A friend who has worked many years rescuing pets from shelters sent me this video, Rescuing Edie.  It's hard to watch in the beginning, but it has a happy ending.  

It should be required viewing for every dog breeder and anyone thinking of purchasing a dog from a breeder or pet store and also people "rehoming" their pets on the Craig'slist pet community site, since a large number of them end up in Edie's situation.

Hats off to all the selfless people who work in shelters and those who give dogs like Edie a second chance at a happy life.

 Do Your Ears Hang Low?

1. Do your ears hang low?
Do they wobble to and fro?
Can you tie them in a knot?
Can you tie them in a bow?
Can you throw them o'er your shoulder
like a continental soldier?
Do your ears hang low?

2. Do your ears hang high?
Do they reach up to the sky?
Do they droop when they are wet?
Do they stiffen when they're dry?
Can you semaphore your neighbour
with a minimum of labour? 
Do your ears hang high?

3. Do your ears flip-flop?
Can you use them for a mop?
Are they stringy at the bottom?
Are they curly at the top?
Can you use them for a swatter?
Can you use them for a blotter?
Do your ears flip-flop?

4. Do your ears hang out?
Can you waggle them about?
Can you flip them up and down
as you fly around the town?
Can you shut them up for sure
when you hear an awful bore?
Do your ears hang out?

Sacramento County's beautiful new $14 million animal shelter is facing closure due to the budget crisis.  This will be disastrous for the animals currently housed at the shelter and those at risk in our community.  The old shelter just up the road from this new one was where I adopted two of my basset hounds, Patience and Bubba Gump, and my parents adopted their two Scotties, which enriched their lives so much. One of those dogs, Laddie, helped my dad heal from a debilitating stroke years ago.  The new shelter, which opened only six months ago, is a world apart from where they were all housed before their rescue.  I toured the facility just after it opened and was so amazed at the improvements for the animals kept there.  In fact, I based a shelter I wrote about in my most recent novel, on this state-of-the art model.  

Sacramento needs more shelters to address the animal overpopulation problem, not fewer.   If any of you reading this blog can help, please consider making a donation to the Sacramento County Animal Shelter at 3839 Bradshaw Road, Sacramento, CA.  I'm making my donation now.  Better yet, adopt one of the pets at the shelter and reduce the unwanted pet population. If everyone would adopt instead of purchasing a pet, perhaps we wouldn't need to keep any shelters open. 

RIDDLE:  What purrs like a cat but is not a cat?

ANSWER:  Beau the Basset Hound

I've never had a dog that purrs, or even ever heard of one that does, but I do now.  Beau actually purrs like a cat.  It's when I am cuddling with him and he feels very safe and contented, I'm guessing.  At first I thought he might have once lived with a cat, but since he seems to hate them I doubt that is the case.  Whatever the reason, it is the most endearing thing.  I have found a truly sweet and loving friend in my beautiful Beau.

In response to the Raley's Reach nomination, Donna writes:

I was once homeless myself and I knew people that wouldn’t go to the shelters because they wouldn’t abandon their dog. If they knew that their dog would also be cared for at the shelter then more people would probably benefit from the shelters services. Many of the homeless pet owner population out there do not eat unless their pet has eaten first.

Please consider voting for my idea in the Raley's Reach program to spend $7,500 on funding the animal shelter being built at Loaves and Fishes to house and care for homeless people's pets until they are able to leave the shelter.