According to the ancient Romans, these are the dog days of summer, and I've lost two of my dogs to the month named after the Roman Emperor Augustus. We lost our first basset Butterscotch on August 9, 1987 and we lost Patience on this day 10 years ago. How does a decade pass so quickly? To mark the day, I visited her and Bubba's Alma Mutter, the Sacramento County pound. I think I kind of half hoped I'd find a basset hound there in need of a home, but there were none. The beautiful greyhound had still not been adopted because she has "boundary issues." I can imagine those long, graceful legs would carry her easily over any fence, which is probably why she ended up where she is. She cried as I passed her kennel, and it broke my heart. I want a hound but not a greyhound, unfortunately. I do hope someone takes her.

After touring that facility again today, I have no qualms with the city's recent proposal to increase fees for unaltered dogs. There has been a howl of protest from local breeder groups. The so-called "responsible" breeders are claiming that they will be the ones who are penalized, not the backyard breeders targeted by the new ordinance. I'm sure there are plenty of responsible breeders around, but there are a lot more who call themselves that who really are just in it for the money and don't care about the fate of their litters. I wonder how many of them actually show their dogs in Westminster? Very few, I'd venture to guess. I also wonder how many of them have visited the pounds and shelters lately to see the end result of their business venture? All of my adopted bassets have been products of these "responsible" breeders. Besides, with all the money they make from selling their pups to people who too often end up dumping them at shelters regardless of any pedigree they might have, they should have no trouble paying extra to license their unaltered breeding stock. An ad I've seen in the Sacramento Bee for several days now pleads for help and states that they've reduced the price of their litter of Golden Retriever pups from $750 to $295. They must be sold before they leave on vacation to Disney World. Or else what? I rest my case.