NOBODY WILL HELP GOLD MEDAL? ARE YOU KIDDING? PLUS, OTHER DOGS, CATS AND A NOTE ABOUT MUSIC

EDITION OF TUESDAY, MAY 2, 2023 [PetPowellPress] We’ll get to Gordon Lightfoot in Contemplations. And Lord knows what else because I’m still organizing my day, my week and several months and years. How many boxes can a guy stack in a garage? Moving along without benefit of a dolly. .
I have two office cats who won’t let me type until they’ve had their treats. Hang on. Tick tick tick tick…Ah, we’re back. Now I’ll try to organize this report. Yes, that is formerly Apprentice Cat Stevie Ray giving me the “Rigid Tail Glare” while he waits for me to finish this sentence and grab treats for him.
IS THE CAMPAIGN BUILDING
TO SAVE GOLD METAL?
More emails have arrived urging me and all others on the senders' address lists to save Gold Medal, the beautiful dog waiting for either a home or the needle at the animal shelter in Denton.
We first wrote about him a while back when we got a note from our longtime tipster, the relentless animal advocate Amy Poskey. She’s been hustling to help this guy ever the blue-eyed, young Aussie Cattle Dog mix was rescued off the streets and given temporary room and board at Denton’s Linda McNatt Animal Care and Adoption Center.
How “temporary”? Depends on you, maybe. Or your neighbor. Or somebody you don’t even know who has a good heart and a place for a good dog. 
Amy says the dog is “sweet, clam, handsome, loveable” and she has this to add: “We have two rescue offers but we need a foster home in the DFW area to make that happen.”
Email Amy at [email protected]. Call the Denton shelter at
940-349-7594. 
Gold Medal is #52361722 —- he has heartworm, but also has a pledge for that treatment. You just need to give him love and comprehension of his needs. That photo on the right is one of his arrival photos, when Gold Medal was still rough from roaming without food or care. Things have gotten better.
There’s the latest appeal for a dog who had the good fortune to be picked up by a good human and now needs just one more good human to step up in his behalf.
[LARRY ASIDE: It can’t be easy being a stray dog in Dallas/Fort Worth. Apparently it’s damnably easy to be the person who lets dogs become strays. That’s someone who needs some treatment.]
MEANWHILE, PRODUCTION
CONTINUES UNABATED
IN CAT COMMUNITY
“Cat community?” Yeah, I think that’s the alternative term for “Metroplex.” Cats are pregnant or delivering or have delivered all over the Metrobirthingplex this spring. And the Feral Friends Community Cat Alliance is trying to find help and homes for all of ‘em that show up on their radar.
You see the artwork that arrived with the latest Feral Friends appeal for financial and hands-on help.
readlarrypowell.com, which already has bagged its limit of unwanted cats and kittens, dared to look at the “Adoptable Cats” photos on the Feral Friends website feralfriends.org. And there we found these two perfectly wonderful examples of available feline darlingness.

Her bio says Allie “was born around 4/19/21” — yep, she’s all grown up and waiting. Badger was born in winter — around Feb. 26 — and he’s waiting, too.
Feral Friends, fyi, has a foster program you can get involved with. And, also, on the Feral Friends website you can read about getting involved in the Race To Reduce Litters Program.
[LARRY ASIDE: You’ll be timed in the 40-yard dash — if you can’t catch a randy Tom Cat or Teasing Wanna-be-a-momma cat within 40 yards, you may not be fit enough to race cats and separate them. OK, I made that up, but I’m kind of tired of picking up nearly newborn kittens off city streets and I’m hoping to get people involved in reducing the number of unwanted felines who are born just to be killed. That’s an awfully immoral circumstance, don’t you think?]
MEANWHILE IN MESQUITE,
OPPORTUNITIES TO TRIUMPH
In today’s edition, we have these situations that need human hearts to lift the animals to a triumphant position in life. They’ve already been rescued; now they need to be saved.
Our tipster, the Mesquite Animal Shelter volunteer dog-writer Debra Chisholm, says this guy Brady is a “Terrier/Dogo Argentina mix that was picked up as a stray by one of our officers and brought to the…Shelter on 4/25.  Brady weighs 50 pounds, is approx 1 year old and is not yet neutered.”
He has a skin condition that shows up in photos and in person.
Debra writes, “Upon arrival at the shelter he was given a skin scrape and it confirmed that he has Demodex.” Yep, Demodectic Mange — unpleasant tiny mites who have invaded his coat. Very curable. Debra says, “He has been started on Nexgard and is beginning to heal. I was informed that he looked worse when he arrived.  “This fellow has a chill personality and is calm and gentle, though is lively and active.  Brady walks quite nicely on a leash.  He loves treats and followed me around the yard wanting more!  He stayed very close to me and I feel it was a combination of desiring to be near a human companion and wanting additional treats!  This tail-wagging, sweet-natured youngster is more than happy to receive petting and close contact.  One day his skin will be free from the mange and he will have a soft silky white coat.  It's sad that a pup this young has to deal with Demodex due to not having proper care.  Please help Brady understand that there are people who care about him and want to give him a second chance at a happy and carefree future.”
Brady is #52513347 at the shelter — call 972-216-6283 or email [email protected].
Same system for contacting the shelter about adopting or rescuing or fostering or somehow helping “this cutesy pup” Kelsey, as she’s described by Debra. 
Kelsey (#52532292) is about 10-months-old, not yet spayed and weighs 38 pounds. Debra writes, “She is a delightful girl who would make a wonderful pet for some person or family looking for a puppy to train, raise, include as a vital part of the family and stay committed to!  I would describe her as a dog with a zest for living!”
Furthermore, Debra writes, “She is a happy-go-lucky, fun-loving youngster with an exuberant and outgoing personality.  She does jump on you and that would need to be addressed.  She doesn't know any commands--yet--and wasn't particularly interested in toys or balls.  She is friendly, affectionate, wanted to climb on my lap to give kisses and is more than happy to receive loving attention. …This playful life-of-the-party youngster would like more than anything to have the very briefest of stays at the shelter.  Won't you please assist Kelsey on the way to her forever home by networking or tagging at [email protected], typing in the subject line TAG, ID 52532292.  Inquiries can be directed to 972-216-6283 or emailed to [email protected]."
As you probably know by now, you can see more Mesquite Adorable Adoptables by clicking on the city’s shelter website HERE.  Cats? You want a cat? Here’s a symbol of the cats available at Mesquite. This guy is Jasper. We posted him before but can’t believe nobody dropped what they were doing and went after him. Jasper (#52341870) is among the varied representatives of allegedly unwanted cats waiting in Mesquite. His age is uncertain, but he is a a medium-sized fellow whose coat is basic gray/white. He came in on March 30 and he’s available, currently waiting in the Conference Room at the shelter. [LARRY ASIDE: I’d go get him, but if we bring another cat into our house, an alarm goes off in Austin and the Texas Legislature raises our Cat Tax. I’m kidding. There is no Cat Tax — yet. All of our cats are certainly worthy paying taxes — the Cat Enjoyment Tax. Finances street repairs throughout the state. I’m kidding. Not sure anything finances that.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
MUSIC AND THOUGHTS…
Never got to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert and never got around to sending him a thank-you note for his music and now it’s too late. Natural causes at 84 in Toronto in his beloved Canada. …
Possibly, for some of you whose intellectual tastes have yet to mature, he’s a “you-had-to-be-there” artist who sang at the right time in the ‘70s when things were rotten for so many people and their emotions. I hope nobody is enduring those challenges in the 2020s, but, of course, as an experienced human, I know now that daydreams aren’t real and we all hit a rough spot or two on the road of life. …
Tried to pick out Gordon Lightfoot song to properly close Contemplations. Carefree Highway is one of my faves, but so is Sundown. Click through the ads, of course for Sundown  or If You Could Read My Mind . 
Perhaps we should just “slip away” on Carefree Highway from 1974. “Turning back the pages to a time that I love best.” — a calming lyric from the unpleasant and unsettled ‘70s that still manages to chill on a spring day in 2023. Thank you, Gordon Lightfoot, for putting it into words.
—- Offer positive thoughts by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put READ HAPPIER NEWSPAPER STORES, LARRY in the subject line. Yeah, fat chance. —-