SAVING ANIMALS, HUMAN INVOLVEMENT; TRASH AND HUMAN INVOLVEMENT, 'MANSPLAINING'?

EDITION OF WEDNESDAY, FEB. 28, 2024 [PetPowellPress] True or false: There is a certain joy in having a cat as a friend. We’ll get back to that later. I have cats in management positions who insist that I move on with this edition.
MEANWHILE, IN DALLAS
DOGS, PEOPLE LINE UP
I’m not even sure how I found this other than an Instagram note wound up in my in-box and I clicked on it and found this photo and explanation, both from Dallas Animal Services.
[LARRY ASIDE: This should inform people who know nothing of the animal rescue world that every stray dog/cat event  -- THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT! -- doesn’t mean a happy guy with a big net shows up and gleefully swoops up a happy dog or cat and takes ‘em to a city shelter where they’re immediately adopted by waiting humans. Humans don’t wait all that much at a shelter. So, based on the Instagram notes, here’s the tale of these two dogs. Not sure, but that looks a bit like my ol’ neighborhood in southern Oak Cliff. Fast food and roaming dogs — two big clues.]
A note credited to Dallas :Animal Services says the dogs placed this order: “2 kids meals please, don't forget the toy!"
The dogs are, from left, listed as “Big Mac A1204479 and McFlurry A1204477.” If the note is accurate.
And it adds, “Meet the dynamic duo on a mission for the perfect fry! 🍟🐾 This adorable pair has been spotted multiple times at the McDonald's drive-thru line. Neighbors have been trying to get them to safety for weeks without luck, but these pups were on a McMission! Finally, a compassionate Dallas resident managed to corral them into their yard and promptly called Dallas Animal Services for assistance. The pups are currently here on stray hold until Saturday, 2/24, but you can pre-adopt them today!”
The next note is from a guy named Jake who writes, “Just adopted both of them🙌❤5d112 likesReply.”
The next note, from “foodalldaywong," read, “They are bonded and I hope they can stay together. They spent the day in my yard before headed to DAS - they were both so gentle with my little dog.5d56 likesReply.
JAKE THEN REPLIED, “Currently sitting at the shelter in line to pre adopt both. Want to keep them together.”
Then, just to remind us how life really is in the City of Dallas, an Instagram poster signed Peaches wrote, “There’s a dog on Manila rd 75212 by the train tracks appear to be pregnant or just given birth cannot get in touch with anyone by phone.”
[LARRY IRRITATED ASIDE: And there you have it — a quick glance at Instagram reveals one heroic rescue of two dogs and one situation with an apparent momma dog delivering more babies to a city already loaded with puppies and kittens that apparently surprised people who have yet to study the “Handbook of Birds & Bees for Dogs & Cats & And People Who Think a Stern Lecture Stalls The Mood to Make ANY Species of Babies!.” That’s a long title — LARRY FYI? readlarrypowell.com isn’t against puppies and kittens, we’re just against irresponsible people who pay no attention to the rules and results of reproduction.]
SHAKESPEARE
AND SOPHIA.
Not really a knockoff of Romeo and Juliet, but it is a headline that introduces some available adorables in the care of the City off Arlington Animal Shelter…The tip from noted animal advocate Andy Allen focused on this guy Shakespeare.
She reports the dog is in the City of Arlington AnimalShelter and her caption under Shakespeare’s photo read, “The face you make when another day passes without finding a family.”
Arlington’s online post read, “Shakespeare is begging for someone to love him… Adopt this VIP and our current Pet of the Week for just $10."
That’s right, this is a ten dollar dog with, in that second photo, a million dollar look. Shakespeare’s basic info can be clicked “HERE" but when you meet him, you can fill in the blanks. Shakespeare is #34602854 — he’s listed as an “8 years-6 months-17 days”-old Boxer/Retriever mix. Medium size. Tan and white. Neutered. He’s in the “Dog Adoption” area of the city shelter. Came in on Jan. 25.
And, yes, there are cats in the Arlington Shelter, i.e., Sophia, who knows how to relax in a city shelter. She’s #55405826, a year-and-10-days old, the shelter reports. She came in on Feb. 22nd and is a “PetSmart Cat,” one of several available at the off-site adoption area. Yes, she is absolutely available for adoption — unless someone beats you to her. [LARRY NOTE: My readlarrypowell.com photo insert system has failed just as I was about to post Sophia's photo. We'll keep working on it....]
Go to the Arlington Animal Services online site HERE services to see available animals and other note regarding the shelter’s operations.
The shelter is at 101 W. Abram St. Call 817-459-6777 to ask about animals and their locations and if they qualify for the inexpensive VIP adoptions.
CONTEMPLATIONS
MANSPLAINING, NOTES AND TRASHY TALK
One of my favorite pieces of reading material is The Rundown, the media tip sheet (that’s my too-lazy description) that the former Broadcast Journalist and Now Top-Notch Public Relations Executive Jeff Crilley produced for professionals in reporting, editing, marketing and other communications positions. The Monday edition carried a link to this headline “Survey: The average woman gets ‘mansplained’ six times per week at work.” Having been a guy at work for decades, I confess …but I had a lot of female editors and I got some ‘splaining’ from them through the years or I’d never had been a reporter, editor, columnist for as long as.I was! Still, I do abide with a woman who will hush me when I’m overly explanatory — fortunately Martha is not an average woman so I’m prone to following the great 4-letter advice: “HUSH.” Sometimes that’s expressed as, “Holy smoke, Larry, don’t you ever shut up?”
Here’s the LINK TO THAT STUDY FINDS…MANSPLAINING STORY.
https://studyfinds.org/survey-average-woman-mansplained-six-times-per-week-at-work/
And I’d explain, of course, that Jeff always deserves a big “thank you.”
TRASH ON THE HIGHWAY; GARBAGE IN THE YARD: Sometimes when driving in the entire metrosprawl I am given to thinking that there are a lot of people who enjoy driving down a freeway with a bag of household trash and seeing how far they can slide it on the asphalt at 85 miles an hour…Ah, but what we have here is a neighborhood bulletin board note from someone in Arlington. It gets a bit personal, as you’ll see by reading it.
The salutation: “To the person who threw their (redacted)) fast-food trash over my fence.” [LARRY NOTE: No sense naming the fast-foot spot — it’s not responsible for the behavior of its belching, gurgling, puking, shameless cheap diners…. Please read on.]
The Arlington writer continues:
“I let my boys out for a pee today and I turned around for a moment, and when I went to look outside my dog was eating from the bag you threw over my fence. I took it away from him as fast as I could, but he is now vomiting everywhere and I just want you to know if you see this (which I admittedly know is unlikely) that you are a really terrible person. Why would you do this? Throw it in the trash not over someone’s fence. What the hell is wrong with you? (Yes, I am taking him to the vet!”
So, there you have it, Dear Readers: the age-old question on Planet Earth: “WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?”
—- Offer advice or retort by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and make the subject line read, “PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF, YOU IDIOT! THIS IS TEXAS. DON’T MESS UP TEXAS.” — OOPS, TOO POLITICAL? —-