Our Typical Situation

Here in Montgomery County, Texas, we have a mix of high-end surburban communities (The Woodlands), farm-and-ranch remnants, trailer parks, "ranchette" (non-agricultural acreage properties) and newer tract housing. Our typical intake at the Shelter is not an indoor pet that can no longer be cared for by its owner. Instead, our typical intake is an unintended litter from the mating of free-roaming, unaltered neighborhood dogs. These animals are typically found in the rural fringes of our county, and may or may not be considered pets. I am defining "pet" the way PetsMart or your favorite high-end "companion animal" lifestyle magazine defines "pet".

The video below represents a fairly common situation--the owners don't have the funds or transportation to spay or neuter their dogs, and have limited abilities to provide proper whelping care. Several litters just like this one arrive at the Shelter every week. This is the reality behind many of the dogs in the Shelter runs:



As the volunteer for Operation Pets Alive, a non-profit animal welfare group that serves Montgomery County, "This litter of puppies born to 2 free roaming unaltered neighborhood dogs. Found while OPA volunteer was working to TNR a feral cat colony. The owner does not have a car, money, or a job. OPA desperately needs foster homes to move these dogs into. They will all receive vaccinations and will be deworm. They could be ready for the next OPA Flight for Life departing May 14th but have to start their required vaccinations within the next 4 days."

I will provide an update on this litter ASAP.

Mark for Spring Bark

I so want this logo on a tee-shirt! And this year, I get to go--I'll be with Operation Pets Alive, right in the thick of the action.

What I've Been Doing

My dogs don't blog. They just make poops.

Not only has it been four months since I've posted, Blogger ate the first version of this post instead of uploading it, so all my brilliant thoughts have been lost to the ether of the Interwebs and I am forced to reconstruct a long post!

Time flies. I don't have any excuses for not posting. I've been doing Dog Lady work. I just haven't posted. The reality is that once you break the habit, the longer you wait to get back to the blog, the tougher it is. Therefore, I am resolved not to take such a long break in the future.

Min Pins are like "Pringles"--you can't have just one.

The little Min Pin foster puppy I've had since my last post in 2010 is still with me. She is not--and let me be clear about this!--a foster failure. She just hasn't met the right family yet. "Cricket," as we call her now, is stinkin' cute and very, very busy. She needs a family who is experienced in Min Pin antics and would do best in a situation where she doesn't have to be crated for 12 hours a day (she is a smarty-pants escape artist and can unlatch the crate so I have to use carabiner to close it). Cricket would appreciate a canine playmate as well.

Her cast came off in January, and she's doing great, although her right paw is smaller than the left and she still favors the leg at times (out of habit or what, I'm not sure). She's matured into a tornado of energy with a chewing habit that is driving us nuts: glasses, iPod earbuds, dozens of mechanical pencils, books, papers, and two bag's worth of daily CT Hex dental treats. She'll find her home, now that it's warmer at the Off-Sites.

My dear friend, the passionate and tireless Marcia P., who stepped down in late 2010 as Off-site Coordinator for the Shelter, has launched her own animal-rescue group. Although still in its fledgling stage (the 501 c 3 status is pending) Operation Pets Alive!: Helping People Save Pets has already accrued a list of accomplishments, including sponsoring foster-only Off-sites, TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) of stray cats in several Montgomery County areas, and two "Flights for Life that send dogs from the Shelter to New Hampshire for adoption.

Courtesy of Operation Pets Alive!: Helping People Save Pets

The second Flight for Life is in the air as I re-construct this post--leaving from Conroe, TX with 20 dogs on board, including 12 Shelter dogs, two dogs from All-Texas Dachshund Rescue, and six puppies rescued by OPA. The dogs were bathed and loaded by volunteers. The pilot and plane are funded by generous gifts from friends and volunteers at OPA. What a thrill these dogs, including six long-term (over 90 days) dogs from the MCTAS Shelter will have when they find new homes.

In other efforts, OPA has partnered with Susan Herbert, founder of K-9 Corral, a wonderful rescue group that has placed more than 3,500 animals, to ramp up Herbert's program to provide free and low-cost spay/neuters for owners of large (over 30 pounds) dogs in New Caney, TX, a once-rural, but now rapidly growing region of Eastern Montgomery County. Herbert has secured grants to provide vouchers to be used at Spay Houston, a wellness clinic that does low-cost shots and spay/neuters in Houston, TX.

Spay Houston's fees are much lower than area veterinarian offices, making it possible for Houston residents to take action against unwanted litters. In 2010, K-9 Corral's Herbert handled 239 free or very low-cost operations by providing qualifying New Caney residents with vouchers.

In January, OPA stepped in as a partner, providing professionally printed signs and flyers, along with volunteers who went door-to-door in targeted neighborhoods to spread the word about the vouchers. With OPA's assistance, Herbert manned tables at her local Wal-Mart. I helped for three Sunday afternoons, chatting with interested people about the program while Herbert filled out the paperwork. It was fulfilling and fun to connect these residents with a program that lifts the burden of cost. Many people could afford the Spay Houston rates for their small dogs or cats if they could get a voucher for their larger pets. K-9 Corral has done 157 operations so far this year, a testimony to the need for such programs.


Below is the draft logo I designed for OPA. It wasn't selected as the final logo, but I think it's spiffy. You can see a button-sized version of the final logo in my sidebar. I don't have a high-res image yet.



So I've been busy, and my Dog Lady Stetson is still getting a lot of use. I'm looking forward to more opportunities to help pets in 2011. Leave me a note and let me know what things have been happening in your parts! I resolve not to leave this blog unattended in the future!

Dogs vs Men

This is a video from Pawsitively Texas, a local web hub serving the Houston Metro area. It's short and cute. Watch it!

Doing it for the Dogs, Not for the Rush

Today’s post on Dogs Deserve Freedom made me want to commit to print a theory I’ve long held about the nature of animal-rescue volunteers.  People who are attracted to animal rescue are passionate, committed, prone to seeking justice and, above all, they are addicted to the rush.  Yes, the rush.  The high.   We’re in for the dogs, but the rush is exhilarating.  It’s really what drives us.
 

Animal rescue is as exciting and unpredictable as car racing (Yes, I’m reading “The Art of Racing in the Rain.”). When I get a dog out of the kill room, or pull a sick animal through a deadly illness, or place a dog with a good family, I feel the rush.  The adrenaline kicks in when we walk into the Shelter, and it ratchets upward when we are confronted with the evidence of a throw-away society.  I feel like a superhero—although it pains me to admit it—when I pull a dog from a kennel.  And the dogs worship me.  I bask in their neediness.  In some ways, I can’t help it—I’m a long-time volunteer, a parent and a recovering co-dependent.

Working a good 12-step program and maturity have helped me to identify my danger zones—the times when I’m too close, too enmeshed, and too focused.  That’s when I have learned to draw back and take deep breath and remember why I am doing animal rescue:  I’m doing it for the dog.  One dog at a time.  Okay, maybe two or three at a time.  I have done it for Queenie, JoJo, Aribella (those are the ones who died).  I have done it for Dancer, Snowy, Rusty, Riley, Chloe, and countless others.  But if I’m honest, it always comes back to the rush.  That rush just feels so good.  It makes me feel so alive.

The urge to seek the rush is why I think that animal rescue groups have such difficulty working together.  Each person firmly, passionately believes that his or her way of doing animal rescue is the best way to “save” dogs.  I call it the “Most-est Right-est” Syndrome.  In short, MY way is the RIGHT way to save the animal.  The rush is calling us.

Because it is so difficult for the animal rescue volunteer to compromise, or even to entertain the idea that there may be more than one “right” way to do things, groups view each other as the “enemy.”  Shelter staff people are “evil”—callous, uncaring, curt and harsh.  Breed Rescue groups are “greedy”, cherry-picking the “best” dogs and leaving the train wrecks in the Shelter.  Shelter volunteers are “lone wolf” types, preferring to run their own Off-Sites their own ways.  The fund-raising group feels that the Off-site volunteers are “cheating” them of donations.  The person who is “Most-est Right-est” generally sets the agenda, and sometimes that agenda isn’t all that good for the animals.  However, the moment an agenda is set, the in-fighting begins again.  It’s all about the rush.

People bristle if any sort of structure or cooperation is suggested.  I have watched volunteers accuse other volunteers of “animal cruelty”.  In the Shelter or at an Off-site, you can come home feeling like you’ve run a marathon.  You feel vindicated, victorious.  The rush is so addictive.

I watch as our groups, splinter and re-splinter, fracturing like cracks in ice floes, cleaving off and creating new groups that will crack, fracture and cleave yet again.  What is my defense?  Well, I try to keep to the focus on the animal, the individual dog.  I remind myself by keeping a collar filled with tags and bells from animals I’ve helped.  I take photos, most of which are never posted on-line, to help me remember the dogs.

My goal is to keep my focus where it should be, which is on what's best for each dog.  By doing animal rescue volunteer work, I can make  life better, even if just for a brief moment, for one dog.

I wish our groups could cooperate more.  I try to keep an open mind.  I try to work for the greater good, even when inside, I feel my own way is “Most-est Right-est.”  I try to remember that isn’t about me.  It isn’t about the rush, it’s about the dogs.