Help Me Help Haitian Hurt Animals. With Update

UPDATE #2: I am nowhere near my limit. I will keep this post open until I get closer to my limit, or pass my limit. Please help spread the word. As the human aid starts to filter in and help, soon the animal aid will be ready to deploy.

UPDATE: I will now donate $1.00 per comment. Originally, I was worried this post might "go viral" as I saw other donation blog posts doing, but it's going slowly so I can afford to up my donation per comment.

For every comment posted on this entry, I will donate $0.25 to International Fund For Animal Welfare. I looked them up on CharityNavigator.com and they rate well. I've seen some other blogs doing this for human aid to Haiti, and they got thousands of comments. I highly doubt that will happen here, as I'm not that popular of a blog... but I'm curious to see how many I can get. I also have been wanting to donate since the earthquake, so this can be a way to determine how much to give.

When I traveled to New Orleans, a month after Katrina, the people were all gone and the streets were empty... but behind locked doors were starving pets, underneath houses were hurt dogs, scared cats, carcasses.... It was awful and it seemed like the aid was only going to humans. Let's not forget there are other souls suffering. So AFTER we take care of the people please, let's not forget to help those hurt animals.

As printed on the Animal Rescue Site (please go there and click on their link daily):

"As is always the case with disasters like this, many animals are also suffering and in need of help and care. Haiti has an estimated 5 million head of livestock, a large stray dog population, native wildlife, and, of course, an untold number of companion animals.

IFAW has partnered with WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) to launch a coordinated animal relief response. Together they will lead a coalition of animal welfare groups to help the animals of Haiti. Their first priority will be to treat critically injured animals. They are also very concerned about the possible outbreak of rabies, leptospirosis, and other diseases that can pass from animals to humans, so they'll be vaccinating animals as quickly as possible, as well as be distributing food, water, and basic medical care.

Animal teams are in the Dominican Republic preparing for this critical mission. They're setting up a mobile veterinary clinic, and donations are needed to stock it with medicine, syringes, bandages, food, and other supplies.

Once human relief efforts have taken hold and security is in place, and depending on the needs found on the ground, animal teams will deploy and begin their lifesaving work. No one is certain of all the challenges to be faced,we need to be prepared."

So post a comment and I will donate. I'll keep comments open until I hit my donation limit.

And pass this along!

Thanks!

Following through on God promises

Do you ever make promises or "deals" with God when you're in a dicey situation?


Do you follow through on them?????


Some of you may remember my last airplane trip, in which we almost went down. I made a promise to God that if He let us live I would do something charitable that I really didn't feel like doing. Then I decided it would be a dog transport. And I would have to do the transport BEFORE my next plane trip or there's no guarantee God wouldn't crash that plane. I used to do these transports monthly, but since Charlie there's not room in the car and I'm worried about her being in the car with strange dogs.

But a deal's a deal so I signed up for a transport yesterday.

Transports are where you volunteer to drive a leg, usually about an hour, with a shelter rescue dog who's time is up, getting him one hour closer to his foster or forever home. It's kind of like an underground railroad concept, except above ground. Since many shelters up north are emptying of dogs due to awesome spay/neuter programs, and the South is lagging far behind and the shelters are overrun, the idea is to funnel these homeless animals north where there is starting to be a demand for rescued dogs. Which is great. The South has to get their act together. We are still euthanizing millions a year.

So it's a great way to help, because nowadays there is no way I can foster either (something I used to do pre-baby), but at least I can spend a couple of weekend hours helping save a few lives.

Here are the sweeties I helped yesterday:



One of them was so loving and gentle, I would have traded one of my monsters for her. Maybe.



Isn't she sooo sweet?

If you are interested in driving an hour or two once a month or once a year, let me know, I'll hook you up with the transport coordinators I know.

So, the question I have today is, do you make God deals and if so, how often do you follow through?

Hero of the Week: Kurt E.!!!

My friend Michelle, who lives down in Florida, went behind her house where there is a waterway and saw this bird:

The bird was weak and hungry, it had something caught around it's beak. It couldn't open it's mouth and it couldn't get this material off it's beak. It settled in for a nap, probably too weak to do much else. Michelle ran inside to call her husband, Kurt to come and help. Kurt jerry-rigged a net on the end of a pole and managed to catch the bird and remove this stuff from around it's beak:

He released the bird into the waterway and they held their breaths watching to see if it would have the strength to swim and hunt.

Moments later it caught a fish and gulped it down whole! Here you can see it going down it's throat!

Perhaps not the best day for the fish... but since this story is about the bird, it's a miracle of timing and personality. These two people saw an animal suffering and decided to do something about it. Many others would have clucked their tongues and decided there was nothing to be done... "cruel nature" and all. Michelle and Kurt are both heroes in my book (and I suspect the bird's book), but since Kurt did the MacGuyvering, he gets the hero citation! Left to me? I probably wouldn't have used my noodle in that situation. I would have waded in and tried to catch the bird by hand, getting my butt chewed by alligators in the process. Smart Kurt!

So next time you see some animal suffering... try and think if there's something you can do. This only took 5 minutes. Oh, and please don't throw this type of trash away without cutting it up into small pieces.

(20 points to first person to correctly name the type of bird)

Wookie the Westless

Change is difficult for all species.

Bringing a foster dog into one's house is not a decision to be entered in to lightly. It is not something that should be done in reaction to a heart wrenching story, or on impulse.

When I agreed to take in Wookie, I knew it was going to be work. A lot of hard work.

However, since I was the one who stopped to pick him up, like the old Chinese proverb, I'm now responsible for his life. I knew that, and still choose to stop and catch him. Now I am paying the price for that decision….

Let me tell you about last night, as I prop my eyelids open to type….

All was well during the evening. Wookie was introduced to the others and got along well. He ate his din-din with the girls, and there was no food guarding or aggression. In fact, he won't eat unless I'm standing right there, cheering him on (weird!). He played well with a toy, voided in the garden, had his nighttime treaty-treat before bed. We all went into my bedroom and BAM!

CHANGE.

11PM to 12AM: I had brought his crate into my room, right next to my bed. It has a soft pillow inside and is comfortable. He did NOT want to sleep in it. Well, I made him. It's night time and considering he is a stranger, I was not about to have him wandering freely in my room while I sleep. There's too much potential for trouble in all kinds of ways (chewing shoes, fighting with another dog, peeing/pooing in the corner, etc.)

He panted loudly and anxiously for an hour. Did I mention LOUDLY. PANTING.

12AM to 2AM: Free at last! I couldn't take the loud panting and occasional whining anymore and freed him. He decided he would join the other 3 dogs on my bed. Instead of finding a small corner of the bed to curl up on, he walked all over us, knocking some dogs off the bed, and found a spot nearly on top of me. Then he would lie there for 5 minutes, get up, turn around in circles, step on me, find another spot, pant, lie down, and repeat. At one point, all 50 pounds of him were lying on top of me, belly to belly, with his hot stinky breath panting in my face. Hannah, who is on a good day as highly strung as my laundry line, was pushed over the top by this behavior, and felt the need to also lie on top of me to be consoled. Ok, enough. I can't take it anymore.

2AM: Prepare Benadryl in a teaspoon of peanut butter. Give to Wookie. Wish I had something stronger, like chloroform. Put in ear plugs. Put C-PAP back on (yes, amidst this tangled mess of dogs and human, there is a loud machine with a full face mask and wires and tubing everywhere!) Receive paw to the gut, elbow to the neck. Wookie finally settles for 5 minutes laying across my legs, trapping me. Any time I move, sigh, scratch my nose, Wookie leaps up at attention and the "finding the perfect spot" routine starts anew. I lie, stiff as a board, afraid to move an inch or make the slightest sound, until 3:45 AM. Pressure myself to fall asleep this way, worry about being tired all day tomorrow.

3:45AM: Get up, take Wookie outside to pee. Give him water and a snack. Take him to the basement crate. Call work to let them know I might be late. Turn off alarm. Put in earplugs, turn on fan, ignore incessant muffled barking rising through floor boards from the basement. Feel like "evil foster mother" as I finally fall asleep.

7:AM: Internal clock wakes me up an hour earlier than necessary. What kind of internal clock does that??? Take care of four dogs and their individual needs. Make it to work 10 minutes early.

Rinse. Repeat.

(5 points for whoever can remind me why I do this stuff???)

Wookie really likes his toy. He acts like he's never had a toy before, but he sure knows how to play! I can't help but feel for the young feller. He's been going through some changes. I wonder what his previous home was like.... was he loved? He sure knows how to cuddle. He's pretty clean. But no tags, no microchip... I've posted ads everywhere. If he's missed surely someone will look. I've also scoured all the "lost dog" ads with no luck. I try to imgaine having one home and then suddenly being on your own, then in another home.... how difficult and nerve racking that must be. Not unlike what our adoptive children go through.



Here is Boo. She is exhausted from lack of sleep. As are we all...

Idol recap and Wookie update

Ok, quick Idol recap before it's too late and the results show comes on!

Adam: "Sang"(if you can call it that) "Born To BE Wild". Cleared out my sinuses! Seriously, he kept my attention, but there were moments when he sounded like a Screeching Owl's screeching mouse dinner.

Lil Rounds: UGH. I think she's choking. Each week she gets worse. The judges tell her the opposite thing each week and it's screwing with her confidence. She used to be so good! Lil! Pull it together, girl! And straighten that wig!

Allison aka Ms. Manic Panic: Sounded stuffed up, but did a decent job of singing a corny song ("I Don't Want to Miss A Thing"). Of all the movie songs in the world... she had to pick this song??

Danny: He's reminding me too much of what's-his-name (with the Soul Patrol fans). See? I can't even remember his name. I feel bad Danny's wife died, and I liked him at first because of the sympathy thing. But does he really have staying power? Or will they be giving away tickets to his concerts in a year from now like they did for Soul Patrol guy?

Everyone else: zzzzzzzzzzzz......

Going home? Hmm.. could be Lil, but I think the judges would keep her around even though Simon is mad at her lately. Probably Anoop because there's no way his frat boy butt is the next American Idol. He's got a bad case of the snoozies.... puts me to sleep every time. He's got to go some time, it might as well be tonight.

WOOKIE UPDATE:

I picked Wookie up from boarding where he has been the past week (it didn't work out with Elizabeth, long story, but she did sponsor a week's boarding so my parents could visit in peace and my floors could be done, so thank you , Elizabeth, for that).

Wookie is doing really well (knock on wood) so far. He is getting along with the girls just fine, sniffing them and allowing them to sniff back. He's tolerating Beulah's incessant barking begging him to play. He's following me around, which is pretty cute, like an imprinted duckling. Still a bit insecure, but it's only been a couple of hours. I have him wearing a belly band since he's a leg lifter and not house broken. He's allowing me to put it on no problem. Basically, a week at doggie day care did wonders for him. He's no longer skittish, he's loving towards me, likes to be cuddled and pet, and gets along with the girls. So if he can just get house broken and leash trained, we have a great candidate for adoption.

Right now he is asleep by my heels. There really is a difference in attitude with rescued dogs, I think. Such fierce loyalty and gratitude. They know.

Pictures of Wookie coming soon, stay tuned.

5 points for everyone who has rescued an animal and posts his/her name!

"Had a bad day"

(Disclaimer: Many of you who don't know me in real life couldn't possibly know this about me so I will explain lest you think I'm coockoo... Any type of animal suffering affects me like an arrow to the eyeball. I stop breathing for a second. I see red. I rage. Then I cry. I get depressed. It's weird... I don't know why this happens, but it's intense and I've been called "too sensitive" because of it. It's one reason I got out of animal rescue, I couldn't take witnessing all the suffering on a daily basis. On the other hand, I can handle any type of human suffering no problem. Wars, genocide, even child abuse... it's all awful stuff, but I can handle hearing about it without having an spastic fit. That's probably why I'm a great social worker. Animal stuff though.... game's over. So without further ado:)

Ok, I had SUCH a bad day I cannot even begin to tell you about it. Well, I guess I can begin, because that's what I appear to be doing right now. Maybe it's so bad I can't finish. We'll see.

Oh screw it. I'm not going to go through each ridiculously horrible moment of this ridiculously horrible day.

Suffice it to say that in between several long trips in massive rain to pick up Wookie (the stray) and bring him to Elizabeth's house I saw another stray on the side of the road that I couldn't stop and pick up for many reasons (no actually, I don't work for Animal Control, although I'm beginning to wonder if I should apply). Then a few miles down the road, as though God were punishing me for neglecting to do my dog catcher's job I saw THE MOST AWFUL scene of carnage INVOLVING A DOG. This was worse than "a dog hit by a car on the side of the road" (which is already bad enough to ruin my whole day). Way worse. I won't describe the details so as not to vicariously traumatize my dear readers. That image will forever be burned into The Vault (that place in my brain that keeps the multitude of horrendous, dark thoughts I've been collecting since childhood), and will be free to pop up and torture me whenever I am in the middle of some lovely, joyful thoughts.

All of these roadside delights were seen through a rainsplattered windshield due to some of the worst weather we've seen in years, compounded by a couple of hours of traffic jam, and finally topped off like a cherry on an ice crem float by slamming my thumb in the car door.

Oh, I almost forgot the two women in the elevator...

Me: (getting into elevator innocently on 4th floor going down at end of bad day at work)
Blond Airhead #1: So then he HANGS THE CAT and-
Me: (sticking fingers into ears and starting to hum "la-la-la" loudly)
Blond Airhead #2: Well how did he do that?
Blond Airhead #1: See, this cat was really loving, and Bob really loves animals, he really does, but this time I guess he was in a bad mood and the cat was rubbing up on him and-
Me: LA.LA.LA

Elevator FINALLY get to the 1st floor. I get off and (genius that I am) decide I'll take the long way and shake off these friends-and-lovers-of-animal-murderers, but Noooooo... they follow me the long way out, all the while talking about this poor cat and never once noticing that I am RUNNING with my ears plugged yelling LALALALALALALALA all the way down the hall. At one point I yell "SHUT.UP." and they don't even notice.

So that's how my day's been. I left out quite a bit, like missing the Fed Ex guy by a minute (I saw him drive down my street). I also left out how I found out some really bad news about a program I work with... job stress. More of. Yea, I'll just leave all those other minuscule details out. Nobody wants to hear that.

And to end on an up note, because it's always good to leave your readers in a state of happy-happy-joy-joy (5 points for that reference) and because I always try to balance out complaints with gratitude:

I didn't die today!

I didn't get a terminal disease diagnosis!

I didn't get in an accident even though I hydro-planed throughout the evening!

and.....

Wookie is at Elizabeth's house instead of in the landfill! Yay!

So, while I spend the evening wondering how the dog I didn't pick up is faring in this downpour tonight, here is a picture to uplift your mood after this posting.


(10 points to whoever can name the band who sings the title song) (Btw, FYI, these points offerings may add up to something one day. I'm just sayin'. I had no takers on the last offer, zippo, so I thought I better mention it.)

Most awesome news: I found a foster for the puppy!!!!!!!

As I was leaving work a colleague called... she had read this very blog here. She offered to foster the pup!

So... the update is: pup is getting neutered tomorrow. I'm picking him up on Thursday and bringing him to the foster home!

Yay!

Elizabeth, you rock! (BTW, I already knew she rocked and had great friend potential...)

Ok, to show Elizabeth how much she rocks, everyone leave a comment for her, ok? The most comments I ever got on this blog is around 13. Can we beat that record for Elizabeth stepping up to the plate and not letting me or the puppy down? Yes we can! I want Elizabeth to know that people all over the world think she is awesome!

Oh and we need a name..... thoughts?

ETA: American Idol predictions. Going home this week:
Anoop-Dawg or Megan Joy CROAKEY (yuk yuk)

Not looking good for the puppy :-(

I'm vey sad.

I cannot find anyone to foster the puppy for 2 weeks. I have found a rescue that would take him when they have room, which is usually about 2 weeks.

I cannot foster the puppy for 2 weeks, because my parents are arriving next week to work on the nursery, and I already have 3 dogs, etc. It's just too much. I have fostered before and having 4 dogs in the house is a lot. It's a real handful. Especially if one of them is not house broken/leash trained/jumps all over the furniture/destroys the house, etc.

The shelter told me again that they cannot "hold" the puppy for two weeks. I know what that means.

But then I wonder why God/fate/the universe had me drive by at that specific moment? I thought it meant something. I thought I was supposed to save this dog.

PS No picture today, it would be too dark.

Dog Day Afternoon

(5 points for first person to tell me who starred in the title movie)

What a day, what a day.

1) End of week, exhausted.

2) On my way to a meeting, but luckily was taking lunch on the way and was 45 minutes early.

3) Saw chow-chow puppy running on the side of the highway

4) Pulled over.

5) In the driving rain. It was raining so hard the car roof sounded like pennies were dropping on it.

6) Used lunch meat to lure dog close. Spent 45 minutes in the rain trying to catch willy (yet friendly) pup.

7) Could NOT catch pup. Resigned myself to having tried and had to get to meeting. Called Animal Control. They said "We'll send someone AFTER THE WEATHER CLEARS." Umm.... my tax dollars are for rainy days too, mister.

8) Put key in ignition.

9) Car wouldn't start.

10) Tried about 10 times.

11) Still wouldn't start.

12) Called colleague who saved me with jumper cables and happened to know a lot about cars.

13) Drive to meeting, look in rear view, puppy is running after my car. Stop, try to catch pup again. Nope, no deal, he can't trust me enough although I can see he wants to. He'll come up to 2 inches from my hand, but he won't let me any closer. At times, he oh-so-gently takes ham from my finger tips... so tenderly and shyly. If I could read his mind, it would probably be saying something along the lines of:" This woman SEEMS pretty nice... but it's been tough out here and I've been fooled before. I'm cold and lonely though... but I just can't chance it, she may be trying to trick me."

14) But at this point I'm already 5 minutes late, soaked to the core, and I have to go. Sight in rear view of puppy following the car is enough to slay me. I can't concentrate in meeting.

15) After the meeting, car-expert colleague tells me to get me to a Auto Zone and buy a new battery and not switch off my car between now and then.

16) On the way to Auto Zone, decide to take SLIGHT detour to see if puppy is still there. He isn't. Heart sinks. He must be terrified, wet, alone.

14) Make U-turn, look in rear view one last time. THERE HE IS!

15) Execute perfect 180 a la James Bond.

16) (Don't worry mom and dad, it's a pretty deserted area.)

17) Drive right up to him, call him, he comes right up. He is ready to be caught. He has surrendered. It's too wet, too cold, and he's too hungry. He's ready to trust me. I caught him EASILY. Animal Control pulls up right then. I debate taking him with me or sending him to the shelter.

18) In the end, I let him go to the shelter. He has 3 days. 3 short days, and over the weekend no less, before he is euthanized.

19) So much for trusting me. I feel awful. I have duped him. He will not understand why. He will not understand the cold bars and cacophony of the animal shelter. He will smell the euthanize area, and he will know this is not a good place. This will be the last time he trusts a "nice lady" on the side of a road.

20) Soooo.....

21) Can anyone adopt or foster this puppy? Does anyone know of a Chow Rescue that has room?
He is in Western NC, and transport can most likely be arranged.


Disclaimer: the puppy picture above is from google images, though the puppy I caught looks very similar, complete with black tongue. I did not have my camera with me the day I caught him. I will soon post a real picture of him.

Ten things you absolutely need to know about my dogs

This is a gratuitous post so I can show off more pictures of my beautiful dogs.

1) If I were blind I could still tell who is drinking out of the toilet because they all have different rhythms of lapping.

Beulah: lap.....lap......lap....

Hannah: lappity, lap, lappity, lap....

Boo: laplapswallow, laplapswallow....

2) Same for barking!

Beulah: A-woo-woo-woo-woo-wooooo!

Hanah: Rarf! Rarf! Rarf!

Boo: Doesn't bark.

3) Boo is the best side sleeper in the world. She is like a body pillow. She makes tighter and tighter circles until she can't get any closer, and then plops herself down on my side, slides down to the bed, and there is no space between us.

4) Boo is a "paw-er". She is very needy and paws at you for attention. It's highly annoying.

5) Hannah will rip to shreds any dog she sees outside the home, but allows fosters to stay inside the home without a problem. WTH?

6) I can tell which dog's poo is in the yard. I won't describe how though. You are spared.

7) Boo can escape from a yard that has both a real 6 foot fence AND an invisible fence. A double barriered high security type fortress. She can also escape from any type of crate known to man, including the kind used to hold lions. She will also paw her way out of a closed room, so she cannot be held in a bathroom or bedroom. Therefore, she gets the run of the house.

8) When I first got Boo, and for the year after that, she would put all 80 lbs of herself on top of the dining room table. My table is now ruined. One behaviorist and $500.00 later, she would still do it so I keep the shades drawn to minimize the temptation (she would get on the table to look out the window)

9) Hannah was the only non-Pitt, non-Rottweiler at the Newark animal shelter and was so terrified the day I adopted her that she would not eat a McDonald's hamburger I bought her on the way home. I think she thought it was "her time". Poor baby.

10) Beulah has been in the newspaper and all over the Internet. She is/was a pretty famous dog at one point, and all her post-Katrina care was payed for out of generous donations from her "fan base".

So there you go. 10 essential facts to clutter your brain a bit more on this beautiful Saturday!

PS, What is with all the circular orbs in my pictures? I have them all over the place, especially pictures in my house. Some of my friends say it's a spirit.... What do you think?

I'd like you to meet Beulah.

Many of you already know Beulah in the flesh, but some of my readers may not. I have a story to tell about Beulah today, but first I'd like to introduce you.

Beulah was one of the few animal survivors of Hurricane Katrina. She was found in a house in the 9th ward on October 10. She was left there for another 2 days before being rescued.


She was found near the green plastic tub, barely able to move anymore. After all,this was 42 days after the hurricane hit. And there was no evidence that food or water had been left for her in the house.


After being glued to the T.V. for weeks, my heart breaking with every image of another dog trapped on an innudated porch, or swimming after Ann Curry's boat, I had traveled down to New Orleans as soon as I could get off work.... I camped for a week in a Winn Dixie parking lot with other animal rescuers and on my last day I met Beulah at a make shift triage center (otherwise known as an defunct gas station). I had never seen a more vulnerable, pathetic sight. Beulah was rooting around for anything she could find to eat, including paper and pebbles.

We had to load her on a tractor trailer to take her 2 hours away to a vet. She tried to howl, she didn't want us to leave her all alone again, but it came out as a croak... her vocal cords were too dehydrated from weeks of barking fruitlessly, and no water.






As determined as I had been NOT to return home with an animal, I could not turn my back on this dog. My family was less than pleased that I now had THREE dogs, and this one had heart worms, along with 4 different other kinds of parasites, and needed thousands of dollars of treatment that would take 6 months to make her better. She has no front teeth (I think from trying to gnaw her way out of the house)

But other than that there are few lasting scars from Katrina and her life before Katrina (which I do have reason to believe was not great). We did leave a note on the house for the owners and I was never contacted. Had I been contacted, they would have to sue me for her return. And even then....

SOooooo.... this brings us to today. For the past 4 years, Beulah has been living the life of Riley. She is my "heart dog", the special one, the soul mate of dogs. She sleeps by my head, and her snores and farts are as welcome as a fresh spring breeze. That's how much I love her.

On the weekends, we go for hikes on some trails near the landfill. The dogs can go off leash, since the trails are far away from any cars. We have been going several times per week for 4 years. With never an incident. Or not a major incident. Here is a picture of Beulah on her first hike, when she discovered running river water and spent 20 minutes barking at it. What a change from the Lower 9th Ward!




Today we arrived at the trails at 10AM. By 11AM we were heading back to the car. Beulah took off after some scent. And that was the last I saw of her.

I searched high and low.

I climbed that mountain from 7 different angles, on trail, off trail, up one side, down the other. I was parched, starved, had low blood sugar, had thorns tearing at me, was crying after about 3 hours of searching (I kept my cool for the first 3 hours). I kept thinking: "Is this how it ends for my girl? Alone in the woods? What if I don't find her by night fall? I'm NOT leaving her alone out here!" I went back to the parking lot and wrote a note pleading with hikers to look for her and left my cell number. I went off again, my legs barely able to move anymore. I called my neighbor to bring water so I wouldn't have to leave the site (her car was unavailable so that didn't work).

I had images of Beulah lying dead and that is why she could not hear my calling and my shrill whistle. It didn't make sense.... the trails are about 5 miles in all directions and I covered them all several times... why couldn't she hear me? Perhaps she was so exhausted, I thought, that she had a heart attack?

I was starting to feel nauseous, heat stroke in 50 degree weather is hard to acheive but I was getting there. It was almost 3PM.

I made deals with God: "If you let me find her, I will believe in You, I SWEAR." I wondered whether that prayer would actually work, since certainly it is the same prayer mothers of missing children say and they often do not find their kids.

I was just starting to plan how I would camp out that night, because sleep was not going to come to me, worried, at home in a warm bed. There was NO WAY Beulah was spending the night out there alone. Suddenly my cell phone rang.

"Hi, did you lose a dog?"

Yes, yes, yes, God, I did.

"Well, she's down here in the parking lot by your car."

I begged them to hold on the her and I ran down the mountain, slipping, tearing jeans, panting, crying. "Sure, honey, don't worry, we got her."

When I arrived at the parking lot, they had tied her to my car (DUMB!!! Her collar is so loose she could EASILY slip it!) but she was still there. Exhausted, bloody, torn up, muddy, tail wagging but not much. She could barely jump in the car, she was that tired.

We came home. She had a whole bowl of water, a banana for potassium, I cleaned her cuts and we all took naps. I can barely move I'm so stiff and Beulah is still sleeping.

My heart dog.



We are NEVER going to the landfill again.

Animal survivors of Aussie bush fire

This picture is amazing, and I thought I would share. My heart breaks for those thousands of critters who did not make it:-(

Whenever there is a fire or catastrophic weather, my first thoughts always go to the animals who have no understanding, just instinctive fear. Horrible. :-( I always think back to Katrina where thousands upon thousands of animals were left locked behind doors to slowly starve to death. We knocked down some doors, but there were just too many.... a city full of doors...

Here are some places you can donate, please do, the animals always need donations and people tend to donate to the Red Cross or other human charities and forget about the furry victims:


Wildlife Victoria
RSPCA Victoria

Thank you!

As long as we're talking adoption.... what about a dog?

Ok, THIS is ridiculous! (click on pink word to see video)

Florida couple pays $150,000 for first commercially cloned dog

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Six years ago, a Boca Raton family froze their dog Lancelot's DNA. On Monday they picked up their new pooch that just happens to have all their former dog's genes.
"The only sad thing about dogs is that they have such a short life, wouldn't it be wonderful if you could live your life with the same dog," said Nina Otto, Lancy's owner.
Turns out you can, in a way.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28876782/

With millions of dogs being put to death every year, I think it's EGREGIOUS to pay this kind of money, which I can think of hundreds of better uses for, to clone your dog. Yes, I understand the bond people have with their dogs. And I even understand wanting them to live with you forever. It does seem unfair that they live such short lives comparatively... but I take their lack of life span to mean I'm obviously meant to spend my life with SEVERAL dogs. Cloning your dog is so GROSS! I can't even think of a word that describes how I feel about it. It's ADDING to the overpopulation problem (just like puppy mills and back yard breeders, who also make me SICK!) and it's SELFISH and it's NOT THE SAME DOG so that also makes it STUPID.

Here's what I would have done with that $150,000.00:

1) Bought a farm and opened an animal sanctuary
2) Paid for the medical care and spay/neuter of THOUSANDS of rescued pets
3) Why keep it just for animals? That money could keep entire families together either here in the U.S., or in Ethiopia. It could feed them and keep children with birth families. But NOooooo... these people want a look alike dog instead!
4) Buy 10,000 cans of formula for orphanages who are running out in ET
5) I could have put that $$ away for my daughter's college fund, or if I didn't have a daughter I could have started a scholarship fund for a needy kid
6) Could have paid for HIV/AIDS retrovirus medication for AHOPE or other orphanage that accepts HIV positive children
7) Could have bought clothes, school books, toys, etc, etc for those orphans
8) More selfish, but still better than cloning a dog in my opinion: could have used that $ to go on 75 vacations (that's all the vacations a person needs in their lifetime and more!)

So... you get my drift. People like this should have to pass a test before they are given that much money to waste.

What would YOU do if you had that kind of EXTRA cash lying around?

ETA: Doing a quick search on Petfinder.com shows over 125 adoptable Yellow labradors available in the Boca Raton area.

GRRRRRrrrrrr.......