EDITION OF MONDAY./TUESDAY OCT. 30-31, 2023 [PetPowellPress] Any of you grown-ups adding a hint of Halloween to you office attire? Yes, indeed, we know of someone with such a history. We'll get to that in a moment.
This is being written on the eve of Halloween.
If you're reading this website, you already know that the area's animal shelters are overloaded with dogs and cats that need homes. So, if you know somebody who is capable of loving a dog and/or a cat, remind 'em to open their hearts and homes and save some animal lives and improve some human lives. So, moving along, we'll get to the matter of wise costuming in moment.
A BIT OF HORROR
FOR HALLOWEEN?
I opened a note about a dog and discovered that I'd found it too late.
Here's a link to the Dallas Urgent Shelter Dogs Facebook page.
This is 4-year-old Dennis, according to the note posted on Dallas Urgent Shelter Dogs' Facebook page 37 minutes before I found it. The note read: Deadline Monday:10/30 at 11 a.m.
The note also read, "Can anyone commit on Dennis to foster for a rescue? He has 15 minutes."
And, there you have it. "He has 15 minutes!" No idea if Dennis (#A1193571) survived.
Got to be a more efficient and effective way for any shelter and the public to connect when it comes to protecting animals on the brink of death-by-needle.
Email [email protected] or call 945-249-8573.
Wonder if there's a way for a city to cite the "termination time" online on the animals' listings at the city shelter website? Might more effectively light a fire under the adoption/rescue processes.
A COUPLE OF MESQUITE'S
VERY AVAILABLE DOGS...
These bios come courtesy of Mesquite dog-writer Jamie Dotson.
The big dog with the incredibly noble appearance is Edison.
His bio says he's a 3-year-old Doberman Pinscher who weighs 55 pounds and came in as a stray on Oct. 24. He's underweight, his bio says. Needs to put on some poundage and Jamie's bio reads, "We are helping him do this by giving him extra feedings. He is a bit unsure of why he is at the shelter, and his nervousness does show in his body language. After we spent time together he relaxed more, but we will continue to spend time with him to build up his confidence. He walks well on a leash and knows the sit command. He does take treats gently, but at times his mouth will go a bit over your hand, so I found its best to let him take treats from my palm. He is a calm and gentle boy and enjoys standing close and leaning in for petting and comfort. ... He would love to find that loving home with a secured backyard where he could run and play, but then live inside where he can take long naps on his own dog bed or cuddling while watching tTV. A family that is familiar with the breed would be a plus, too."
Edison is #54655559. Use that ID number when you call the shelter at 972-216-6283 or email rescues@cityofmesquite.
That brings us to the bio of Becca, #54665298, described as "VOLUNTEER FAVORITE" in capital letters.
Jamie's bio says she's a 2-year-old Pittie mix who weighs in at 59 pounds. She came in as a stray on Oct. 25.
"Becca is such a sweet gentle darling girl!" the bio reads and adds, "You can see by the sparkle in her eyes, how much love she has to give. She enjoys being petted and loved on, walks great on a leash and takes treats gently. When you sit down she will put her head in your lap, and will give you plenty of kisses. When she sits she will give you her paw without being asked and kiss your hand. She is a gem! Initially when we walked past the other dogs that were barking at her she paid no attention. As we continued our walk she did begin barking back at the other dogs. ... She deserves to have that loving family that can provide her a
secured backyard where she can run and play, but live indoors where she has her own cuddling spot right next to her human companion ..."
See more Mesquite animals -- dogs and cats, puppies and kittens, aardvarks -- wait, I made up that aardvark thing -- at THIS LINK.
You can see Rosa (#54071242) the year-and-a-month-old kitten who came in on August 31 and is still waiting -- available! -- in the Conference Room.
[LARRY CAT ASIDE: Rosa is a small Orange Domestic Shorthair Mix. That rarity of rarities in the American home. I might have made that part up. Anything to get a cat into a good home, you know. Well, not anything, but stuff you can repeat to visitors and watch them nod in agreement.]
CONTEMPLATIONS
HALLOWEEN WITH FEATHERS!
Yes, we have a pretty nifty report for Halloween from our longtime Houston tipster, the animal advocate with a sense of humor, Alexandra Kelsey.
Keep reading.
By the way, I began my theatrical career in the role of The Wild Man of Borneo in a darkened cage on display in the basement "spook house" created for the Halloween Carnival at Highland Park Elementary School in Texarkana in the 1950s. It was a part that led to big things. But no money. That school, by the way, was bulldozed decades ago. How much was Highland Park Elementary School like the fantastic well-to-do Highland Park School District in the Metroplex? Not much. Our 5th and 6th grade flag football team was the Highland Park Hobos. We had red, white and blue jerseys, just like SMU in those days.
A HALLOWEEN NOTE: My funspouse Martha and I have never dressed our animals for Halloween. The kids, however, have been suited up for decades. I'd never humiliate an animal by putting it in an odd costume, but kids...well, they've gotta learn, right. I'm kidding. I'm kidding.
That's brings us to our announced feature Halloween With Feathers.
Our longtime Houston tipster and animal advocate Alexandra Kelsey has a pretty swell sense of humor and sent his photo and the explanations.
"20 years ago, I wore this outfit to work. I was in the Legal Department of a major corporation.
"No one else had feathers."
[LARRY ASIDE: The line "No one else had feathers" cracked me up. Look around your office!]
About the photo, AK explains, "That is a snap someone at my then-office took of me. They all were highly amused at my office attire! I really wore that boa all day, and I gained a new appreciation for the warming properties of feathers)))"
[LARRY ASIDE: That is, I believe, the first time the phrase "warming properties of feathers" has appeared in the English language. I could be wrong, but maybe not.]
AK adds, "Well, my best tip is, if you’re going to do feathers on your head, do it in the winter)."
Coincidentally, there is a poem about warmth and feathers and it's by American poet Emily Dickinson -- she wrote it in 1861, the interpoeticweb says. Here are the first two stanzas:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -..."
[LARRY ASIDE: I got this feathers tip too late to apply its warming wisdom to my Monday attire. But, when the temp next drops below 50 degrees, I'll be the guy in feathers.]
--- Offer any idea about anything by clicking on 'comment' below or by emailing [email protected] and put 'CAN YA GET FEATHERS IN YOUR SIZE, LARRY?' in the subject line. ---
