Shelter Dogs Show Their Colors

Volunteers came out in their walking shoes to help us leash up and parade more than 60 adoptable dogs from the Montgomery County Texas Animal Shelter (MCTAS) as part of The Woodlands Township, TX, annual Fourth of July Celebration "Red, Hot & and Blue" Parade.

 The parade rolled at about 9:00 a.m. in spite of threats of rain (leftover bands of moisture from Hurricane Alex), with a mixture of civic, church and high school groups, including three marching bands.  Our dogs joined the line-up in the top third of the parade, helped along by walkers and accompanied by a truck pulling a hand-decorated trailer with cages to hold adoptable kittens and puppies. We also had an electric-powered "eco-taxi," piloted by the owner, who volunteers at the Shelter, to give weary dogs and walkers a brief rest.

We had mutts of every shape and size, from perky little chi-weenie mixes to lumbering Labs and a regal AmStaff with gorgeous tiger-stripe brindle markings.  Dogs were kitted out in bandannas, flower leis, and such, all in appropriately patriotic collars.  Sponsors walked with us, handing out coupons for custom-painted dog dishware and other tokens.

We urged all the parade-watchers to spay and neuter and make a difference by adopting their next furry friend.

It was a lot of work hauling the dogs to and from the Shelter, and several pooches got a bit hot, but the dogs received as much water as we could provide and a cool kennel after the parade.

Many of our potential clients don't realize that we have lots more than just "Pit Bulls and Black Labs" at the Shelter.  And we let people know that we need the public's help in reducing intake numbers by spaying and neutering all their animals.

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Photos and artwork by C. Bruhn

OMG Is this Rusty?

As my faithful readers know, I have a soft spot for Miniature Pinschers--my own dog, Taco, was a MinPin, and I have fostered several MinPins from the Shelter, including a very sweet oversize stag red guy we called "Rusty."  We had Rusty as foster dog all summer so he could undergo heartworm treatment, and we loved him a lot.  Last September, during a Labor Day PetsMart event I adopted Rusty to a family in our area--and still have the work phone number of the wife.  Even now, we still think about Rusty--he was a sweet, friendly, laid-back dog who liked everybody, even if he wasn't the sharpest saw in the toolshed.

I went to the Shelter today to see two Miniature Pinschers.  One was a female chocolate and tan girl with upright natural ears, a docked tail and a dainty demeanor.  The other was a stag red boy.  I can't take on a foster right now as I have another set of travel dates, and have already got two dogs in foster care (both Tucker and Teencie are doing great, according to their temporary foster Mom), but we all want another MinPin to replace Taco, who went over the Rainbow Bridge at the end of April.  I had to check out the boy dog.

So...here's this stag red MinPin.  He was turned in as a stray, but the people said they found him, and no one responded to their signs.  I don't know where he was picked up yet--I plan to find out tomorrow--and while he didn't do a "Lassie Come Home" jump-for-joy at the sight of me, he was very happy to get out of the Kennel.  I compared microchip numbers when I got home--they are different, but this dog has a fresh set of microchip scan slips and a tag in his paperwork folder, so he could have two chips. He's a stocky, rather pudgy dog (Rusty was leaner) so his original microchip could have slipped.   He has the same calm, happy demenor, and he's clearly been someone's pet.  His size and basic color, stance, build, and ear/tail treatments are the same.  Could this be Rusty? 

The MinPin at the Shelter is the dog on the left in all the photos.  Rusty is the dog on the right.  It was very cloudy and dark today (thanks to Hurricane Alex, south of Houston), so this MinPin's coat appears lighter.  Plus, I tend to push the saturation on my photos, so my shots of Rusty have all been tinkered with.

My husband thinks he's a different dog.  What do you think?  Leave me a comment!

Think Before You Get a Dog

You may have seen this video--I found it on Stumpy's blog here.  I plan to forward it to some of my Shelter friends.  While actors are reading the voiceovers, the excuses are the ones I hear every day at the shelter.  Watch it.  Share it.  And thank you, Stumpy!

What We Learn from Shelter Dogs

Here’s a story about two shelter dogs.  In early February, an elderly woman surrendered two dogs to the Shelter.  She had had the dogs since each was a puppy, but was caring for her husband (who had terminal cancer) and he was becoming anxious when the dogs came to him for attention.  The woman wrote a one-page, single-spaced bio for each dog, including everything about how much food they ate, what toys they liked and so on. She attached their original adoption paperwork, health records and microchip information.

I did not witness this intake, but after reading the dogs’ bios, I didn’t get the feeling that this was a casual or easy decision.  It is easy to make a snap judgment and claim that we’d never do such a thing, but I prefer to err on the side of mercy.  I don’t know if this woman would have made a different decision if we could have offered her options—say if we could have found a temporary foster for her dogs. We all know that more needs to be done to help older people prepare for the time when they can’t care for their pets without help. 

I met “Hapa” (a Hawaiian word meaning half-breed), a fluffy Keeshound mix, and “Bear” (a black German Shepherd mix) on a Monday, the day after their intake while selecting dogs for a week-long PetsMart adoption event.  I immediately put them on my Off-Site list.  They clean, healthy, and extremely despondent.  Bear was particularly attached to Hapa.  Both dogs had impeccable manners—they walked at a heel, sat on command, and could sit up for a treat.

At the end of the Off-Site, I convinced a brand-new Off-Site helper, Jeff, to take these two dogs home so they didn’t have to go back into the chaos of the Shelter.  He had dogs of his own (don’t we all?) and could only keep them crated in his garage.  The weather was cool, so that was fine.

It took about a month to find a new home for Hapa and Bear.  Extremely bonded dogs can be adopted separately, but it was clear that these dogs –who were about six years old—would do best if placed together, so that that was the game plan.  Jeff was an awesome foster.  He spent his own money to have some Vet work done on one of the dog’s teeth (there was some rot) and did other things to keep the dogs healthy.  Several people wrote up ads and placed them on the local on-line sources and told our friends and acquaintances about these dogs.  The dogs eventually found a home.

When I heard the complete tale, I felt a bit guilty about encouraging Jeff—who a brand-new volunteer!—to take on these dogs, but it was his choice. I saw Jeff this weekend.  He has had other fosters since Hapa and Bear.  He is a great volunteer and is focused on what’s best for the dogs.  Here’s what he wrote me about his experience with Hapa and Bear: 

“I really did mean it when I said I wanted to thank you for getting me involved the first night.  To repeat myself, I learned a lot from Bear and Hapa in terms of what is really important in life-- in terms of what a person spends time on.  I gained some personal intestinal fortitude from the attitude of those two very strong dogs.

“They accepted their current circumstances and handled them very bravely and showed such gratitude with their unadulterated affection every morning when I went out to feed them. They were very brave and courageous dogs and deserve the loving environment in which they now live. I think of them every so often and will never forget their attentive look to me when I would say from 30 feet away – “Where are those two good girls?”

I hear stories like this from other volunteers.  We may be helping the dogs, but in so many cases, it is the dogs who help us the most. 

Drive-By Drop-Offs

Puppy season is in full swing—which means that unplanned, unwanted, and often uncared-for, litters of puppies are being brought to the Shelter.  Puppies arrive in clothes baskets, kennels, and cardboard boxes.  Technically, the person surrendering puppies, even strays, should go inside the shelter and fill out paperwork.  Most of the time, there is a fee for surrendering a litter, along with some paperwork that is meant to deter multiple drop-offs from owners who neglect to spay or neuter their animals.

However, not all surrenders are done the right way.  Puppies are often dropped off at night, left behind the plastic picket fence of the play area where where potential adopters and Shelter dogs get to know each other.  Sometimes they are left in old dog crates or big boxes by the front door.  About a month, a volunteer found two tiny puppies huddled on top of a trash can full of soda cans and fast-food cartons.  Amazingly, the puppies were alive and managed to survive.

Brazen drop-offs occur in the parking lot.  On April 12^th, according to Dr. Patricia Ryan, the MCAS Shelter director, a pick-up truck pulled up and a young man leaped out and tossed a large cardboard box in front of the door, with many little furry heads and ears sticking out of the top, cruelty jolted when it hit the pavement.  The head officer of Animal Control witnessed the event from inside the shelter.  He rushed out the door--but the truck had alreay spun out and was fish-tailing down the driveway at an amazing speed!

The box contained 15 beautiful brown and black pups were in that box, their little faces serious, eyes wide and innocent.  The officer did get the license plate number, so if the culprit gets pulled over for some other violation, maybe we’ll see some justice.  As Dr. Ryan noted, “When this happens, we all look at each other and say, ‘Well...it could have been worse.’  The guy could have dumped them in the water or by the road.”  Dr. Ryan added that on that day more than 30 puppies (including the 15 abandoned pups) plus several litters of kittens arrived at the Shelter.

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Photo found on Flickr; altered in Photoshop

The Volunteer Arms Race of Dedication

In the 10 years I’ve been doing animal rescue work, I’ve found that disputes and divergences are rampant among the rescue community.  Animal rescue work is a highly emotional enterprise, and it attracts tireless, but strongly opinionated people.  It’s extremely challenging to get people to sign on to a single course of action—which is why groups tend to splinter and re-splinter as people choose to pursue their own view of what needs to be done.

One core problem we have as volunteers is that we are not affiliated with a 501(c)(3) group.  We work as a loose network, with only minimal oversight provided by the County.  Registered 501(c)(3) groups do work with the Shelter, but we don’t have a dedicated (privatized) group that runs the Shelter. The County runs the Shelter.  The head honcho is a Constable, which gives the entire endeavor a police-law enforcement sort of mentality.

Our volunteers end up in an arms race of dedication—with the pressure to do more and more.  This weekend, I was at two events, and was gone from my own dogs from 8:30 a.m. to 9:20 p.m., except for a brief stop to feed and run my own animals.  

At the second event, a large off-site event, I did not stay to the bitter end with the Off-Site Coordinator, who still had to oversee the return of about 20 animals to the Shelter, plus finish paperwork.  Not mention she had the two or three loads of stinky blankets shoved into her van.  My guess is that this volunteer didn’t get home, whereupon she still had to tend to her own foster dogs, wash the dirty blankets, and take care of her own needs.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find out she collapsed into bed about 1:00 a.m.

When new people begin doing off-sites, they plunge in full force—one twenty-something man and his girlfriend hauled 12 large dogs to a Wine Festival and adopted 7, with a “promise” from someone to come on Sunday for one of the 4 remaining dogs.  The couple expressed amazement that everyone couldn’t have this sort of “success”—after all, the man told me, they took photos of each dog and made up professional flyers for each animal, plus they bathed all their dogs before the event. 

I felt like such a slacker—I don’t bathe my Shelter dogs and only make up flyers for my individual fosters.  I did keep my mouth shut, though, and didn’t comment on how many dogs might be returned from that event once the festival-attendees lose the glow from their wine-tasting.

Between the volunteers who bathe and haul, the ones who spend hundreds of dollars out their own pockets to provide outside veterinarian care for the Shelter dogs, the ones who hijack their family’s bathtubs and fill them with newborn puppies, and the ones who create “kitten hotels” in their spare bedrooms, we aren’t lacking for dedication.  But sometimes I wonder if our volunteer work is actually hurting more than it helps.

Certainly the animals benefit, but one fact remains:  no matter how much we do as volunteers, the dogs and cats, puppies and kittens keep coming in to the Shelter.  Our local Craigslist brims with animals up for sale or re-homing.  Backyard breeders park their pickups on busy roadsides and offer purebred puppies for sale.  We have a “Puppy Store” in the area and another pet store that sells puppies and kittens in the local shopping mall.  Our newspapers are chock full of classified ads peddling animals.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep plugging along—I may not bathe the big dogs I haul to Off-Site Events, and I don’t take home litters of puppies to nurse along,  but I’m in this for the long haul.  Pacing myself is the key.

Overheard at the Shelter's Front Desk

Some Things I Wish Our Clients Knew

I answered the phones yesterday afternoon at the Shelter. I am a volunteer, not a County employee. We had a particularly challenging run of clients, on the phones and in the lines at the clinic front desk.

Here are some things I wish our clients knew:

1. The County does not provide comprehensive veterinarian services. Our "clinic" is to a Vet's office as the Redi-Clinic at the grocery store is to a primary care doctor, with even more limitations. We dispense shots at low-cost as a courtesy service to residents. We dispense a variety of medicines to our adopters to combat symptoms of illnesses in recently adopted or fostered animals. We do not have any way to offer bloodwork, full exams, or even fecal smears. We aren't deliberately trying to deny your animal services, it's just not feasible.

2. The Shelter is not a Pet Store. We rarely have full tabs on our "inventory." Even if I have done a complete walk-through, I cannot accurately say whether we have any Pomeranians, Yorkies or Siamese cats. The facility covers nearly an acre, with at least 80 dogs in each of the three adoption rooms. There are approximately 500-600 animals--cats, dogs, puppies, and kittens--in our system at any time. The only thing I can recommend to phone shoppers is to visit us.

3. Unfortunately, I cannot help you find your lost pet over the phone. I cannot put you on hold and go look for your black and white cat--we probably have at least 20 black and white cats. Nor can I leave the phone and go look for your Lab mix. We have three hundred Lab mixes. You need to come to the Shelter personally, preferably with a couple good photos of your pet, and do a full walk-through with a staff person or volunteer. You also need to know that we are not the only animal facility in the area. Trying to find a lost pet is a frustrating task that requires you to do on-site visits. If you pet is lost, YOU have to be the advocate.

4. If you adopted or fostered an animal from us, or if you are interested in a particular animal, please, please have the paperwork in front you when you call. I can help you better if you have the animal's ID number, which is sometimes called a kennel number. It is on your paperwork and it is displayed on the kennels. Names change, genders are entered incorrectly, and the computer will only access an animal by its ID number.

5. I DO care about our animals. I am not trying to avoid serving you. However, I rarely have the answer to any question more complicated that our address right at my fingertips. Please be patient, and know that I am doing my best when I say, "Good afternoon, Montgomery County Animal Shelter."

Chihuahuas Multiply in Shelters

According to the Los Angeles Times blog, “LA Unleashed,” there has been a sharp increase of Chihuahuas entering California animal shelters. The increase is being blamed, in part, on the long-term pop culture status of these feisty little dogs—from Paris Hilton’s pocket pooch, “Tinkerbell,” to the saucy, lately departed “Gidget,” who played the Taco Bell Dog who snarled, “Yo Quiero Taco Bell!” during the wildly popular Taco Bell commercials of the early 2000s.

I don’t have statistics for our Shelter here in Metro Houston, but Chihuahuas arrive, in various sizes and temperaments, on a regular basis. Recently, we received four Chihuahuas which were surrendered by their owners because the owners claimed, “We aren’t making money with these dogs anymore.”

One of those dogs, “Peaches,” the matriarch breeder Chihuahua, is sitting on my lap as I write this entry. We’re at my Mom’s house in Spring Branch, TX, which is a virtual “Chihuahua Ranch” since my Mom has three Chihuahuas (plus my very first ever foster dog, a Jack Russell mix).

“Peaches” has overcome her fear to exhibit her true Chihuahua nature—she is snippy, bossy, needy, and exceedingly cute as she prances along, thrilled with her new life as a “Queen of the Lap Dogs.” Her very nature—her tendency to snap if she feels threatened, her prancy gait, and her radar-quick prick ears, are hall-marks of the breed’s character.

I grew up with my Mom’s Chihuahuas—we’re in the fourth generation of dogs (none are related)--and while I am a small dog fan, I rarely recommend Chihuahuas to my adopters.

These are high-maintenance dogs—their tiny tummies do best with several small meals, they have are horrifically difficult to housebreak (so you’ll be cleaning up tiddle spots and poops around the house) and they are noisy, noisy, noisy. Of course, they love to snuggle, they have kissable little, round heads, and they fit perfectly in your arms.

Still, I don’t recommend them to most of my adopters. Chihuahuas aren’t great with little kids. They are fragile and nippy. They chew up everything they can get in their mouths. And if your Chihuahua eats a packet of M&Ms, you’ll be making a vet visit to have its tummy pumped.

We get lots of Chihuahuas in the Shelter. Many come in with confirmation issues—overbites, underbites, hip problems, splayed feet, weird body shapes and eye problems. The Chi-Weenies (the Designer Dog cross of Chihuahuas with Dachshunds) aren’t any better, in spite of the “thumbs up” given by the Animal Planet show, “Dogs 101.” The ones we get at the Shelter tend to be wildly long in the back, with bad teeth, temperament issues aside.

All that said, my little foster girl, “Peaches,” is going to make some Chihuahua-savvy person an awesome pet. She’s a very perky, pretty girl (in spite of her overbite and bad teeth) and is a snug-bug who is easy to sleep with (yes, I let her sleep in bed with me—it’s almost unheard of to banish a Chihuahua pet from your bed!) Right now, “Peaches” thinks she’s going to stay with me, but on January 2nd, she’ll be at a foster-dog event in search of an owner who will give her the life she deserves.

What do you think about these attractive little diva-dogs? Let me know in the comments!

Shelter Dogs Head to Aggieland

Texans take their college rivalries seriously—the faithful alumni “bleed” orange (UT Longhorns), maroon (Texas A&M), or scarlet (Texas Tech). We have slogans with hand signals: Hook ‘em Horns; Gig ‘em, and Guns Up! Our mascots are animals: Bevo the brown and white Longhorn, Reveille the collie (who is the highest ranking Cadet), and Midnight Matador the coal black quarter horse (ridden by the Masked Rider). And a “House Divided” is one where one child attends A&M and the other attends Texas Tech.

My son is a junior at Texas Tech, but I have to give a big kudos to those Texas Aggies. Yesterday, our Shelter embarked on a new program—thanks to the connections of our Off-Site Adoption Team Leader—we are sending the first round of 10 female dogs to the Vet School at Texas A&M in College Station (70 miles north of our Shelter) where the dogs will be fully vetted and spayed as part of the school’s hands-on training program. If not adopted by the students or staff in Aggieland, the dogs will be returned to our Shelter, where we will find them homes. The University covers the costs for all aspects of their involvement.

I spent yesterday at the Shelter, helping Dr. Ryan, our Director and Veternarian select and prep the dogs. We focused on adoptable dogs from the Blue Room. We also tried to select a mix of fairly healthy dogs in order to boost their chances for placement through their exposure at the University . This task was harder than it sounds.

We have mostly Black Lab mixes, and many of our dogs are badly infected by mange. Others are heartworm positive. And a disturbing number of our current dogs are heavily pregnant. While we crouched in front of the kennels—me holding the quivering dogs while Dr. Ryan pulled the blood samples for the SNAP heartworm tests—a stoic American Staffordshire was giving birth to a litter of puppies in a kennel shrouded with a blanket to give the birthing mom a little privacy.

When I peeked in on the dog, she had eight tiny puppies of all different colors, each about the size and just as floppy as Beanie Babies. She was licking the tiny pups clean of afterbirth and gave me a serious eye.

Meanwhile, we worked up kennel cards for each of our 10 females—we did the heartworm tests and gave vaccinations, and in some cases gave names to dogs that had none. An air-conditioned van will come from the University to fetch the dogs and those who aren’t selected by adopters will be returned next week. Small medical complaints will have been addressed and the dogs will be clean and well-rested, and the next 10 dogs will head out to College Station. Meanwhile, we now have 10 slots in the Blue Room for new dogs. This is a good thing because we’re overloaded with incoming animals.

So to the Vets at Aggieland, I gladly give a “Guns Up!” Thanks, Aggies, for giving our dogs a second chance!

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Photos of Texas College Mascots courtesy of the Interwebs

This Time “Girl” Deserves a Real Home

I remember when “Girl” arrived at the Shelter. She is a hound mix, with a docked tail and butterscotch colored spots. An owner-surrender, “Girl” was quickly adopted because she was healthy, well behaved, and housebroken.

However, two weeks ago, she was returned to the Shelter in horrible shape. Now skin issues are very common here in humid Southeast Texas (I’m battling rough spots on my Miniature Pinscher’s ear right now with a steroid cream). But “Girl” is red and raw all over. Click on the photo to see the rawness on her ears, elbows, hindquarters and inner legs.

How on earth can someone let a dog get to this point? Can they just not see her discomfort? Her raw skin and the bloody red scratches? This is mange complicated by secondary infection.

“Girl” is being treated at the Shelter, and we’re hoping to get her into a foster home so she can recover more quickly. She’s made tremendous strides in just two weeks. The Shelter Vet estimates “Girl” needs another month before she’ll be ready for adoption. Amazingly, her spirit hasn’t been crushed. “Girl” is a sweet dog, who craves attention. She deserves far better than she’s had.

In the chaos of the Intake line, there is no telling what happened to the former adopters—at this point, the County doesn’t allocate much in the way of resources to prosecute animal cases like this. The Shelter volunteers have rallied around “Girl,” and we’re going to make sure that t once “Girl” is out of the shelter that she never goes back.

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Photo by Linda Monk.

What's Not to Love?

Here's a sampling of the dogs available now at the Montgomery County, Texas, Animal Selter. From left to right: 1) "Dudley" #A112614: A spunky senior red Dachshund mix male with soft curly fur and a pudgy body that makes you think, "There's a Milk Dud!" Obviously well-fed, he is an owner surrender. 2)"Riley: #A114398. That typical Heeler quirkiness is evident on "Riley's" face. This young Blue Heeler boy is wicked smart and needs a day-job. 3) "Willis" #A11835 has the "Benji" look on a taller, lean body. He needs some groceries to fill him out, but he's still a smallish dog, about the size of a foxhound, with wheat-colored wiry, terrier hair and stylishly pricked ears. What's not to love about these dogs? Check them out at The MCAS website.

Something for Everybody But Nobody Came

What We Took to Off-Site on Saturday, August 15th
--One three-legged black Lab female dog
--One stag red Miniature Pinscher male dog
--One German Shepherd mix female puppy
--Two yellow Lab Mix puppies (one male, one female)
--One black Lab Mix female puppy
--One red-nosed pit bull female puppy
--One Flat-Coated Retriever Mix female dog
--On Lab Mix male dog
--Two pit bull mix male dogs (one golden-brown, one brindle and white)
--One Australian Shepherd Mix male dog
--One Catahoula-Australian Cattle Dog Mix male dog
--One Dachshund-Beagle Mix male dog
--Two purebred Akitas (one male, one female) Owner Surrender dogs

What We Adopted:
--One German Shepherd Mix female puppy.

We had an awesome selection of dogs, but only moderate traffic at the Off-Site, which was hosted by our local "Hooters."

There's nothing like going inside a "Hooters" early on a Saturday night to fill up one-gallon jugs of water for stinky Shelter dogs to make me feel more middle-aged, pudgy and grubby. I don't frequent "Hooters" on principle, but the "Hooters" girls were cute as buttons--sweet, quick and perky beyond belief. Too bad we couldn't have them showing off our dogs.

-*- Artwork: Scan of a vintage postcard.

Should Tax-payers "Spare Strays"?

On Thursday, July 23, 2009, one of our local papers in Montgomery County, Texas, The Conroe Courier, ran an editorial entitled, "How deep will we dig to spare our strays?" You can read the piece here.

Here is the second draft of my response:

Dear Editors:
In regards to the Editorial “How deep will we dig to spare strays?” (July 23, 2009) I have five proposals:

1) I invite the Editors to come and visit the Montgomery County Animal Shelter to witness first-hand how many people enter the doors of the Shelter to surrender animals. Listen to the stories (some heart-wrenching, others just poor excuses) as to why people have chosen to bring these animals to the Shelter. And be sure to count how many animals are arriving—the Editors might be astonished to realize that during a single day the MCAS may do intakes on more than 120 animals. Many are not “strays.” I’m sure the Shelter Staff would appreciate any advice the Editors could give on how to stem the tide of disposable animals. Unfortunately, when a citizen arrives with a box of kittens or a crate of unwanted puppies, this can't be undone.

2) I invite the Editors to step up as Shelter volunteers. Wear old clothes, tennis shoes or rubber boots, and bring gloves (latex are best) and your own sturdy leashes. Join the already over-worked (not to mention totally unpaid) Shelter volunteers in cleaning kitty litter boxes, wiping down cat cages, swabbing out concrete dog kennels, bathing puppies and washing soiled, stinky towels. Experience for yourselves the joy of a grateful dog who pines for a kind touch or a cat’s contented purr as you rub its back. These animals may be “strays” but they are living creatures, too.

3) I invite the Editors to set a wonderful example for our community by generously contributing their donations (cash is good) to the fine non-profit groups that support the Shelter, including the Friends of the Montgomery County Animal Shelter (www.fmctas.org) or The Woodlands Dog Park (www.thewoodlandsdogparkclub.org). These groups donate thousands of dollars each year to alleviate the suffering of the sick and injured animals that arrive at the Shelter every day. All donations are tax-deductible, of course.

4) I invite the Editors to donate items such as canned dog or puppy food, canned kitten food, bleach, PineSol cleaners, laundry soap, dry dog food, puppy training pads, paper towels, and Dawn dish-washing soap—we need these basic supplies to provide safe conditions for not only the animals but for the people (many of whom are residents of our county) who come to search for a lost pet or find a new pet.

5) I invite the Editors to sponsor Pet Adoption Events. Please, do more than just run a couple column inches the day before. Instead, I suggest that all the Editors band together as volunteers and have The Courier underwrite a series of fun and educational Pet Adoption events. Adoption Events are one of the best venues to educate the public about the importance of spaying and neutering pets. The Editor-volunteers can arrange for the location and permits, acquire and erect tents or canopies, and set up dog crates, tables and chairs. The Editors can make and post signs and send out flyers, and they can join the Shelter volunteers at the Adoptions. The work done by the Editor-Volunteers would make it possible for the regular Shelter volunteers (who do all the above already) to focus on getting more animals out of the Shelter so that the pet-loving public can interact with them in fun surroundings.

If all of this sounds too daunting, or seems like too much of a commitment to make in the community in which we--Editors, volunteers, tax-paying citizens, stray animals and pets alike--all live, I have one final suggestion:

I encourage the Editors to refrain from acquiring a pet. After all, that pet may one day get lost and might end up in our Shelter, picked up as a “stray.” Sadly, many of our “strays” are obviously well-loved pets—with lush coats, clipped nails, and even collars (but, alas, all too often without tags). If we’re wasting tax-payer money on only “strays,” we certainly wouldn’t want the Editors or their family members to suffer the grief of finding out that their beloved dog or cat ended up the Shelter, thus costing our tax-payers even more money.

I am a resident, voter, and tax-payer who lives in Montgomery County. I am a regular Shelter volunteer. I make cash donations, foster animals and coordinate Adoption Events. I am not nearly as dedicated as many of our Shelter volunteers, but I do what I can. Instead of complaining about money spent on “sparing strays," the Editors should be part of the solution through their volunteer efforts and contributions to our County and City Shelters.

-*- Artwork: Post-digital creation based on the famous "Big-Eyed Puppies" made popular in the late '60s.

Shelter Update: FOX 26 News Report

Our Shelter is undergoing a lot of changes at the current time, and so no one was surprised when the local FOX News affiliate showed up to make a report:



We're making progress, but it is tooth-grindingly slow.

This Dog Deserves Better

This is another shot of Blacky, whose story follows below. I don't have his Kennel number, unfortunately.

Bully Breeds in the Blue Room

Every day at the Shelter, we get pit bulls, American bull dogs, American Staffordshire Terriers and all the possible combinations of bully breed mixes. It is an endless parade of bully dogs.

Some arrive with thick collars strapped to their muscular necks or with sun-bleached nylon harnesses encircling their barrels. Others come bearing full teats and protruding ribs from a recent litter. Many show up with mange—-bright, strawberry-red raw patches cover their faces and ears or splatter across their hind quarters. Many dogs come in with cropped ears—-some just tip-cropped, others sporting badly done home-jobs where the ear tips have been clipped so close to the head that the inner ear is horribly exposed to the elements.

Then there are fighting dogs—with old or fresh scars. The ones that are seized in connection with drug busts or other criminal activities are hustled straight into the “Red Room”—the quarantine room for bite cases and dogs held as evidence. Volunteers and the general public never get to see these dogs. However, many come in as strays or owner surrenders. Most end up in the Kill Room, but a fair number make their way toward the Adoption room, especially if they are young enough and not too blemished. Badly scarred dogs, however, don’t have as a good a chance.

My latest Advocacy Dog is “Blacky,” pictured above. I found him in the Blue Stray-Hold Room on Sunday night, well after the Shelter had been closed to the Public. I was there late putting dogs away after taking them an Off-site event. I have taken to doing a full walk-through of all the rooms each time I go to the Shelter. It is emotionally wrenching, and not all the volunteers will do walk-throughs. But I do.

Blacky (he does have a kennel card with a name, which is a good sign) was in a kennel with three other dogs. A huge black lab with a milk-white splotch on his chin was vigorously humping Blacky when I first saw the dog. Blacky, a bully breed mix of some sort, was trying to sit, and was hunched over so far that his head was between his forelegs. He could not curl up any tighter and remain upright.

I banged on the kennel to get the lab’s attention, but the dog was so caught up in his dominance that he just glared at me and lifted his lip, growling as he continued to hump Blacky. I went and retrieved a kennel worker, George, who got the big lab to back off and moved Blacky to another kennel as his last task before heading home.

I checked on Blacky again, and he was cowering as his new kennel mates pushed and growled at him. As a Volunteer, I’m not really authorized to move dogs, but it was late—just the Volunteers remained. I decided to move him again.

I grabbed his paperwork and hauled Blacky out again and put him into the next kennel to the right. Immediately, a fight broke out. I kicked on the door and hollered at the dogs. They broke up, and I dragged the now shivering, hunkered Blacky out. I didn’t have my leash, so I scrounged a broken slip-leash for Blacky, but he’s a big dog and he wouldn’t move. We keep male dogs on the A side (left) and females on the B side (right), so I cajoled Blacky around to the B side. He relaxed a little bit, pushing hard against my leg, head down and tail tucked. He looked just like the beleaguered little kid in the 1st Grade with a “Kick Me” sign taped on his back.

He was injured—something was wrong with his right front paw—and he could barely walk. I got him back around to the A side, and the dismay on his face was clear. He was terrified. Frantically I scanned the kennels. There was no way I could take an unevaluated, large Stray-Hold bully dog home with me at 6:30 p.m. Sunday night.

I had to find him a safe kennel. There was only one available, Kennel #3 with—a single dog, an adolescent lab mix about 6 months old in Kennel 3. He was lethargic and had bloody stools. Someone had scrawled a note about the stools on his kennel card. Sharing a kennel with a sick dog (worms, most likely) was better than being bullied by the other dogs, so I shoved Blacky in. Blacky looked at me as if I had betrayed him. I knew I had, but I could do nothing else. I turned off the lights and left the Blue Room.

I couldn’t get Blacky out of my mind. I went to the Shelter on Tuesday, and he was still in the Blue Room, and still with the young black lab. To my relief, they both looked much better.

One good thing the Shelter Director has done is to hire a dog behaviorist. Mr. G. is one of our dedicated Volunteers, but now he has some authority as an employee to evaluate the dogs. He was working, so I got him and asked if he would come see “my dog.” We all have our “projects,” so Mr. G. agreed.

We got Blacky out and after an informal evaluation, Mr. G. said that Blacky most likely was very young (brilliant white teeth) and had probably been used as a bait dog, based on his extreme submissive behavior and the scarring patterns. Like most bully breeds, Blacky is extremely people-oriented. Mr. G. speculated that Blacky has been kicked by his handlers, but appears very sociable in spite of this. He let us both look at his teeth and handle his injured paws (both front paws and one rear leg) appear to have either old or new bone-joint injuries. We had to put him back in the Blue Room, but now Mr. G. has Blacky on his project list, too, and we spoke to the Blue Room Kennel Manager, and she’s going to try to move Blacky into surgery ASAP so he can get neutered.

This isn’t a happy ending, though. Even if Blacky makes it into the Adoption Room, we’ll have the challenge of finding the right home for a traumatized bully dog. This is all-too common situation at our Shelter, but it’s the only option we have. There is an awesome Bully Breed rescue in our region called Spindletop, but they are always full-up, plus it’s expensive to move a dog into their system.

If you have any rescue contacts in Texas, or if you can offer us a guess as to what sort of bully dog Blacky might be (we’re not thinking pit bull because of his large ears and mouth shape), leave a comment.

Mama Dog with 14 Puppies

This small blackish-brown lab mix was brought in on Sunday with 14 tiny puppies. The mama dog weighs only about 35 pounds, so this is a huge litter for a dog her size. Currently she is in an isolation room, but we're hoping to get her and her puppies into a foster home.

Female dogs with nursing litters are brought into the Shelter weekly. I've seen three or four litters at a time in the Lavender and Pink Rooms (the stray-hold rooms). Currently, the Shelter does not have a space dedicated to newly born puppies and their moms--no whelping boxes, no room where it is quiet and calm so that mama dogs can rest.

We're working to improve these conditions, but it is a slow process.

Shelter News: Progress

On Monday, June 29th, more than 50 supporters of the Montgomery County Texas Animal Shelter seated themselves in the public gallery of the County Commissioners Court to hear a presentation by our new Shelter Director Dr. Patricia Ryan asking for an exemption to a budget freeze in order to hire more kennel staff.

According to a shelter industry formula, a shelter our size, with the number of animals we have on an average day (currently 500 animals) and some other factors, ideally needs a staff of about 45 people. We currently have a staff of seven.

Dr. Ryan asked for the funding to hire 10 additional kennel staff ASAP, and requested that the county adjust the starting wage from $8.25 to $10.00 per hour in order to better compete with other shelters in the Houston area.

The commissioners unanimously approved this request, and will investigate some other solutions—including a plan that could place trustees from the county jail in the Shelter after hours to provide overnight cleaning. The volunteers, community members and other supporters were extremely pleased with the outcome.

Some people were surprised at how quickly the commissioners court agreed to the proposal. What needs to be kept in mind is the following:

1. Several dedicated and articulate community supporters spent the past several months contacting decision-makers to lay the groundwork for this request.
2. Two commissioners actually toured the Shelter and saw for themselves the dire need.
3. The new Shelter Director was the only one who made comments.
4. The public area was PACKED with supporters—it would have looked horrible to refuse such a necessary and entirely reasonable request with so many voters in the room.
5. No other court business could be easily conducted until our case was heard, so the commissioners prudently adjusted the agenda, moving our Shelter case forward so that they could clear the gallery and get on with their other business without us underfoot.

Maybe I am just cynical, but I wasn’t among the volunteers who had tears of joy in their eyes and who felt the commissioners had been generous. Certainly in these tight economic times, making a hiring decision when the county is under a budget freeze is refreshing, but in all honesty, I don’t think the men (and they were all middle aged to older white men) sitting above us were stretching all that hard to grant this request.

After all, as taxpayers we’re paying their salaries. They were just doing the job they’ve been appointed to do. It wouldn’t have been in their best interest to refuse such a basic request. Some of the volunteers sent an email afterwards urging us to “shower the commissioners with thank you cards.”

Considering that this is just a first step in a long process to bring the Shelter around to what it should be, I don’t feel we have to fawn over the commissioners. They did the right thing, and we shouldn’t expect any less. I feel that sending a bunch of thank you cards is rather like giving every 15-year-old on a youth soccer team a trophy just for showing up.

I am glad that the commissioners are paying attention because they need to. They’re going to hear more from us over the next few months.

-*-Photo courtesy of "chilli media" via Flickr, with adjustments in Photoshop.

Hot, Hot, Hot

It's 97 degrees outside here in Houston, Texas, as I write this post. Add in the humidity, and it feels much, much hotter. It's just noon, so it will get even hotter before the day is over.

Yesterday, another high-temperature record made the books--104 degrees in Metro Houston. Where I live, it was about 102--we're north of downtown at the edge of the Piney Woods.

Speaking of pine trees, the woods are parched. So is the grass, and the oak seedlings that so hopefully sprouted from the stump of our big tree that came down with Hurricane Ike. We're under burn bans and voluntary water restrictions, with more to come if things continue as predicted.

My dogs stay inside during the heat of the day, although my huntin' dog, Taco, the min pin, spent an hour outside this morning, patrolling his back yard. Now he's barking at the unfortunate lawn guys who are mowing my neighbor's lawn. And my workaholic type A husband has forced my son out to mow our lawn. So I guess I'll have to go out pick up poop.

The Shelter dogs are cool--there's air conditioning. The dogs at the Off-Sites, well, they're hot. I opted not to go because it was so hot last weekend, but if my husband stays in his frantic mode, maybe I'll head off to the Off-Sites just to escape his never-ending chore list. I had hoped to take one day off, but it doesn't look that will be the case. I'll be better off with the hot shelter dogs at the Off-Site!