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!

This is a Bait Dog

-*-WARNING-*-  

While there is no blood or raw flesh, these photos may be upsetting for some people.

The only natural white fur on this dog is the white on his throat.

Meet "Scrappy" (not his 'real' name, as his foster plans to find a better one).  He is a silver-blue, full blood American Pit  Bull Terrier.  He is young, crate-trained, eager-to-please, good with cats, house-trained and just a tad protective of his people.  Oh, and he doesn't fight.

That is, he doesn't fight or assert himself with other dogs.  Hence, his scars. Scrappy is a "bait dog"--he was used to give fighting Pit Bulls more confidence.  Turned in as a stray (what did you expect?) Scrappy arrived with raw wounds, badly infected cropped ears and a swollen leg due to a severe wound.

The worst scars are on his neck and hindquarters.

At first it was assumed  Scrappy would  be euthanized, but somehow he made it to a foster home.  His wounds are healing, although many of the scars will never regain hair, and others are coming in with white fur instead of silver.  He is gaining weight and will soon be neutered.

Scrappy is living, breathing testimony to the horrors of dog-fighting.  To know that this big, sweet, lug of a dog had no other purpose than to serve as a target for training other dogs is to see the proof in how a superbly people-oriented, eager-to-please breed can be manipulated into performing as a fighting machine.  Scrappy wasn't "game" but dogs like him suffer just as much as the game "champions" in the ring.  The scars are testimony to the courage of Pit Bulls, but it is the breed's courage that has been a burden.  It's a shameful thing that a dog like Scrappy has had to endure so much.