Shepherd Py

I really miss you still every~single~day. Life has not been the same since you died and I dont know if it is going to ever be happy as it was when you were with us. Your booty dance was some of the most joyful living I have ever seen. The way you loved to sneak and eat bread and the songs you led the pack in, were just such happy times. You were such a hoot and I loved you so much. You made our lives really happy. And you were gorgeous. You died in July and it has been almost 5 months since that day. I am still completely heartbroken. When you died, it sucked the life out of me, but even before that, when the Dr. told me you had this bad cancer. The other dogs have not forgotten you. They still sing the song you taught them everyday. The baby is getting well with his skin treatment and I wish you were here to be one of his grandpaws. Bo, Blacky and him have sort of formed a family. There is a new guy now who sings with the pack and sleeps on my pillow. He is so pretty and he has this really high voice and he adds beauty to the singing. But the song is the same. Bo starts it sometimes and other times Blacky will start it. Every single dog sings now. It is like a dog symphony in your honor or something. I think you were happy here. I hope that you were. I know that you had a good life before you came home to me, I could tell that you had been loved and fed well and I dont know how your family did not come to the shelter looking for you. As badly as I am grieving, with you gone and can not imagine life without, you, I know someone had to have missed you. I miss you and I love you and my heart aches every day. Thanksgiving is day after tomorrow and Dak is going to his mom's and Eli is coming here. There will be turkey. I wish you were here. I know how much you loved company and food. Sweet boy.

Thanksgiving Week

In case I do not think about it later this week to write and tell you happy thanksgiving, have one ok?

Eli is coming in and Dak is going out and we have 4 trips to make out to Philly this week, going and coming and could not get the flights in alignment so we could get just one trip going and coming @ decent prices at the same time so we are making 4 trips...

Today and tomorrow are the only two days I really have for cleaning before Eli comes...Dak leaves Tuesday night after school. Wednesday I do the laundry for the spay neuter clinic and pick Eli up in Philly and Friday I take the laundry back to the clinic, pick up the recyclable cans & Saturday we get the Christmas tree and Sunday Eli goes back and Monday Dak comes back...

This year we have agreed on a tiny tree, possibly a replantable live tiny tree or something that will fit on the table because our boy dogs see a tree and immediately start doing the gotta pee dance and then the pissing match starts for the season and then by New Years eve, I am so sick of the tree and the contest, I throw it out the door. So this year we are doing something that weinerdogs can not reach! Which is not hard...however i can see with their obsession to be the marking king that they might not be above climbing up on a table to see who can water the tree...who knows. there has to be some better way...

Anyway, much to do and probably not much time for blogging unless I just really need to get away for a minute and get some rest or something off my chest.

I am asking for peace & rest from the animal rescue world for this week, because it is draining the life out of me not understanding why anyone would kill some dogs and cats instead of finding them homes. Worse than the killers in my opinion are the rescue people who are content with status quo. I will never understand & you hurt my heart. Oh and veterinarians who work at those slaughterhouses who come up with programs like kill all the dogs with heartworms. I believe that evil worms have eaten away at your heart.

Today I am thankful that someone is out there rescuing animals. And I am grateful that there are like-minded individuals who are fighting the fight. Thankful for plain old Folgers half caff coffee, 1/2 & 1/2 and sugar. Thankful for this one last Thanksgiving with my son as a little boy since next year is his Thanksgiving with his dad and the last one before he turns 18.

Iron Jawed Angels

Well recently we suffered a setback and all I wanted to do was lay in bed and sleep and if I did move around my house, not change out of my pajamas. This friend of mine, (Lyndsey the badass) loaned me the movie, "Iron Jawed Angels" Starring Hillary Swank, Anjelica Huston, and Francis O'Connor.

I did not know much about the women's suffrage movement, nor did I care before seeing this movie. It was a story about Alice Paul & Lucy Burn's return to the United States after a visit in Europe back in the 1910's, where they took part in an active Suffrage movement.

When the gals came back to the United States, they found the current (at the time) women's suffrage movement to be more of a tea party throwing advocacy group who were not accomplishing anything more than sitting on their tuffets and sipping tea.

Well Lucy and Alice saw what could be accomplished if you stood up and actually went into action for what was right & did not sit back & let evil prevail! They set into action & recruited other women to stand up with them. They began staging protests in front of the white house. War broke out & they were arrested for protesting the white house during times of war.

While imprisoned, they set out on a hunger strike to protest the crap treatment they received while they were illegally (unconstitutionally) imprisoned. So they were force fed by having tubes rammed down their throats, having milk & raw eggs fed thru their tubes into their stomachs. Following up on the story later, I found that Alice Paul may have suffered for the rest of her life physically from the abuse.

So I thought about this movie and I cried while I watched it and I realized what heroes we are when we stand up and take action for what is right, no matter whether "they" like you or not. And it further convinced me that sitting around waiting for something to change and accepting crumbs when there are obvious answers that are perfect, is bullshit.

I watched the way that the tea sipping wimpy woman movement bashed the iron jawed gals who were actually out there making things change.

And I thought about animal "rescue" people who sit by complacently & do not make waves but instead make fun of & bash those who will go into world & fight for animal lives instead of sitting back complacently & letting what will happen, well happen.

Screw that! The killing can stop right now and it should. So called "animal rescue" people who sit back & hem/haw or defend the animal serial killers while rescuing a dog or a cat or two here & there make me sick! Well it is not so much that they make me sick for rescuing their few little animals because every animal life is important, but the excuses they make for the killers & the way they step out & defend them at every turn is inexcusable!

Take your rescues and Get Out of the F'ing Way! Because you ARE the problem! When someone goes to try and fight for what is right, the people in power are able to point to your lack of backbone and say see there, they agree with us...The killing must be done and they agree with us...

And they are serial killers and you are accomplices!

Oh Sadness

A little dog down in Houston hung himself while he was tied to something while a kennel attendant was cleaning his cage. They supposedly tried to do CPR to rescusitate him but it did not work. I am just putting it out here because I feel sad and I guess this is the place to say it.

Gerry Fusco, Can you get it right? Can you possibly pick up Nathan Winograd's assessment of the shithole dog pound they are paying you $200k to run and make some decent changes? Yeah I know that one dog does not mean shit to you in the grand scheme of things when you people kill 85k animals a year. But each individual one of them mean something to me.

Anyway, Rest in peace little dog. I am sorry your life ended this way and I hope that before you ended up at Houston BARC that you had something decent to eat and someone to love and pet you, just for a little while anyway.

Gratitude!

Ok so over on facebook there is this gratitude project going on and I have not been feeling very grateful and so I have refused to take part. But today I really am grateful.

Here comes the sun, and I say it's all right...

I am volunteering to do something special for an organization here that does fabulous work for animals in our county. They have spayed and neutered thousands of dogs and cats over the last year and I know that it is going to make a huge difference in the No Kill equation here! So I am really grateful for their hard work and efforts and that they allow me to have a small part in that! You can help if you wish by making a donation to these folks: http://www.epaaonline.com/

I am grateful that my son Eli (go eli, love you son)is volunteering at a NO Kill animal shelter over in Belton, Missouri, outside of Kansas City, MO. The apple does not fall so far from the tree no matter how far away the apple is from the tree. If you are looking for some place good to donate a little time or money, I think that HELP humane society in Belton, MO is a good place to give. I will be sending them a little something to show my gratitude. If you feel so inclined, you too can donate here: www.helppets.org

I was grateful when I woke up this morning and had an email from The NO Kill Advocacy center about Oreo's law! It seems that when the NY ASPCA killed Oreo, when he had somewhere else to go, and the world expressed outrage, that a couple of legislatures got together and decided to do something about it. I truly hope this is the beginning of what is going to turn into the Companion Animal Protection Act for NY! OMG if a big city like NY can do it, can Houston? Yes they can. So you can read about this law here: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/pdf/yesonoreoslaw.pdf
Maybe you want to go and write a letter of support for this law?! I know my family and myself will be writing to show our gratitude!

So yeah for today I am grateful and in case you have not done so yet, go over and get you one of the cool ass dog beds: http://www.project71.com/

Project 71 Dog Beds

These dog beds are fabulous! So is their creator! Robyn at Project 71 in Houston, Texas is a true animal rescue advocate and hero! When you purchase one of these beautiful, functional, & waterproof dog beds, the proceeds are used to rescue, foster, & vet homeless dogs from the Houston Bureau of Animal Regulation & Control, and to educate the humans about the need to rescue...

Houton kills somewhere around 85 THOUSAND dogs and cats a year in so called "shelters". Well you all know how we feel about that here at NKMCPA, but there are some dedicated rescue volunteers who are working their asses off to change things. Project 71 is one of those organizations.

From the Project 71 website:

An animal enters a shelter, and during the first 72 hours they will either:

1) be united with their owner.
2) enter an adoption program.
3) be euthenized.

in theory, we see the 71st hour as the most crucial... that's why we have devoted our lives to volunteering, fostering, rescuing & comforting as many shelter animals as we can.

You can order a dog bed from Project71 for your own dog or as a gift and they will ship it to your destination of choice.


Each dog bed measures 26" x 31" & will fit most small to large dogs...or 7 chihuahuas!

Outside cover: top is black nylon blend fabric with bright white stitching & resembles an industrial moving blanket/sides are turquoise colored cotton fabric for a fun pop of color...machine wash/dry

Filling is polyfil nufoam, which is soft, yet firm & dogs love it!

Filling is protected with a vinyl cover to prevent liquids from absorbing & can also be positioned over the entire bed for maximum protection...wipe clean.
$45.00 (plus $15 shipping/handling)

*in addition to Project 71's own volunteer & rescue efforts, they donate a percentage of their annual profits to animal welfare organizations.









If you are interested in purchasing a bed or just finding out more about what goes on the world of rescue in Houston, TX, you can do so by going here:

www.project71.com

Be sure and say hi to Robyn while you are over there!