KFC

"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good." Minor Myers, Jr.

Friday, May 30, 2008

German Shepherd in Polk County, GA

This beautiful male German Shepherd escaped from a life of confinement with his chain embedded around his neck. He was picked up and taken to a shelter in Polk County where he was scheduled for euthanization due to space limitations. They have already postponed euthanizing him once but I don't know how much longer they can keep him.

Please... if you live in Georgia or know anyone who does pass this on. Please help find someone who may want to foster or adopt him. Anyone interested can contact me at
esdmsu21@gmail.com or Gail Posey at gail_posey@yahoo.com.
This guy deserves a better life... let's try to give it to him! Where his chain was embedded -- they say it's healing nicely and he has such a sweet temperament!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

A Beautiful Wedding Weekend

My husband's sister got married this weekend. The wedding was absolutely perfect and Audra looked gorgeous! Here are some pictures (in no particular order) to celebrate the new Mr. and Mrs. Michael Dennison...


So happy! :-) They are a great example of being good to each other!
Waiting to throw birdseed at the bride and groom.
Me, Audra, her sister Lizanne, and Michael's sister Sara.
Me and my handsome husband... doesn't he clean up nice!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Dogs Deserve Better Than Life on a Chain

"Q. That was his name. He lived outside on a chain from the time he could walk until he was four years old. Four years of enduring the intense summer heat, the cold winter nights, the sleet, the rain, the snow, and everything in between. Enduring the weather is one thing, but Q managed to do it with minimal food, negligible water, and absent love.

It was a cold February day in 2004 when I first met Q.

I was notified of him by a concerned citizen who drove by him every day on her way to work. I was now not only volunteering at my local Humane Society, but was also a representative for Dogs Deserve Better, a national non-profit that rescues chained dogs. As I heard this woman tear up over the phone, my heart was breaking. Here was another person affected by the sorrow of the chained dog, and I had no definite answer. All I could do was make a visit and hope that the person on the other side of the door was open to my offer of help. I promised this woman I would go, and I began gathering my things.

The person on the other side of the door allowed me to go meet Q. As I walked down the hill behind the house, I wondered if he would trust me.

I wondered if I could handle the sight and smell of another chained dog.

I could see Q's ribs from about 10 feet away. He was surrounded by an old bathtub filled with frozen dirty water, old car parts, an old washing machine, and various other forgotten things—forgotten just like him. He paced back and forth in his worn down patch of dirt. His dog house was filthy. There was no food in his make-shift bowl. His chain was attached to his neck by a tight and dirty collar. Everywhere Q went, that chain went too. It clanked along the dirt as I walked around observing whatever I could. I reached out my hand and petted his head.

Q wagged his tail, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. I promised him that I would try to help, and I told him that I loved him. Silly, huh? The truth is I did love him. How can anyone not love something so innocent that suffers so greatly and is forgotten by most?

Q's owners agreed to let me take him to the vet for a check up and heartworm test, but then called me the following night saying they changed their mind. I pleaded with them to reconsider, but they would not budge. They did tell me that I could visit again sometime, and I promised that I would. I went to the local Wal-Mart and purchased a large crate, dog food, bowls and toys, and took it over there the next day. They promised me that on cold nights they would bring him inside and use the crate. They promised me.

Then, they broke their promise.

I contacted my local animal control department. They sent an officer out, but Q did not receive the help he needed. I had done all the law would allow me to do.

The next year was an eventful one for me. I had managed to rescue several other chained dogs, and with the help of my local Humane Society, we found them wonderful new homes. However, I never forgot Q.

Almost one year to the day, I went back to visit Q again. It was now February 2005. Again the owner allowed me to go down the hill and take a look. This time was different. Oh, the frozen water was there, the food was non existent, but it was Q himself—his condition had greatly worsened. I could see visible wounds on Q's ear and tail. Flea strikes had damaged his ears. Large ticks were feasting on his blood. He was dirty and smelled horrible. I noticed a large bump on his nose, and he was even thinner than before.

As I reached out to give him a treat, he leapt up and nicked my finger in his eagerness to finally have some food. I hurried back up the hill, and told the owner that I was very worried about Q's condition. I pleaded with him to allow me to take him to the doctor. He told me he would do it himself, but I left believing that it was now a desperate situation and Q must be rescued immediately or he would die!

When I got back into my car, I noticed the blood on my finger. It was the answer I needed. Some may say it's coincidence, some may say it's the risk of doing business. I say it was the answer from the angels high above. I called Animal Control and reported a bite. Now, they had to do something. I went to the hospital emergency room so that a report could be filed. The officer came and took my information and then proceeded to go speak to the owners.

To make a long story very short, Q was confiscated and later released by his owner to Animal Control. The Humane Society took over his guardianship and began his rehabilitation process.

His name was changed to Dakota, and we discovered, to no surprise, that he was heartworm positive. He underwent the treatment, and his heart is now healthy. A pellet from a BB gun was removed from his nose. Dakota had to have his tail amputated, not once, but twice. The frostbite would not heal, and the doctors had no choice but to amputate. So much joy exuded from Dakota's heart that he couldn't help but wag his tail endlessly. This resulted in the wound opening up as his tail hit the wall of his run. The doctors had to amputate again to make it shorter.

Dakota had suffered horrible psychological damage from his previous conditions. We will never know the full extent of what he had to bear. But we do know that kindness and care were never a part of his life prior to rescue. Dakota paced in circles constantly at the kennel. He seemed nervous and anxious.

He was put on antidepressants to try to alleviate his torment. It helped somewhat, but we all knew that what Dakota really needed was a home.

The volunteers at the Humane Society gave him all the love and care they could, but he needed a family to be part of, his pack so to speak—a pack he had never been allowed to join.

Ten months later in November, the happy ending to Dakota's story came.

One day a gentleman came to see what dogs we had at our kennel. He heard Dakota's story and he said, "I cannot leave him here after hearing about his life." We knew at that point that the prayer we had been saying for so long had been answered. Dakota is now a family member. He sleeps in the bedroom. He plays with his canine brothers, who are also rescues. He watches the rescued horses and cats as they play and roam in their huge and beautiful yard.

I don't cry much anymore, but I can't stop the tears as I write this story. One year and ten months later a dog who knew nothing but terror and agony is now going to be able to live out the rest of his days as all living creatures should.

Dakota is an Indian name, and it symbolizes the courage and endurance of a people deprived of their natural rights.

Dakota is a dog who is the symbol of hope for so many others still out there waiting for the angels to save them."

This is a testimonial from an anonymous rescuer on the Dogs Deserve Better website. You can read many more success stories like this, learn more about the harmful and inhumane practice of chaining dogs, and become involved with the Dogs Deserve Better cause at www.dogsdeservebetter.com.

"In moments of joy, all of us wish we possessed a tail we could wag."
-- W.H. Auden

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Help Stop the Horror of Puppy Mills


This past Saturday I volunteered at the Humane Society here in Starkville. That morning three Poodles and three Yorkies had been dropped off by a breeder who was going out of business. All of the dogs were so badly matted it took two of us the whole morning to shave one of the Poodles. His ears were matted to his head and you couldn't even see his paws for the matted fur they were wrapped up in. When we were finished with him he was half the size he was in the beginning.

I was absolutely appalled at the condition of those dogs. You would think a breeder would take care of her animals but the same thing happens to dogs all over the country every day. This video hosted by Brad Garrett from "Everybody Loves Raymond" is a real eye-opener. Please take a moment to watch it and pass it on.

http://humanesociety.org/stoppuppymills

Puppy mills are large scale operations that force breeder dogs to produce litter after litter to support consumer demand for puppies. Puppies sold in pet stores or through Internet sites come from places filled with suffering, disease, malnutrition, and loneliness. Even the puppies themselves are often prone to a variety of diseases. Some die within days or weeks of purchase.

The Humane Society of the United States is working to stop puppy mills and they need your help.

Please watch this short video that exposes the cruelty of puppy mills. Then, you can take action by pledging to stop supporting the retailers that perpetuate cruel breeding practices. Click here:
http://humanesociety.org/stoppuppymills

Thanks for taking action!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Be Good to Animals -- Adopt Your Next Pet


I volunteered at the Humane Society again today. Man, they are just busting at the seams... they have so many dogs and litters of puppies that they have had to start housing them in the rooms with the cats. There are so many animals there who need homes. It has really started breaking my heart to go there, but I feel like, if I can't adopt an animal right now, I can at least go help make their lives at the shelter better. My next dogs though are definitely being adopted!

It's frustrating for me to not be able to get the word out more to people about all the great animals who are waiting at shelters for someone to take them home. The dogs are not scary or dirty or wild; they are just so purely joyful at the site of you that it fills your heart. I wish I could do more to help them find loving families. So many people out there are BUYING pets while dogs sit in kennels at shelters and hope every day for that to be the day someone walks in and rescues them. All it takes is opening your heart to being that someone for one dog. Adopted dogs are loyal, grateful, and easygoing and often the human ends up feeling like the one who has been rescued.

Many times people go into shelters and get overwhelmed. There are always a lot of animals and, in the dog rooms especially, the noise can be deafening. Before going back to the rooms with the kennels, you should ask the animal attendants if you can pick out a few dogs to take in the yard. That way you can go through the kennel rooms and point out a few you like and the attendants can bring them out in the yard for you to get to know. You should not feel rushed or obligated to pick one immediately. The attendants are glad to let you play with the animals and can usually answer questions about age, breed, and health.

Some shelter employees may seem a bit gruff and standoffish but I think that is because they see so many animals never get adopted and so many people leave empty-handed that they have stopped getting their hopes up -- a reaction that is definitely understandable. But don't let this turn you off; you are there for the animals and you should focus on finding that special one.

If you are considering getting a pet, please check out your local shelter first. They often have purebred dogs if you are set on that, and they always have great animals who are looking for someone to be devoted to.

You can check out the Oktibbeha County Humane Society by clicking
here.

Or find a local shelter near you by clicking
here.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Animal Cruelty is a Serious Crime -- Help Make the Punishment Fit the Crime

On May 8, 2008 a 9 month old shepherd mix was found near a hops field in Canyon County, Idaho. The puppy had been beaten and was left for dead. Its muzzle and front and back legs were bound together with duct tape. There was also a large amount of blood around the dogs neck and the back of his head. The dog was still alive and conscious when it was taken to a clinic, but the injury was so severe that the dog had to be euthanized.

Under the existing Idaho law, even in a horrific case such as this, judges do not have the option of imposing a felony sanction on defendants convicted of animal cruelty. Tests show that violence towards animals is often linked to violence towards humans including family violence, school shootings, and serial killings. Yet, regardless of the heinous nature of the crime, the penalty for animal cruelty in Idaho is only a misdemeanor. Idaho is only one of only SIX states in the nation where this is true; forty four other states have felony provisions for animal cruelty. Idaho's judges and prosecutors should be able to charge and sentence a person under a felony provision if the nature of the defendant's cruelty to an animal warrants such a punishment.

The citizens signing this Petition hereby respectfully request that the Legislature and the Governor amend Idaho law to make crimes against animals a felony instead of a misdemeanor. The following link allows you to sign the petition. Let's get the word out and get the law changed!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/IdahoAnimalCruelty

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Nancyitis

The lady I share an office with is a real piece of work. Nancy is three years away from retirement and she's just hanging in. She has maybe three days worth of work in the entire month and the rest of the time she talks. She talks to the workers from the dairy plant who stop in to gossip, she talks (or rather bitches) on the phone to the various crazy members of her family, she tries to talk to me (but I told her the very first day that I don't gossip), and, as a last resort, she talks to herself. Either way, she must always have the sound of her voice filling the otherwise glorious and productive silence.

She is an incurable hypochondriac. At convenient times throughout the day, like during encounters with her "boss man," she suffers from a range of ailments varying from splitting headaches to stomach pains and she lets everyone know all about them. She gets off at 4:00 (and my last hour of work is generally more productive than the whole rest of the day) and it never fails that around 3:30 every afternoon she calls her boss using a much more sickly voice than she's been gabbing with all day and complains of some physical problem that necessitates her leaving early. Then miraculously the Nancyitis I myself suffered from the preceding 6 hours goes into remission until the next morning.

She is also the antithesis of being good to each other. Her family includes her husband, one son, a daughter-in-law, and three granddaughters, one of whom she raised from birth, which I would commend except for the way she speaks to her. Every time Nancy calls her college-age daughter/granddaughter she opens not with "Hey, how are you?" but with "Wherr' you??!" in a totally accusatory tone and then follows that with "Well you better [insert bitchy command here]!" She is never pleasant on the phone to anyone, even when she answers her office phone, which she does with an exasperated "Nancy..." and then hangs up with a bang without saying goodbye.

She always complains about what time it is... "Ohh Emily it's only 11:00"... "Ohh Emily it's only 3:00"... which makes my day eternally long. In general I try to ignore her, but she is a gnat constantly buzzing in my left ear. Think it would be too obvious if I brought a set of earphones and just stuck one in the ear facing her? Probably...

I firmly believe though that every person you encounter in life can affect you either negatively or positively depending, not on who they are, but on how you choose to receive them. For example, Nancy and her gossip buddy from the front office sit around in here complaining about their dumb husbands and they just sound so bitter. Their conversations give me, as a newlywed, a very clear picture of how I never want my marriage to be. I'm actually grateful to be shown the importance of always striving to do what's best for each other and to understand each other. You have to work on a marriage, not just let things go along as they will. You must be on the same side facing the world together, not opposing each other as enemies.

For all the little annoyances, at least I have a blueprint of how not to age. Thanks Nancy!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Normal Shmormal

Growing up, I had what I considered a stale, mediocre life. We were middle class, middle of the road, right down the middle -- nothing too extraordinary. I was eternally bored and chomping at the bit for something, anything to happen.

As I get older, I realize that it was a normal life and that that is what my parents strived to achieve. When it is up to you to take care of everything, I guess you see how terribly wrong things can go and you just try to keep them within the realm of normalcy.

But what I don't understand is... why only try to not be dysfunctional? That's like just keeping your head barely above water. To see other people who have it worse than you and only strive in your life to not be like them. You won't accomplish much besides having it a little better off than someone else.

Why not strive to be great and do extraordinary things? Don't let your goal be to not have a bad life... work towards having an amazing life. Go the extra mile and do what it takes to make this journey unforgettable. You only have one chance.

I don't want to go through life looking down and being satisfied that at least I'm not at the bottom. I want to always look up and outwards, to see the endless possibilities of where I could be and not be afraid to go there. I don't want to be held back by the suburban view of normalcy. Seriously, if your only goal is to be normal you have no imagination. Who cares what anyone else thinks -- they aren't the ones who have to live your life. You can make it whatever you want to and you should.

Mark Twain said, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

"Alway do right - it will gratify some and astonish the rest."
-- Mark Twain

"Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good."
-- Minor Myers, Jr.

"Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as
it should."
-- Max Ehrmann

Saturday, May 3, 2008

A Humane Society Starts With You

I did something today that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I volunteered at the Humane Society in Starkville. I worked from 10 am to around 1:30 and now I seriously want to quit my job and go there every day!

It was such a great experience and it changed some of my preconceived notions about an animal shelter. The dogs are n
ot mangy or mean or downtrodden... just really wanting to have a family and their own bed.

The first thing I did this morning was help another volunteer bathe a couple of tiny puppies that we were going to bring into a humane education class with 5 and 6 year old Girl Scout "Daisies." The shelter really needs a room specifically for this activity where the kids can sit on the floor and let the animals run around. It is such an important thing - to teach little kids (and people in gener
al) about how to handle and treat animals.

Anyway, so all the little girls and their mothers c
ame into the cat isolation room where we were holding the class and they all immediately wanted to hold the kittens and the two puppies. There were about six or seven kennels with cats and kittens and mama cats with kittens. There were two I really wanted to bring home -- two little rambunctious orange and white kittens so we'll see if they are still there the next time I go. Most of the little girls knew how to hold the animals and they were all really sweet with them and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.

Then after they left we cleaned up the cat ro
om and some of the kennels. Those kittens are messy... and fast -- we chased a couple of them around the room for a good 20 minutes haha! For the last couple of hours the other volunteer and I went out to the backyard where there were seven kennels opening up to the yard. There were three to five dogs or puppies in each and kennel by kennel we let them out to play.


In the yard, t
here were a couple of half eaten shells of tennis balls, one tug rope and one heavy rubber chew toy -- not much to work with, but I will never forget the excited faces of those dogs. Dogs can be so complex and insightful but they have such simple needs -- to be fed and played with and loved. It was such a joy to just run around with them, tug the rope and throw it for them, and love on them. They wore me out but I could have done it all day

At the end of the day, I checked in the office and one of the puppies we had used for the class had been adopted and a cat had also been adopted that morning. It just made me so happy!

Even if you can't adopt a pet, every charitable effort counts. For example, pick up an extra one of the items below when you go to the grocery store. These unexpected gifts are what keep most shelters running and are essential in providing the best possible care for the animals. The Starkville shelter also collects and
recycles aluminum cans for extra funds so now I know where to take all these Coke Zero cans I've been saving.

A small effort by a lot of individuals makes a big impact -- be one of those contributing to the good. I promise it will change your outlook on life.

Humane Society Wish List
Bleach
PineSol
Pape
r Towels
Disposable Latex Gloves
Purina Dog Chow
Purina Puppy Chow
Purina Cat Chow
Purina Kitten Chow

Non-clumping kitty litter
Fabric softener dryer sheets
Liquid laundry detergent
Dishwasher detergent
Dish soap
Dog chews and chewy treats
Assorted sized dog collars
Leashes
Quality flea and tick spray

Germ-X hand sanitizer

You can go to the Oktibbeha County Humane Society's website and read about other ways to help or browse some really sweet adoptable pets.

Or find a local shelter near you and start doing good right where you are.
www.hsus.org