoption page for Angie is HERE. You’ll find that her ID is #A1177209 and she’s listed at a 6-year-old “mixed breed.” [LARRY ASIDE: That sure looks like a whole lot of German Shepherd lounging in the foster home above and on the shelter cot (right). DAS listed her at 61 pounds — looks like 61 hungry pounds, so readlarrypowell.com, an over-eating expert on weight gain, thinks she’ll add some poundage with proper feeding and additional snoozing in a happy home!]
If no ransomware or anything gets in the way, you can call the shelter at 214-670-6800 or email [email protected] or stop by for a visit at 1818 N. Westmoreland Rd. in Dallas, right next to I-30 West.
ANYBODY ASK ABOUT
A CAT NAMED ‘VINNY’?
Not yet. Maybe you didn’t know Vinny is available to a good home. He’s an 8-year-old Domestic Shorthair Mix patiently waiting for the right cat-lovin’ human to show up at the SPCA of Texas and adopt him.

This fellow weighs in at 12 pounds and is currently in a foster home. His bio says “Other cats Okay.” 
He may have actually written his bio — readlarrypowell.com has experience with all-grown-up cats and this sounds like it could be an actual bit of cat-writing.
Vinny’s bio reads, “I'm a handsome older gentleman who is looking for my forever home. I'm a very affectionate cat who some might call clingy, I just call it love! I have lived in a home all of my life but due to family circumstances I need to find a new forever family who will love me as much as I will love them back.”
He’s not keen on dogs, but he is OK with other cats and genuinely loving humans. He’s at the SPCA at 2400 Lonestar Drive on the eastern side of Downtown Dallas. Vinny’s bio is HERE and you can also set up an appointment to meet him. And, also, you can donate at that site.

CONTEMPLATIONS

THE WEEKEND’S EVENTS
Friday night, my funspouse Martha and I met up with some longtime friends for laughter and recollections. It was a splendid evening that ended a little later than usual for us. Why was that important? Because we were getting up before 4 a.m. Saturday to go fishing….I’m kidding. We were getting up to watch the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Martha is a devoted anglophile and, by marriage, so am I, I guess. We watched all the way through the event on a BBC channel. We saw the crowds of Britons and others celebrating this rare moment in British history. The last time there was a king’s coronation was Charles III’s grandfather in 1937. We watched like a couple of Americans whose families had roots in Mother England but whose foundation is in Texas where we were born into families without oil wells and cattle but with the Shadow of the Depression hanging over the checkbooks and light switches. After the Coronation was over, we suited up and went for lunch at a place I can’t even remember right now. Honest. It'll come to me. …
And at some point we turned the TV on and found that, once again, the "normal" Texas world we live in had disintregrated because of a hellish attack on innocents. People who, like us, had been having an “normal day.” 
When I was a kid reporter in Texarkana in the mid-1960s we could still hear the echos of the gunfire from downtown Dallas. So could newsrooms all over the nation. But, as I recall, in the mid-60s murders generally made front page news because they were RARE in the communities of America. But, then on Aug. 1, 1966, there was that awful attack by a sniper from atop the big tower at the University of Texas in Austin. Before he shot anyone on the campus at UT, he opened fire on a family that was innocently entering the viewing area atop the tower. A family on a normal visit to a university campus. Normal. Ordinary.
I wondered if the number of murders had increased after JFK. Or after the Tower shooting. And I found a place called the Disaster Center, apparently a FEMA division, that listed murder rates through the years with a ton of other statistics. It’s a dazzling and confusing table of numbers that probably needs an expert to read and interpret. And there’s not a listing since 2019. Maybe the agency ran out of money.
Whatever the case, Saturday’s statistics won’t show up for a while. But Saturday’s actions already are in the national memory. As were the mass shootings that occurred before Saturday. What does nearly every case have in common? Some person apparently in need of mental health treatment was pulling a trigger. We need a way to help people get mentally healthy without being shamed and without thinking that creating horror will make their lives one bit better. How do we do that? I don’t know. I’m just a reporter. But I’ll proudly write about the solution when someone figures it out. In the meantime, make mental health a priority for Americans. You'd think seeking mental health would be more of a priority than losing 20 pounds with a newly developed medicine. Might as well make mental health a priority for the rest of the world, too. Too much government-authorized killing of innocents of all ages on Planet Earth. Respect life. Embrace peace.
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