SAVING DOGS AND CATS? (DALLAS QUESTION!): LOBBYING THE AUSTIN BUNCH IN '25 (THLN STRATEGY); WHY THE OPENING IN A CHAIR?

EDITION OF MONDAY, FEB. 19, 2023 [PetPowellPress] At first I thought I’d tell you that my Office Cat William Powell and I were celebrating President’s Day, but the reality is I snapped that photo when we were both trying to find something to watch on TV Sunday after the rain and weather wiped out broadcasts of PGA Golf and the Daytona 500 which, for the first time ever, was allowing golf carts to enter the competition.
I’m kidding. As some of you knew (and those who didn’t snap to that gag  just don’t watch sports, do you?) William likes sports. He played hockey for three seasons with the Seattle Krackencats, who later shortened their team name. I’ll need to check that fact — William likes to kid me since I don’t skate. In retrospect, my nose, if you squint, looks like a thumb next to my two fingers behind Will's noggin.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND
UNWANTED DOGS IN DALLAS
This is not a well-kept secret. And nobody helped me write this note. I did it myself —I’ve long been familiar with the challenges in Dallas and surrounding North Texas. Before we get to the Texas Human Legislation Network’s efforts to to enlighten hearts and legislators about animal challenges, I decided to take a quick look at Dallas.
Yep, clicked my way to the Dallas Animal Services website,
https://bedallas90.org/ , and discovered that the unwanted dog population in the taxpayer-financed shelter is at the 123 percent mark. That is, according to the online figures, “368 dogs in 300 kennels.”
Congratulations Dallas residents. You think they’re all going to get on a luxury bus and ride to their news homes at K-9 Kingdom Ranch? Sheesh.
You see here a dozen of those 368 dogs waiting for either a home or a needle. Click on the artwork to make it grow and take a look at the face on Blue, the last one on the left. Holy smoke -- how can that dog not have a home???? Sheesh.
And I also cut and pasted (in the old terms of computing) a half-dozen of the 58 cats in the shelter — that’s 62% of the cat capacity,
These dogs and cats didn’t get to the notoriously euthanasia-prone shelter because the animals arranged a ride from home through a neighbor or a transit service. Nope, somewhere a human failed them all. Now, surprise, surprise, it’s up to humans to save them all.
But so many good-hearted humans already have scored the city limits on rescued animals.
[LARRY ASIDE: Get a more personalized look at animals in the /dallas shelter by clicking on this LINK TO DALLAS URGENT SHELTER DOGS. Have some tissues handy.
A NOTE ABOUT ADVOCACY
FROM THE FOLKS AT THLN
We got this note from the great folks at the Texas Humane Legislation Network this morning. (It was a relief to see it among the many “purchasing opportunities” I get from grocery stores, pillow factories, automobile dealers, etc. The THLN note made more sense in my world.)
THLN has scheduled Texas Animal Advocacy Day and the organizations “latest advocacy training” seminar on April 13, in Waco.
And, as you see in the big letters, it’s free.
Seating’s limited and you need to reserve a spot. Do that by clicking on this THLN ADVOCACY DAY SITE.
The deadline for registering to attend is April 5. (The event is at the Baylor University School of Law. Details are on the “reserve a spot” site.)
I’m sure many of you Texas animal people got a copy of this announcement , but just in case you missed it, I’ll repeat it. It begins “The Texas Legislature meets every two years, and while the lege is in session, the THLN hosts a Humane Lobby Day where animal advocates from across the state meet at the Texas capitol to lobby their elected officials on important animal welfare bills. The Texas Animal Advocacy Day is an event sponsored by THLN during the interim year where citizen animal advocates…gather to learn and practice lobbying for animal protection laws at the state level.”
So, you’ll get to “experience a lobbying workshop” and receive an “overview of relevant bills that THLN plans to support in the 2025. Legislative Session.”
And, the note reported, “Our presenters and the agenda were carefully crafted to meet the unique lobbying needs in Texas as we plan to share important information regarding THLN’s work to increase awareness of important animal welfare, safety and health issues.”
And the explanation closes with, “It doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned, grassroots lobbyist or attending for the first time. When we come together and learn, the animals win!” Keep up with animals issues and proposed laws at thln.org.
CONTEMPLATIONS
THE REASON FOR THIS CHAIR
This is not a pretty chair. It is a pretty cat
The chair is the Office Scratching Chair. Free among the leftovers at a nearby garage sale one day a few years ago. The hard plastic covering was intact at the time. The cat, Stevie Ray Treeboy, fell in love with it and immediately claimed it as his Office Scratching Chair. He has worked it over.
But in doing so he has provided an answer to the question “Why is there an opening between the bottom of the back of the chair and the top of the seat of the chair?"
And in this photo, you see the answer. It is so the cat will have a place to shove his backside and dangle his legs.
“Comfort is important to a cat,” Stevie Ray told me. “I am a comfortable cat.” He is also comfortable when being cuddled. Celebrate cats for leading humans in the pursuit of comfort. I’ve tried the chair, but it is at least two sizes too small for me to dangle my legs and shove my big mammal backside toward the goal of Office Scratching Chair comfort.
—- Offer seating advice by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put ‘YOU NEED A LARGER CHAIR, CHUBSTER’ in the subject line. —-