30796 - the dog in the back room

I don't usually post the same info on both of my blogs but the story of dog 30796 needs to be told until Ohio legislators "get it." I wrote the blog below on December 22, 2008 for a group I used to work with. Sadly in the 2 years since this was written little had changed for the thousands of dogs who are still suffering in sub-standard kennels in Ohio. 30796, the dog in the story below, could be Mason, Prince, Oscar, Holly, Punkin, Myla or Callie - they all came from sub-standard kennels and anyone of them could be the dog below:


Hello, is anyone there? I thought I heard someone, I guess not. I am so lonely. There are other dogs here but I am in a cage all by myself in a back room in this building. There are no windows so I cannot see very much. I do not know if it is day or night but it is dark and cold. There are cracks in the walls and the snow and wind are blowing. I'm so cold I cannot stop shivering.

I'm hungry and thirsty, it has been a long time since The Man came in here. He put water in my dish but it froze before I could get enough to drink. He threw some hard, dry food in my bowl and his hand hurt me when I went to get a drink of water. I don't like hands - they hurt. After The Man left, I ate some food. It hurt my mouth. I heard someone say that my teeth are abscessed, I'm not sure what that is, but I know when I put something in my mouth it hurts.

Everything hurts me. My eyes are so sore and my hair sticks to the corners when the runny stuff comes out. My ears ache and smelly stuff oozes from them and mats the hair together. It hurts. When I try to move to get comfortable, the hair on my belly and neck and legs is all one big, huge mat and it pulls and hurts really bad. I am so cold and hungry and thirsty and I hurt.

I heard the children talking the other day. They were playing in the snow and talking about something called Christmas. They are very excited about Santa Claus. Apparently, this Santa Claus person checks to see if the children were naughty or nice and then he brings them many presents. They make a wish list and if they were nice, Santa fills it.

Later, I heard The Man and The Woman talking and they said that my puppies all sold at the pet store so Santa would be very good to the children this year. Is that you Santa? Can you hear me? Do you care about dogs? Just in case you do, I'm going to send you my wish list:

I wish for a home, a real one, where I can live inside and have food to eat every day and where there is always fresh water (the kind that is not frozen please.)

I wish for a human with a soft voice and a soft touch to love me. Just me. I wish for them to talk to me softly, to love me gently and to protect me from The Man and The Woman.

I wish for a bath and I wish for my hair to be brushed so that it flows pretty like the dogs in the pictures. I wish to be clean and mat free.

I wish to go to the veterinarian and get my teeth fixed. I wish that my mouth would stop hurting, my eyes would stop seeping, and my ears would no longer cause me pain.

I wish to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer with no fleas or ticks or parasites or heart worms to bother me.

I have a lifetime of love I've been saving to give a human, so yes please, I wish for my very own human. I want to give them nose licks and kisses, I want to protect them from strangers and alert them if a leaf falls in the yard. I want to welcome them when they come home every day. I want to share their life in good times and bad and I want to show them how special they are and make sure they know they are the best person in the whole wide world.

I wish for my own name, I think I would like to be called Angela.

Please Santa; take me away from this cold, dark place. I'm a good lilttle dog and I have so much to give, please help me. I'm so very, very cold.

Thank you for considering my wish list,

30796 - the dog in the back room

There's snow on the ground, maybe an inch, not all that much but it's cold (18 degrees F). One of the best things about being retired is being able to stay home and not have to venture outside unless I want to. I bundled up earlier, took all the dogs out to potty and then came inside, gave everyone a treat, grabbed a cup of coffee, a book and a throw and hopped on the sofa to read. Cuddling on the sofa with a pack of dogs and a good book is a great way to spend a few hours. . . . .

That's Sweetie, one of our Yorkies, on the left and Punkin, one of our Poms on the right.

Then again our 20 year old grand daughter who currently lives with us, bundled up and walked to the library earlier today. I suppose when you are twenty, its not that big a deal but I'm pretty sure you couldn't pay me to walk 2 miles in this weather. (I'm keeping my options open in case someone wants to offer me a million dollars to take the hike. There's a slim possibility I'll say yes.)

This is Tucker the Llhasa Apso mix in the green sweater and the little Yorkie in the blue shirt is Gaylin. The View From the Gazebo is mighty fine when viewed with these guys!

Some of my Favorite Websites

Daily Chuckle Website: http://drawthedog.com/?page_id=2

Okay, I confess, I laugh at funny dog cartoons.  Mostly because the majority of them hit so close to home. Two guys, Jim George (the artist) and Bruce Kasanoff (the guy who does everything else) created this website and it is a daily delight.  You can subscribe to their mail list and have a daily cartoon sent to your email address automatically.  It's totally free and sure to put a smile on your face.

Free Books: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Download 33,000 books from Project Gutenberg's website. If you live in the USA, the copyrights for all of these books have expired - if you live outside the USA, you'll need to double check. Downloads are in several formats: Kindle, Nook, IPad and several others.  Although the books are free, they do ask for a small donation if you can afford it and it's such a wonderful project that I hope everyone who downloads a book will send in a donation.

Of course, if you own a Kindle, you can get many other books for free at http://www.amazon.com/ website - it's a great way to meet new authors and explore their work.

Fun Window Shopping sites: http://www.collectionsetc.com/

Collections, Etc. has such fun items and all are reasonably priced. My favorite site to look for "stuff" - you know all the things we really don't need but are such fun to window shop?

Yet another confession - I love QVC too: http://www.qvc.com/

Mrs. Prindable's apples are terrific, the "Lunch time specials" are often great buys and overall I find their products and service excellent!

Bloomingtails Dog Boutique: The slickest Dog related website has to be:  http://www.bloomingtailsdogboutique.com/

My dogs have collected a huge wardrobe over the years but I have to admit that the items that came from Bloomingtails are unquestionably the nicest.  I have a hairless Chinese Crested and he is still wearing outfits purchased several years ago.  Love this place!

Pet Treats: http://www.sunshinepettreats.com/

My pack love pup corn by Sunshine Mills - this is the place that makes them. 
Animal Welfare Related Website: http://www.imom.org/

My all time favorite animal welfare website has to be In Memory Of Magic, also known as IMOM.  This website provides financial assistance to qualifying pet owners whose pets need life saving medical assistance immediately. The IRS approved charity has been around since 1998 and has paid in excess of $1,300,000 to veterinarians and pharmacies on behalf of pets in need. This is a tiny, grass roots charity that operates with no paid employees, no physical office, everything is done via the internet. The handful of volunteers are located all over the USA and they are connected to each other via their computers and their telephones.

Other favorite websites:
Youtube.com is one of my all time favorite websites. I can watch a Susan Boyle be discovered, a flash mob do a spectacular dance, a dog roller boarding, kittens being silly or a group of women save a herd of horses. Youtube videos can make me laugh or cry or think. 

Huffingtonpost.com; Womansday.com; Reader's Digest website: rd.com; news.discovery.com ('cause there are such interesting articles on this site); CMT.com for my country music fix and have to check out these websites periodically to see what some of my favorite celebrities are up to:
Ellen DeGeneres: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/ & Rachel Ray: http://www.rachaelray.com/.

And last, but not least, my favorite game on facebook, that I clearly spend too much time playing but enjoy anyway: Bejeweled Blitz: http://apps.facebook.com/bejeweledblitz/?lpt=bookmark&ref=bookmarks&count=0

Feel free to share some of your favorite websites too!

Do you know what it means to be poor?

I thought I knew what it meant to be "poor" but I found out recently that I didn't have a clue. My understanding of the every day of "poor" isn't/wasn't close to the reality. My oldest daughter has been unemployed for more than 2 years and ran out of unemployment compensation a few months ago. She is currently living in a horrible apartment in a bad part of town with her 6 year old son and her unemployed, 21 year old daughter (who also has a 10 month old baby.) The 4 of them are living in the one bedroom apartment and our other grandaughter is here temporarily.

I knew about poor housing and ugly yards. I didn't know landlords in Ohio are permitted to rent homes or apartments with wall cracks so large that plants grow inside the house from the outside. I didn't know they are permitted to rent places where the mold grows on the walls, where the furnace doesn't work and where the appliances that are included in the price of the rent don't work. I didn't know it is permissible to rent places that have holes in the walls, crumbling steps, rotten porches, exposed outlets. I didn't know security deposits are never returned to the poor because they have no way to force a wealthy landlord to do so. To complain is to be removed from the apartment - the poor have learned if they speak up they will lose whatever shelter they have. It may be mean and ugly but it's a roof over their heads.

I never understood the spirit crushing agony of being poor. I had no idea of the roadblocks and hurdles the poor are subjected to daily. They are charged fees that reduce their already meager funds because they are powerless. They are forced to wait in lines for hours for services whether it is to apply for foodstamps or see a doctor. Scheduled appointments mean nothing to the professionals who are paid to help the poor. The poor are forced to wait and wait for everything. To be poor is to have their phone calls put on hold for endless waits (I timed several "holds" for my one grandaughter - 35 minutes was average.) They are expected to politely and graciously deal with rude and unkind comments made by those who are paid to help them. To snap back is to be sent to the end of the line. To demand respect is to be forced to jump through through endless hoops as punishment by those who can abuse them. To be poor is to be shamed and humiliated on a daily basis.

When my daughter was receiving unemployment, she made too much money to receive medical assistance via Medicaid. She injured her knee and with no medical insurance could not get it diagnosed or treated. She can barely walk. She lives a few miles from Job & Family Services, the agency that helped her with a temporary cash allowance of $355 a month after her unemployment ran out. Walking there is impossible for her. A bus pass is a luxury she can not afford. After paying $350 for rent, she had $5 for utilities, bus passes, items such as toilet paper or cleaning products that can not be purchased with food stamps. She moves often as she rarely can afford the rent for more than a few months. Each move results in lost boxes. She can't locate her birth certificate which is needed to apply for additional aid. The department of Vital Statistics, another state agency, is just down the road a few miles and could provide a copy of her birth certificate but it will cost her $21.50 and she doesn't have the funds. Talk about a catch 22. Wouldn't you think one state agency could simply call another and receive confirmation? She thinks that may be why her case was closed but doesn't know because she can't get her caseworker on the phone, she can't afford to stay on hold for 35-40 minutes and she can't get a call back.

I love my daughter but I know that her decisions and her actions have brought her to where she is in life. I know that she and our grand daughters have had resources available to them to help them live a better life. This isn't really a diatribe on their behalf, rather a realization that we, as a society, are often unkind to the poorest amoung us. Stores charge them a fee to use their cash cards simply because the poor have no leverage and can not fight a $1 or $2 charge. We charge them $1.50 and up to purchase a money order and as much as 5%-7% to cash a check. They are charged relatively high rent for really horrid apartments. Society devalues them and their time by making them wait hours even with a scheduled appointment and withholds something as simple as kindness. Being poor often means being undervalued and unseen. How sad is that?

Rambling thoughts . . .

A mish mosh of thoughts and comments . . . .

Several months ago my hubby decided to redo the wood floor in the bedroom which meant we had to empty the room. He decided to also do the closet and install new closet doors. Then his aneurysm needed taken care of so the work on the bedroom stopped. Of coursse then spring and summer came along and energies were directed to outside work. Inside, things have been in disarray for months. A week or so ago, he stripped, stained and sealed the wood floor, got the new closet doors fitted and now he's working on the trim. We are slowly putting things back together and I hope in another week or two and we should be done. Hooray!

I was reminded this week why Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. (She also writes the "In Death" series under the name J.D. Robb and every 3 or 4 years I go back and read the entire series from the beginning to the most current book.) This past week I reread her "Circle Trilogy" from 2006 and once again found myself enchanted. As I closed the final book in the trilogy, I thought to myself, damn! she is a mighty fine story teller!

From books to TV - The View is back live today (reruns have been running for a month or so) and I was sad to learn Whoopi Goldberg lost her Mother on 8/29. Whoopi's eloquent statement that "no one will ever love me like that again" was a beautiful and quiet tribute to her Mom. Even though I know she will never see this, I extend my condolences.

What? What's that? I hear a book, a dozen dogs, & the gazebo calling. . . . . . . . see ya later

More families. . .

Two of my younger sisters, plus my BIL, niece and nephew came down on Sunday for a cook out. We all had a great time although I forgot to take photos until everyone was ready to leave. It has been an unusually hot summer and Sunday was no exception. I think it was in the 90's, however we did have a burst of rain in the afternoon. Once it stopped we had heat and humitity - not the nicest weather but still better than a blizzard. LOL

The tall blonde, Zoey, is standing between her dad, Jeff and mom, Carol. I happen to know that Zoey has many, many pants with no holes. I'm learning that this look is in style and that I am not.

My nephew Joey spent a lot of the day drawing a cartoon based on Avatar (he's actually pretty good) and as you can see, drawfs his mom Cathy. (Of course at 5 feet, it's not all that hard to dwarf her. LOL)

Anyway, it was a fun day and nice to catch up with everyone.

Families. . .

My husband's three sisters & their spouses, as well as one of his brothers came down over the weekend for a visit. What a pleasant day we had.

As much as we love living in Columbus (and we do love it), we are a couple of hours away from our closest siblings. Sure, we can call, and for those who use computers we can email. Still, it's not the same as visiting face to face. The reality is that those who live close to one another don't necessarily visit back and forth all that much either. Proximity seems to imply that a quick visit is possible so it can wait until later. We all think there will be plenty of time to visit. . . . . . tomorrow. Well, "tomorrow" came and it was a good day.

It was an enjoyable day (except Oscar, our hairless Chinese Crested, was a bit grouchy.) Fortunately, family members were kind enough to tolerate his cantankerousness, and everyone seemed to enjoy a lazy, kicked back visit. We did the usual. . . ate, talked, caught up, laughed, looked at photos and said "we should do this more often."

Who remembers us as youngsters better than our brothers and sisters? Who knew us as a young bride or groom and watched us grow into decent young adults, respectable parents, empty nesters and yes - senior citizens? Who else knows the best and the worst about us and still loves us? Who else understands not only our strengths but also our weaknesses and still accepts us with open arms?

After everyone left to go home, we reflected on the day. Although we don't see everyone as much as we would like, we were reminded how lucky we are to be part of this family.

SB 95 - Please support. . .

I've been chatting back and forth with several rescue friends about SB 95. Late last night I received another email from a rescue friend who forwarded an email exchange that had been started by MOS inserting several comments I made about a year ago on the Stop Ohio Puppymills Yahoo group in response to questions about the bill.

My comments were used out of context and without permission. This blog is to clarify my thoughts on SB 95.

Since I have not reread the bill since I wrote the original comments in May and June of 2009 and I haven't checked to see if the modifications are available online, I don't know which, if any, changes would impact my original thoughts. That said, even if the bill has changed very little, I am still asking my senator to support the bill.

I know that many involved in rescue don't like the provisions that deal specifically with rescue organizations in Ohio. I understand not wanting someone to come to your home unannounced to do an inspection. However, if I want to stop the person who calls them self "rescue" and keeps dogs in deplorable conditions, then I have to be willing to be inspected. So do you. Basically it involves pulling up our big girl panties and agreeing to walk the talk.

I believe shelters, pounds and humane societies should be included in the bill and this is the biggest sticking point for me. If even one shelter, pound or humane society in this state is as abusive (or more so) to their charges as some of the breeders and hoarders, they should be included. We all know there is more than one of each type that fits the bill. I don't like letting them off the hook and I don't agree with the statement that the intention of the bill does not include these groups - it's a pen stroke to include them and they should be required to follow the same standards as everyone else. Still, I'll support the bill even if shelters, pounds and humane societies are exempt because half a loaf is better than none. There are other parts of the bill I don't care for, but here's what I dislike even more:

1. It's the beginning of summer, the outside temperatures are reaching 75-80 degrees which means the inside temperatures of unventilated buildings are easily reaching 85-90 degrees and as the temperatures rise outside, so will they rise inside. Dogs are suffering and it is only going to get worse.
2. Of course, if it were November 25 the situation would be the same except we would be talking about temperatures in the high 20's or low 30's and dogs would be suffering from the cold.
3. I don't like the fact that "rescue organizations" have literally no oversight at all in Ohio. Whether they are an individual or whether they are listed as a 501(c)3, "rescues" literally have carte blanch in most cities, towns, counties to do whatever they want. Unless a specific city, town or county requires licensing and annual or biannual inspections, they can pretty much house and care for hundreds of dogs anyway they want with no intervention.

4. The fact that many rescues are good and take excellent care of their dogs does not mean the poorly thought out, or poorly run, or hoarders/collectors posing as rescues should be allowed to ride on the coat tails of the good rescues and not be stopped.
5. I think "rescue" should have a clear definition whether it is one person or a group or a large organization and I don't think it is a bad thing to hold rescue groups accountable. Should a state authority be able to set adoption fees? No, I don't think so, because ultimately, that will result in cherry picking which dogs rescue groups can afford to take in - I don't know if Kelli's explanation is accurate as that is not what the bill says, however, I would be willing to chance it in order to have rescue groups included in the bill.
6. I don't like taking in dogs that are so matted I can't tell their heads from their tails - literally.
7. I don't like taking in dogs that must have an eye removed because it was in a fight with a larger dog that hurt it so badly that enucleation is the only pain free option available.
8. I don't like months of antibiotics for severe ear infections that return for a year or two until we are able to finally get on top of them.
9. I don't like severely damaged feet and legs from cages in poor repair or dog fights that result in either large medical bills and/or amputations.
10. I don't like malnourished dogs that are anemic from fleas and ticks literally sucking their life blood away.
11. I don't like what is going on in Ohio among some breeders and among some who call themselves rescue because what they are doing is harming dogs.
12. I don't like females coming into rescue with pyometra and only having hours to save them.
13. I know that I can not justify dogs continuing to suffer until the "perfect law" is written because the perfect law doesn't exist but the dog's suffering does.

14. I know that dogs are suffering in Ohio and they will continue to suffer until we do something. This bill may not be perfect and I may not like everything in it, but it is better than what we have now which is NOTHING!

SB 95 is not perfect, it never will be. I don't have all of the answers but the fact is, neither do any of you. Every individual be it breeder or rescue has a different opinion on what constitutes "good and appropriate care." We have personality differences between members of the same rescue group and those of different groups. We each think "our" way is the best. We all believe we know what a good law will look like and of course it is "our" version of the law. Bottom line is none of this is helping the dogs. There may be parts of this bill I really dislike but enough to actively fight it???? No, I want to see a bill in place that will help the dogs.

Sadly, while we all argue among ourselves, dogs are suffering. So while I have said many, many times that no law is better than a bad law - I have to change my position - this law will help stop the suffering and that's something everyone should agree on.

Dogs are dying while we continue to have a pissing contest with one another over this bill. We need to recognize the perfect bill doesn't exist and it can not be written because someone will always disagree with some part. We need to stop perceiving the bill as a personal affront to our ability to rescue and see it as a bill to help the dogs. This is not about individuals it is about the dogs that need our help. Unless someone has a better bill ready to go right now (and McKenzie's law is not better - it's a nice try but not the answer) then I'm supporting SB 95. Ohio dogs are suffering. Now. It needs to stop. Now. So for what I hope is the last time, pull up your big girl panites, suck it up and support SB 95.

Columbus Clippers

We went to a baseball game at the Huntington Park downtown on Saturday. What a great park! Not huge but plenty big enough, very nice and I really enjoyed seeing so many families with youngsters and even little babies.

The "SuperStars," characters that were sort of cartoonish, sort of air filled larger than life entertainers were a nice treat for kids of all ages. The mackeral that ate the little boy was worth the price of a ticket. (Don't ask, just go see them when you get the chance!)

Take a look at the Huntington Park http://tinyurl.com/2ez3jma and then make plans to visit when you are in the area. Great time!

I don't get it (and other odd things. . .)

Page Six in the New York Post reports Sean Salisbury, a former ESPN sports anaylist acknowledged using his cell phone to take a photo of his penis and showed it to co-workers? For the record - this person is over the age of three.

KMGH Denver - Channel 7 news is reporting a United Airlines flight from Washington DC to Las Vegas made an emergency stop in Denver to remove a male passenger who tried to open a door on the airplane while it was in flight.

Fox news reports a 22 yr old Michigan college student was terrorized by a TSA employee in Philadephia's airport when he reached into her laptop bag and pulled out a plastic bag of white powder and demanded to know where the powder came from. After a tearful denial of any knowledge of the bag by the college student, he smiled, laughed and told her he was kidding - the bag of white powder was his. Although he is no longer employed by the TSA, the agency refuses to answer whether he resigned or was fired.

I don't get it. What were these people thinking?