December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas Everyone! We hope you are having wonderful holidays and spending time with your family and friends.
Don't forget what Christmas is all about......presents! Just Kidding! :)

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December 24, 2008

Track Santa!

I just love this website. Track Santa every 5 minutes as he moves across the globe spreading joy, laughter and presents.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/home.html

December 23, 2008

Wake Up Call!

I got sad news today. Duke, the dog i saved from a shelter, ended up not getting adopted out because he was not "big" enough for whomever wanted him. I am frusturated and upset about this situation to the point of tears. It will continue to live in Mineola at a no kill shelter.

With that being said, i am posting a sad blog, so if you don't want to read it, stop now. The reason I am positing this is because topics like this get "googled" everyday and I hope people stumble across this letter and read it and think twice abou the dog or cat they are about to give up.

this is a letter that came from a shelter worker to Pound Pals, an org that kindly accepted Duke.

A Letter from a Shelter Manager

I think our society needs a huge "Wake-up" call. As a shelter manager, I am going to share a little insight with you all...a view from the inside if you will.

First off, all of you breeders/sellers should be made to work in the "back" of an animal shelter for just one day. Maybe if you saw the life drain from a few sad, lost, confused eyes, you would change your mind about breeding and selling to people you don't even know.

That puppy you just sold will most likely end up in my shelter when it's not a cute little puppy anymore. So how would you feel if you knew that there's about a 90% chance that dog will never walk out of the shelter it is going to be dumped at? Purebred or not! About 50% of all of the dogs that are "owner surrenders" or "strays", that come into my shelter are purebred dogs.

The most common excuses I hear are; "We are moving and we can't take our dog (or cat)." Really? Where are you moving too that doesn't allow pets? Or they say "The dog got bigger than we thought it would". How big did you think a German Shepherd would get? "We don't have time for her". Really? I work a 10-12 hour day and still have time for my 6 dogs! "She's tearing up our yard". How about making her a part of your family? They always tell me "We just don't want to have to stress about finding a place for her we know she'll get adopted, she's a good dog".

Odds are your pet won't get adopted & how stressful do you think being in a shelter is? Well, let me tell you, your pet has 72 hours to find a new family from the moment you drop it off. Sometimes a little longer if the shelter isn't full and your dog manages to stay completely healthy. If it sniffles, it dies. Your pet will be confined to a small run/kennel in a room with about 25 other barking or crying animals. It will have to relieve itself where it eats and sleeps. It will be depressed and it will cry constantly for the family that abandoned it. If your pet is lucky, I will have enough volunteers in that day to take him/her for a walk. If I don't, your pet won't get any attention besides having a bowl of food slid under the kennel door and the waste sprayed out of its pen with a high-powered hose. If your dog is big, black or any of the "Bully" breeds (pit bull, rottie, mastiff, etc) it was pretty much dead when you walked it through the front door.

Those dogs just don't get adopted. It doesn't matter how 'sweet' or 'well behaved' they are.

If your dog doesn't get adopted within its 72 hours and the shelter is full, it will be destroyed. If the shelter isn't full and your dog is good enough, and of a desirable enough breed it may get a stay of execution, but not for long . Most dogs get very kennel protective after about a week and are destroyed for showing aggression. Even the sweetest dogs will turn in this environment. If your pet makes it over all of those hurdles chances are it will get kennel cough or an upper respiratory infection and will be destroyed because shelters just don't have the funds to pay for even a $100 treatment.

Here's a little euthanasia 101 for those of you that have never witnessed a perfectly healthy, scared animal being "put-down".

First, your pet will be taken from its kennel on a leash. They always look like they think they are going for a walk happy, wagging their tails. Until they get to "The Room", every one of them freaks out and puts on the brakes when we get to the door. It must smell like death or they can feel the sad souls that are left in there, it's strange, but it happens with every one of them. Your dog or cat will be restrained, held down by 1 or 2 vet techs depending on the size and how freaked out they are. Then a euthanasia tech or a vet will start the process. They will find a vein in the front leg and inject a lethal dose of the "pink stuff". Hopefully your pet doesn't panic from being restrained and jerk. I've seen the needles tear out of a leg and been covered with the resulting blood and been deafened by the yelps and screams. They all don't just "go to sleep", sometimes they spasm for a while, gasp for air and defecate on themselves.

When it all ends, your pets corpse will be stacked like firewood in a large freezer in the back with all of the other animals that were killed waiting to be picked up like garbage. What happens next? Cremated? Taken to the dump? Rendered into pet food? You'll never know and it probably won't even cross your mind. It was just an animal and you can always buy another one, right?

I hope that those of you that have read this are bawling your eyes out and can't get the pictures out of your head I deal with everyday on the way home from work.

I hate my job, I hate that it exists & I hate that it will always be there unless you people make some changes and realize that the lives you are affecting go much farther than the pets you dump at a shelter.

Between 9 and 11 MILLION animals die every year in shelters and only you can stop it. I do my best to save every life I can but rescues are always full, and there are more animals coming in everyday than there are homes.

My point to all of this DON'T BREED OR BUY WHILE SHELTER PETS DIE!

Hate me if you want to. The truth hurts and reality is what it is. I just hope I maybe changed one persons mind about breeding their dog, taking their loving pet to a shelter, or buying a dog. I hope that someone will walk into my shelter and say "I saw this and it made me want to adopt". THAT WOULD MAKE IT WORTH IT.

December 19, 2008

Happy Birthday Uncle Kenneth

A very happy Birthday goes out to Uncle Kenneth today! We wish you a great birthday with your family and friends.

Did you know you share this wonderful day with Bob Barker (only my favorite TV Game Show host) :)

Happy Birthday!

Olga & David

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December 17, 2008

True Love!

Mark + Rusty = True Love

December 14, 2008

Rockwall Super Trooper Christmas Party

This weekend was the Rockwall Troopers Christmas Party. Most of us trooper wifes, have not met the new Sargent. He was very nice (so was his wife, Kat) and everyone had a super awesome time. We had a Chinese gift exchange and David and I made out with some nice gifts. David received a remote control helicopter (with which is torturing the dogs and cats with) and I got Cranium.

One trooper is not pictured because he left a bit earlier. (Anthony)

Sarg and his Christmas present from the boys


Super Troopers of Rockwall County (missing Anthony)

December 08, 2008

Bean Burrito

I introduce to you.....A Bean Burrito!

David "tucked and wrapped" Beans before he left for Austin yesterday. Beans stayed in her fuzzy blanket for about an hour after David left. She is so funny.


December 05, 2008

George W Bush buys house in Dallas

Well, after much speculation and wonders where he'll buy the house, it has been released and is now official. George W Bush and Laura Bush bought a home in North Dallas. Read below. Source: wfaa.com

WASHINGTON -- President Bush and first lady Laura Bush have bought a home in an affluent neighborhood of north Dallas where they will live after the president leaves office in January.

Mrs. Bush's press secretary Sally McDonough said Thursday that the Bushes purchased a home in the Preston Hollow neighborhood, which has some of the most expensive homes in Texas and is home to some of the state's wealthiest residents.

The Bushes, however, will continue to spend some time at their ranch in Crawford, Texas, McDonough said.

The president and Mrs. Bush do not yet have occupancy of the home in Dallas, so the White House is not giving out any further details at this time, she said.

The Bushes previously lived in Dallas from December 1988 through January 1995, before moving to the Texas governor's mansion in Austin, Texas.