If you don’t fix them, you hurt them…

I realize this post may hurt some feelings, but a few hurt feelings are better than thousands of animals dead.

I received a call this morning asking for help with a small dog. The person on the phone said they would try to get rid of it today but if that didn’t happen did I think I could help.

This person had already gotten rid of 15 dogs to homes that wanted animals – good right? They found homes for 15 dogs that would have ended up in a local shelter. You may be shocked by my response, but no, I’m sorry this isn’t good.

None of these 15 dogs were spayed or neutered prior to this person placing them in their new homes.

While these homes may be amazing and loving and caring and these homes kept these 15 dogs from taking up space in local shelters and most likely from being killed in local shelters, unless they are spayed and neutered these dogs still have the opportunity to breed – to create litters of their own – to create new dogs who will end up in local shelters taking up space and being killed or if their offspring do find homes, they are taking away adoptive homes from dogs who need homes in shelters.

These 15 dogs came from a home that currently had too many dogs. These 15 dogs were being handed over to this person by someone who currently had too many dogs – none of which were spayed or neutered – and yet they are keeping 7 large dogs – none of which are spayed or neutered. Do you know what happens to male and female dogs living together who are not spayed or neutered? They make other dogs.

I told the person on the other end of the line that we needed to get those 7 dogs altered or they would continue to have puppies and this process would be repeated. The response was they did not have control over those 7 dogs – only the ones that he handed over. **Ding**Ding**Ding** part of the solution was right there, in that moment, in those few words. There was a moment of control – a moment that allowed for these 15 dogs to be spayed or neutered.

What I want people to understand is this: While finding placement for dogs who need homes is amazing, by not spaying or neutering those animals prior to placement we have created 15 new homes that have the opportunity to create the same problem as their original home – too many dogs and no place to put them.

In the end, the placement of those 15 dogs in new homes drastically hurt the animal community. The placement of those 15 unaltered dogs is contributing to thousands of lives lost in the shelters.

Please, I beg of you. Take a moment and think about this reality. There is a moment – however brief – that you do have control. Grab that moment and hold to it and take the next step – spay and neuter prior to placement. It takes longer, it takes more money, but in the end you will save countless more lives, you will reduce your stress of future placements, you will save money, and that simple action gives more love to that animal than any hug or nuzzle or cuddle.

There are low cost spay and neuter programs and in some cases, free programs. Check out http://www.hopeaf.com/. Keep an eye out for specials and promotions – Bucks for Balls, Fix ‘Em Program, Medi-cal Program, etc.

And if you got this far then you can take the honest truth from me. This is the part that may hurt. I don’t commend you for finding placement for these animals if you do not take the next step to get them spayed or neutered. Why? You cause more work, more heartache, and more lives lost and that I cannot commend.

Some may say – “then Kim you really don’t care about the animals.” To that I say: I love them more than you can ever imagine – the ones I know personally and the ones I know only by photo in the hundreds of emails I receive each day begging for someone to take them before they are killed at the shelters. I desperately love the the ones you are placing too. I love them so much that I am willing to let people get mad at me – I love them so much that I want to work for change that I want to work so the cycle is stopped. I love them so much that I am willing to have you hate me.

But I do ask, if this makes you mad, lets talk about it. I’m always up for a conversation.

If you need help with spaying and neutering, please contact me at info@SelmaAnimalShelter.org

If this had been an acutal emergency…

I wanted to post something profound and thoughtful this morning, but currently the only thing rolling around up there in my head is the sound of the beep from the “this is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.” Which is getting really annoying.

So, for your reading pleasure and in an attempt to make the sound stop, I will repeat the following from memory:

“[Beeeeeeeeeeep..crackle…crackle…} This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. If this had been an actual emergency …”

I have no idea what the rest of the message says because as a child it was at this point that I would go screaming and running out of the room with my ears covered trying to find a safe place to hide so I would be safe from the earthquake I was sure was just moments away. Oh the joys of growing up as a child in California – whats the safest place to be in an earthquake? Doorway, bathroom, or outside just in case you didn’t grow up here (I also hate parking structures for this same reason – death traps they are). To this day, I hate that message. I change the channel whenever it comes on. For me, its worse than the annoying alarm clock that plays on the new Subway commercial (which, by the way, I am this close to sending their marketing people a nasty email no letter about how the use of that sound outside the actual necessity of an alarm clock is cruel and unusual punishment. Jerks.).

Great, now I have the alarm clock “beep, beep, beep” playing over and over in my head. I hate you Subway.

Five Freakin’ Days. Five.

I know I promised this blog would not be filled with dog stories, but lets face it – dogs are my life and as such I have a lot of dog stories.

Today I would like to pass along a few doggie tips.

Tip #1 – dogs love wheat flour. Its great for making healthy doggie treats. However, when making said treats, make sure to put the wheat flour back into the pantry before leaving the house.

Tip #2 – large dogs when on their hind legs can reach items on the counter. Even if not normally counter-surfers, when you are away, large dogs will counter surf to get the wheat flour off the counter and onto the ground. I believe they do this so the other small dogs will have the opportunity to partake in the bounty.

Tip #3 – when mixed with saliva, wheat flour (and normal flour and pancake mix) will turn into a sticky paste. If you have tile floors, this may not be a big issue, however, if you have carpet, the flour while inevitably end up in the middle of the carpeted area – regardless of the fact that the flour was found in the kitchen which has tile. It will be moved. I believe this is because they prefer to eat their flour in comfort and we all know carpet is much more enjoyable than tile. (sidenote – by the time you get home, the water dish will no longer resemble water, rather it will have a milky white almost crepe-like batter appearance).

Tip #4 – wheat flour, when eaten alone and in large quantities is the equivalent of a 5-day doggie laxative. This may will lead to late night carpet cleaning sessions and some gagging.

Tip #5 – pumpkin is a great “stopper-upper.” Pumpkin filling (not the kind with the extra spices but just the plain old pumpkin) can be used to reverse the effects of the wheat-flour-five-day-doggie laxative.

I hope you find these tips useful. And unlike me, I hope that if for some reason Tip #4 (wheat-flour-five-day-doggie laxative) happens at your house, it does not take you 5 DAYS to remember Tip #5 (pumpkin will reverse the effects of the wheat-flour-five-day-doggie laxative).

FIVE DAYS. It took me five days to remember Tip #5 that I learned 1,000 years ago. Five. Days. I knew pumpkin stopped the doggie craps; I knew this. I told people about this tip. But noooooo. It took me five days to remember. Five days of crap. Five.

mmm….fiber

James went to the farmers market last weekend and bought all this great produce. All of it was really beautiful and the best part is that I know there are no pesticides on it. I just got home from the shelter and on the way home I decided I was going to make myself a salami sandwich – dont judge me – but as I looked in the fridge, I saw to my dismay the salami had been eaten (thanks babe). So, I decided I would try to be healthy and eat some broccolini instead – yes, it does make perfect sense. I put the broccolin in the pot to steam, was able to change the laundry and by the time I was done my food was ready. I put the beautiful green trees on my plate and sat down to munch. I should note they are super tasty.

As I mentioned, I was starving so I just started devouring the little pieces of deliciousness. I had eaten half of my portion and I dont now why, but decided to look at what I was eating. As I looked down at the spear I was about to take into my mouth, I noticed something strange on my little broccolini.

Yup, thats what I found. It’s dead, after all it had been steamed, but it’s still holding strong to the stem. Yes, thats a bug. And it was almost in my mouth. In fact, I have no idea if it had friends that I failed to see before I devoured the first half of my plate. Maybe I ate its sister or brother. I like to think that it was a loner, but I really have no idea. But, its just extra fiber right?

I should note that after inspection of the rest of the veggies on my plate – I ate the second half. Like I’m gonna throw away perfectly good veggies because of a little, white, pudgy bug I may or may not have named Bob…my grandpa would be so proud.

Dear mom. From the dogs.

Dear Mom.

The toys you so lovingly buy for us, we do not like. We know they are supposed to be the best of the best and most dogs would love to have them. We know you spend your hard earned money on them, but in an effort to help you we decided to play with the things we prefer to have as toys. Please see the examples we put together below. If you could get us more of these and less kongs, ropes, tire toys, nylabones, rawhide, we would greatly appreciate it.

Signed,

Your four furry monsters er, dogs.

Bully Walk 2010

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.  Mahatma Gandhi

We were able to take Rita, Thumper, and Mama (and Puglsey our little hound mix) to the Bully Walk this weekend. It was a great event and according to Fresno Bully Rescue there were over 300 people in attendance. There are so many bully’s who need forever homes however they are also one of the most difficult breeds to place – when you try to place a bully in a no-kill rescue, the numbers shrink, the potential adopter pool gets significantly smaller, and the amount of foster homes drastically decreases. The event warmed my heart, but it also made me incredibly sad when I think of all the people who hurt and mistreat this amazingly beautiful and loving breed.

There are so many misconceptions about the bully breed. I beg of you to not punish the breed, but instead punish the deeds of those who mistreat these animals. We ask not to be judged based on the actions of a few in our society, yet we are comfortable judging the entire breed of dog based on the actions of a few. I beg of you to look at each dog as an individual. Have you ever witnessed a premeditated dog fight or witnessed first hand the effects of animal cruelty? Have you seen what happens to a dog whose ears have been removed with scissors or garden shears so that the other dog cannot grab it in a fight? Have you seen what happens when an animal is condemned to a life of breeding and not allowed to leave their too-small cage? Have you ever seen a “bait” dog?

When it comes to bully’s, “the monster is often on the other end of the leash.”

If you want to learn more about dog fighting and how you can help prevent it. Visit the ASPCA website: http://www.aspca.org/fight-animal-cruelty/dog-fighting/dog-fighting-faq.html

I hope to make people realize how totally helpless animals are, how dependent on us, trusting as a child must that we will be kind and take care of their needs …[they] are an obligation put on us, a responsibility we have no right to neglect, nor to violate by cruelty.  James Herriot

If a man aspires toward a righteous life, his first act of abstinence is from injury to animals.  Count Leo Tolstoy

If you have men who will exclude any of God’s creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men… St. Francis of Assisi

It snowed at the Collier House.

I feel this video needs no explanation. Welcome to my life. Kids are going to be so freakin’ easy.

Snow. In Fresno. In the House.

And if thats not enough – in case you missed this one.

I’ve turned into a scary old woman

I was driving home the other day when I say a tween waving a sign on the corner. I drove past and was almost to the stop sign when I had a flash from my childhood.

I lived in the country as a child. I grew up in a time when you left your kids home alone without a babysitter and figured they would stay relatively safe. I was also the child who faked being sick to get out of school – I was great at the fake cough and sad looking eyes. One day, it so happened that I faked illness to stay home. I was probably around 8 (wow, that was young). My mom worked for the local newspaper and as such we got these great big rolls of newspaper after the printing press couldnt use it any more. I decided that it would be a great idea to have a party. Did I mention I was 8. I took my markers, the giant paper, and went to work. I remember writing PARTY HERE and OPEN – I think I added a few hearts and stars so the really cool people would want to come.

I proceeded to hang the thing over the railing on the front porch – the front porch that faced a pretty busy road – think country herndon or academy. I dont know how long the sign was up, but I remember my dad stopping by during the day and being furious at what he found. He tore the sign down and gave me a strict talking to about the dangers of little girls and wild parties that older people would come to.

I think I thought he was overracting, but I never made a party sign again (I open the door while home alone and lie to a stranger who wanted to park his car in my driveway – I told him my older brother (which I didnt have) was upstairs (which we didnt have) so sure, he could park his car). Come to think of it, I wasnt the brightest child.

I digress. I remember the fear that was in my dad’s eyes when he came home and saw the potential danger his young child could have gotten in to and that fear flashed through my eyes as I looked back through my rear view mirror at the tween jumping up and down waving a sign at the corner.

So, I turned around, read the sign (she was selling grapefruit – which now that I think about it was no where around her) and told her to be careful. That she should not get in the car with anyone and to keep her whits about her. She looked at me strangely and said, “um, ok.” and continued to wave her sign around.

Maybe one day, she will look back at the crazy lady who stopped and told her to watch out for the crazies and caution some other small tween doing something stupid. Maybe not. Maybe she will just remember the crazy old woman and run every time she sees a blue truck approaching her. Either way, I have turned into that crazy woman who instills fear into the hearts of children in the hope of saving them from impending (or non-existent) danger. My dad would be so proud.

Themes

You know whats also hard? Themes. Especially when you only have a select few to choose from and you cant make any modifications without purchasing something. As James would say, I know enough to be dangerous. It’s true. I can make color or alignment or text changes, but I know just enough to really screw things up. And I mean really screw things up. There is always this fear in the back of my mind that I am going to delete a site and it will be lost forever.

Thanks goodness I have James to fix my oopsies. He really comes in handy.

My virginal blog post

Well, I decided I would do it. I would start a blog. I know, a little late in the game, but I am not forcing you to read it. In fact, its not meant for you. Its meant for me. I often find myself writing blog posts in my head (some may just call this thinking, but I like to think outside of the box). I find them quite funny and witty. So, in order to not be the only one laughing at how wonderfully funny I am, I thought I would share them (yes, I did just state that these posts are not meant for you, but for me, but I am a woman with many contradictions – just ask my husband. Well, it would be better if you didnt.). Maybe someday my children and grandchildren will come online and read them to learn a little bit more about their mother or grandmother. Yes, I do want children. Sometime in the future before I turn 30. I have a plan and plans are fool-proof. (I almost put full-proof but caught myself. Crap, now I dont know which one it is). As you can see, I jump from topic to topic. I am warning you. This may not be an isolated incident. I can almost guarantee it will be repeated.

oh and to be honest, its not really my virginal post. I had a blog that I shared with someone else a long time ago, but I only posted about one topic and it was only like 4 times so that dosent count right?!

PS – I like smiley faces. You will see those often.