Tag Archives: humane society

A Happy Ending to the Tail!

I just thought I would make a quick post in case anybody was concerned about the cute little dog my friend Jerry and I rescued from the highway on Saturday.  As I said I took her home and out for a walk.  We actually went for several walks over two days, because she seemed to really like to walk.  I purchased some dog food for her and put her pictures on several lost pet pages on Facebook.

So stinkin’ cute!

They scanned her for me at the Humane Society and found no chip.  However, my friends were also sharing my Facebook post and scanning other Facebook posts.  I, too, was logging on every few minutes and going to every pet page I could think of.  I confess, part of me wanted so badly to keep that sweet dog!  She was so loving and good!  But I felt sure somebody was missing her terribly.

Finally not one but two friends messaged me with a post of pictures of the dog, saying she had run away from the area where we had found her.  It was clearly the same dog.  I called, a man came and picked her up, and she was very happy to see him.

I would just like to say that THIS is Facebook at its best!  And community at its best.  People who don’t know each other are able to connect and get a lost dog home with the help of other people sharing and looking.  I feel happy I had a part in rescuing this little cutey.

 

Rather a Different Adventure

“Well, you’re really having your adventures today,”  my friend Jerry told me.  The adventure was supposed to be a visit to Windy Hill Orchards to pick apples and listen to my favorite band, The Posers.  We did that, and I will make a blog post about it (preview of coming attractions).  We went a different way home and found ourselves in the midst of quite a different adventure.  On Route 8. I thought I saw a small animal run across the road and up a side road.  When we got closer we saw it was a small dog.

“We have to turn around!” I said.  I was driving.  Jerry said there was someplace ahead, but I used a person’s driveway.  I know most folks don’t like that, but this was an emergency.  We quickly spotted the little pooch, about to walk up the driveway of a deserted trailer.  I jumped out of the car.  She came right to me, tail wagging (it wasn’t till later we determined it was a female, but for convenience’s sake, I will say she).

Picture taken much later, obviously.

Jerry held her in his arms as we got back on the road.  I declared my intention of taking the sweet dog home and putting her on Facebook and of checking Facebook lost pet pages.  Jerry could have taken her home, but it may have caused his Chiweenie, Chip, to go out of his mind.  We wanted to be considerate of Chip.  He is not a young dog.

Ignore the mess, admire the dog.

I have wanted to get my house more dog ready before adopting a pet.  Now I feel really stupid for taking so long about it.  However, the dog seemed very interested in walking around and sniffing at things.  I followed her around with my phone, hoping she would stand still enough for a photo op.  When she paused by the door and looked at me expectantly, I thought a walk might tire her out enough that she would stand still.  I could not find the leash I thought I still had so used a strap from one of my soft briefcases.

Picture taken while walking.

I don’t know if I was successful, but I was trying to get a shot of her unusual grooming.  The hair on her shoulders forward is longer than behind.  Clearly this dog has been groomed and taken care of.

Tomorrow I will reach out to the Humane Society to see if this girl is chipped.  I have posted to two lost pet sites and asked my friends to share my own post.  I would be most happy to give this nice dog a home, but I feel sure her peeps are missing her terribly, as she is certainly missing them.  Additionally, it is not ideal to adopt a dog about whom one knows nothing.

Of course I am happy to render what assistance I can to our furry friends.  But this is not the kind of Mohawk Valley Adventure I would recommend.  By the way, if anybody recognizes this pooch, please let me know!

 

Snort

When I left work today I headed towards Herkimer County Humane Society.  I had a partial bag of dog food and three partial containers of treats that I hoped would go to good use.  Last night I visited the society’s website and ascertained that they were open till five.

 

The first person I ran into when I entered asked if she could help me.  I explained my sad purpose.  She expressed sympathy for my poor dog’s demise and said they would be happy to take the food.  I explained my second purpose, to walk a dog.  She took me into the reception room and got me a volunteer application to fill out.

 

When I turned in the form to another lady, my fears were confirmed.  I could not walk a dog that day.  The application must be approved by the board.  She also explained that when walking the dogs I must not let them interact with any other dogs or people, for safety reasons.

 

“But I can’t walk a dog today?” I said, probably sounding as forlorn as I felt.  The lady took pity on me and said I could take Snort out, just into the front yard.

 

Snort is a bulldog who had breaks in his back legs.  He was operated on and seems to be recovering nicely.  He had not been outside today, and my taking him out would give them a chance to clean his room.

 

Snort did not look like a dog recovering from surgery.  He wanted to jump and run.  I tried to get him to walk sedately.  At least I kept him from jumping or really taking off.  We made our way across the yard and back.  Some people saw us and said, “Oh, there’s Snort!”

 

“I’m not supposed to let him get close to people,” I said, keeping my distance.  Snort sat down on my feet and panted happily.  I petted him and told him he was a good dog.

 

“We’ve been following his progress on Facebook,”  one of the people told me.

 

I was happy to have spent a little time with Snort.  When I got home I told Steven of my experiences.

 

“Oh, yeah, I know Snort from Facebook,” Steven said.  Perhaps I need to spend more time on Facebook.

 

When I get my letter of approval from the Humane Society, I will go walk more dogs.

 

Too Many Tins?

After I left Coffee and Conversation with a Cop Saturday morning I headed out 5S toward the Herkimer County Humane Society for their garage sale.  Full disclosure:  with my headache, long to-do list and limited finances, I was not as excited about going as I might have been.  Still, it was a worthy cause, I might find something fun, and I could probably get a blog post out of it.

 

All kinds of items were spread out across the lawn:  Christmas decorations, books, games, household goods and more.  A man with a loud voice walked around exhorting people to look at this or that and to purchase 50/50 raffle tickets.

 

The first thing that caught my eye was a box of tins.  Steven especially loves tins.  He likes to put Christmas presents in them.  “Put a present in a present,” he says.  I wanted to take them all but on second thought went through and picked the ones I liked best.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say I eliminated a few I liked least, because I still wound up with quite a pile.  It took me three trips to get them all to the table where the workers were taking money.

 

A nice lady went to get a bag (or bags) for them while I went back through the yard, looking for other treasurers.  I hoped to find a couple of good books, and by good books of course I mean trashy romances or murder mysteries.  Nothing caught my eye right away, and I decided I should just leave with my pile of tins and have done with.

 

Paying presented a challenge.  Nothing was priced; the lady said to think about the animals and make a donation.  Oh dear.  When I think about the animals I feel I should give them all the money in my purse.  On the other hand, I have expenses of my own.  I finally named a price and asked her to throw in a 50/50 ticket.  She readily agreed (I did not win).

 

As I left, I complimented the loud-voiced man on his skills as a barker.  He said he had a big mouth (he may have said “loud voice,”  I don’t remember) so he used it for good.

 

“I always say go with your strengths,” I said.  I do always say that.

 

I guess it is appropriate that my first post-Tabby post is about helping the dogs (and cats) at the Humane Society.  They are having their annual Mutt Strut on Sunday, June 7.  When I said to a co-worker that I no longer have a mutt to strut, she pointed out that the Humane Society would be happy to loan me one.  I had forgotten they allow people to come over and walk their dogs sometimes.  I must look into that.  It is good to walk a dog.

 

For more information on the Herkimer County Humane Society, visit their website at www.herkhumane.org.  You can also Like them on Facebook.

 

A Short Post about a Band

Saturday night Steven and I finally got to hear a local band we’ve been interested in since we became friends with one of the members: The Rick Short Band.

Our friend is Rick DeJohn, the bass player. He’s a member of Ilion Little Theatre Club (ILT). He’ll be doing sound for Dirty Work at the Crossroads this spring (preview of coming attractions).

Saturday the Rick Short Band was playing for Animal Jam, a fundraiser for the Steven Swan Humane Society. Well, we are all about helping the animals, so this was a win/win situation. We made immediate plans to attend and were delighted to be joined by four other members of ILT.

We loved the band! They rock! I regretted that there was no dance floor, because I would have liked to boogey down. I was at first reminded of how old I am, because it seemed a little loud to me. Then I remembered that I’ve always been a little sensitive to loud music, even in my younger and yet more foolish days. This a minor quibble, though, because rock music is supposed to be loud.

The band plays original music, and it’s not easy to describe music (I mean, how many times can you say, “They rock!”). However, if you go to the Facebook page for The Rick Short Band, you will find links to ReverbNation and you can listen for yourself.

The other members of the band are Tanya Davis, lead vocals; Eddie Reilly, drums; Doug Boehlert, lead guitar; Tracy Bowens, backing vocals; and Rick Short, guitar. I hope to have an opportunity to hear them again soon. Hope to see you there!