A missing dog's story - a horrible tale of loss, vivisection (animal experimentation) and unrelenting pain...

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2009/06/slate-series.html

Thank you, Slate Magazine and Wayne Pacelle. Every pet owner all over the globe should be involved in stopping animal experimentation in research laboratories.

Granny Annie, my old 3-legged Boston has apparently touched a lot of hearts.

She made Wayne Pacelle's HSUS blog again, in praise of adopting the older companion.

http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/

Granny Annie...update on her 5 minutes of fame...

Got word this morning that both Dogster.com and Petfinder.com have picked up Granny Annie's
story and have mentioned it in their blogs with links to Wayne Pacelle's HSUS blog.

Here are the links...

http://blog.petfinder.com/petfinder/2008/12/24/

http://dogblog.dogster.com/2008/12/24/give-a-senior-a-new-leash-on-life/

Granny Annie's on Wayne Pacelle's HSUS blog today!

Wayne Pacelle: A Humane Nation | The Humane Society of the United States

Gray, with a Silver Lining

Posted: 23 Dec 2008 11:02 AM CST

I celebrate the people who go to shelters or rescue groups to adopt any homeless dog or cat. It's an act of love and kindness. But I have a special place in my heart for people who adopt senior pets. These dogs or cats may have a few flecks of gray, and may not be as frisky or fetching or as big-eyed as puppies or kittens, but they love us just the same and perhaps they need us even more. They may not stay with us as long, but that only means we need to pack a lifetime of love and affection into fewer years.

Some weeks ago, the following story came into the blog and it's a great reminder to us all during the holiday season of the special creatures who need our help. I hope you find inspiration in this tale that May Lattanzio, a freelance writer, poet and photographer, tells.

Off and on throughout my life, I have worked as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator and placement volunteer for the local humane society and in private. I put up a blog and decided to help the county shelter which is high-kill, but rescue friendly, in Bay County, Fla., by putting a rotating widget in the sidebar of adoptable dogs.

Then I saw the nameless Boston with three legs who was supposedly five years old (approximately). Her owner was incarcerated, and she was given to someone else who neglected or mistreated her so much, she was confiscated.

And there she was. Much older than five. Maybe 500. She was scarred on her flanks. Her forehead looks like it was cleaved at one time. She trailed a long cyst sack that swung when she walked. It was heavy. She is missing a front leg. She hobbles; has lumps, bumps and warts all over. She is gray-faced.

Maybe someone would want a special needs dog. I took her home to foster. Granny Annie is no beauty. All dogs are beautiful physically, but poor Annie isn't. But inside that scarred interior lives a shining, golden heart and endless sweetness of character. I was planning to foster her so that she would not be euthanized. Who would want her?

It turned out that I did. To a house full of dogs and cats, she fit right in. If your heart is set on a dog, please adopt one, and don't forget the older ones who aren't pretty anymore; or the black ones who are seldom adopted because of their color. If they have special needs, they have lessons to teach you; like courage, inner strength, patience, gratitude and above all, love.

Never mow the lawn again...

Throw away the edger, the pesticides, the herbicides, and give some character back to your yards with these thoughts from Wayne Pacelle. http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/07/natural-lawns.html

You should see my yard! It's just about totally wild save for the plants I've chosen to plant. Most of those are natives, too. I have Crossvine that climbed into an oak tree which was joined by wild grapes and morning glories, and the hanks that grow from ground to limbs are sturdy enough to climb. The birds nest in there or take cover from rain and wind. They love it.

I remember a discussion with a man who was the head of the federal bird banding lab in Maryland: Plant berries. Blueberries, here in Florida, specifically, or wherever they grow. Birds dine on the flowers for two months, then the fruits, which can feed them for five months. Anything with berries. So I have to find some young plants and transplant them - they grow wild here, as you know if you read the prior posts.

They also eat and spread native grass seed. Beauty berries grow here, too, and I've noticed I have at least a 10 footer in the yard. They have clusters of magenta berries that the birds love to pick at in the winter.

I didn't see any of the solar eclipse which was partial here. I sent my son an email on his 38th birthday (which doesn't seem possible), that said the universe celebrated with an eclipse in his honor. He gets email through his Blackberry, and he probably trashed it because it was too difficult to sift through for the link. But the thought was there. So, officially, "Happy Birthday, David! Stay healthy and happy, and enjoy this and every day you live."

And let your two-inch manicured lawn grow a little longer between mowings if you can (there are rules in his subdivision), and consider a jungle in the backyard. Want some Crossvine for the fence?

Love,

Mom

Soldiers and their adopted dogs of war zones...

I get Wayne Pacelle's daily blog entry. He's the CEO of the Humane Society of the United States.

Today's entry was heartwarming. It is about a book, From Baghdad to America: Life Lessons from a Dog Named Lava" by Jay Kopelman, which explores how important these dogs have become to the soldiers who rescued them, and their rescuing of their new owners when they have returned to the States.

Here's the URL of the blog: http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2008/07/jay-kopelman.html

Jay has written two books, and both are on the first link from Amazon.

Haven't read them yet, but I sure do love a good dog story.