Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I'm back, pen in paw

There's been a loud silence on this blog. Why? Because I was indisposed.

Incapacitated.

Incarcerated.

Imprisoned.

Or, as humans say, at the kennel.

Our peeps left town and deliberately left us behind. Packed up the Pedigree and carted us off in the family van. And there we sat for DAYS in a fenced enclosure with a concrete floor. Can you believe it? And these people dare to call themselves animal lovers!

We'll forgive them, of course. We always do - it's our nature. But in the meantime, we'll keep rolling our downcast eyes and sucking down those snacks they keep offering up. Ahhh, an owner's guilty conscience. A dog's delight.

Anyway, on to WAG news. February is an exciting month - if you call spay and neuter exciting. (yawn) The national Humane Society designates the last Tuesday of February as Spay Day. So get your bazookas and party hats ready!

Anyway, WAG is promoting Operation "Big Fix," a spay neuter event targeted to low-income neighborhoods. Volunteers will be going out into several selected neighborhoods this month to locate cats and dogs and, with owners permission, transport them to the vet for surgery then back home, all in one day. WAG will be covering the cost for at least two dozen of these surgeries, but we hope to do many more. This is our first such event, so we'll be fine-tuning as we go. And although it's a small band-aid on a big problem, it's a start.

More members keep rolling in and this should be a great year. We've got a small TV spot on MUN television starting in February, hosting an pet-related informational segment. Spring adoptions start soon and the fundraising is going well. The weather is getting better, vacations are over and that dreary kennel is in my rearview mirror. I got a feeling that something good is in the air.

'Til later,
Buddy

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Meet Elvis

Just thought you'd like to meet Elvis, another happy story. He is now called Otis and has a great family with two kids to love. Otis was being photographed for the Sunday Tribune pet photo when his soon-to-be owners spotted him and fell in love.
He's a young guy and, we hear, a little rambunctious, but Otis is already a treasured family member. In fact, Otis's "boy" Garrett is one of WAG's first school Ambassadors. How's that for dedication?


Way to go Garrett!

A Rousing Start

WAG’s first meeting of 2008 was an enthusiastic one! Some new members came out and the committees are rolling along. The Adoption committee will start off-site adoptions in February at Boss Brothers in Loganville – exact dates will be announced later.

The Spay/Neuter committee also has big plans for February, offering spay/neuter services to a number of animals. As we grow and more people and vets become involved, we hope to offer county-wide program. But this is a great start and we’re excited about it. (Well, THEY are. Not me.)

The Education committee is working up a program to teach animal care to 3rd graders. Also, Sunday, January 20, the Tribune will be running a newspaper article about our school Ambassador program that gets kids involved with WAG, helping us spread the humane message.

The Fundraising/PR committee has several plans going. We’ll be donating pet oxygen masks to the fire department for use at places where pets are involved in emergencies. Also, we’ll be handing out window stickers to homeowners that let safety personnel know an animal is inside if the home catches fire.

And, of course, we always need more supporters. We can’t offer community programs without your help. For the price of a pizza, you can join WAG and help us.

Won’t You be a WAG Supporter of a Homeless Dog Like Me? (sniff sniff)

OK, so maybe I’m no good at the maudlin stuff. It’s not as effective unless you can see my big, brown pleading eyes. But you gotta admit pizza money doesn’t sound like much, considering what it can do.

$20 neuters a pet, stopping overpopulation and keeping unwanted puppies or kittens from being dropped off at the shelter and euthanized.

$30 helps feed a rescue animal while in foster care, allowing them extra time to be adopted.

$50 spays a female cat or dog and keeps her healthy and happy.

$100 buys medicine and vaccination to treat needy animals.

And so on, and so on.

It’s a great way to show you care.

‘Til later, Buddy

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Flea Free - Thanks to Hoover

Got fleas? Get a vacuum.

It seems that researchers at Ohio State University have determined that sucking fleas up a vacuum tube causes their demise, what matter what stage of growth they are in. This is good news for some, not much benefit for others.

Don't think it will be much help to the weenie dogs that live at my house. They make themselves scarce at the mere sight of vacuums, plus they would probably clog the machine.

But thank goodness someone finally saw fit to pay researchers large sums of money to sit around vacuuming fleas. I can't think of a more exciting way to spend a workday.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Hard to believe, but dogfighting is alive and well in Walton County. But, unlike 47 other states, owning a fighting dog or attending a dogfight isn't a serious crime in Georgia. We're joined in this dubious honor by the (non)progressive states of Wyoming and Idaho.

That means ALABAMA has stronger dogfighting legislation than we do. Yikes!

Senate Bill 16 is going up for votes again this year, compliments of Sen. Chip Rogers, and makes dogfighting activities a felony. Michael Vick might be a dogs best friend this year by helping to finally get that legislation passed.

For more info, go to http://www.georgiadogfightingbill.com/. They have ready-made letters to send to your legislator, info on the actual bill itself, and links to find out who your legislator is. Let's not let this one pass by. Take 5 minutes and help.

It's guys like me who are used as bait dogs. I don't really remember, but the heavy chain around my neck when I was found was a lot like dogfighters use. Thankfully I was lucky to avoid that fate.

But here's a mild version of what can happen.

So take a few minutes to click on the link and let your politicians know that you're watching.

And on behalf of canines everywhere, Thanks.

'Til later, Buddy

Monday, January 7, 2008

So much to do, so little time.

This blogging thing is tough. Lots of folks do it every day, but that’s just too much for me to keep up with. My schedule is too busy.

Take yesterday, for example. I got up, had my morning Mike Bone, went outside and patrolled the property fenceline. We’ve got 22 acres, so that took awhile. Everything seemed pretty secure, so I decided to lay down in the sun and take a nap.

The garbage truck came and I had to take care of that, ‘cuz if I don’t bark, they won’t leave. When that was finished it was almost lunchtime. Fortunately, I had a few minutes to aggravate Peaches, the grouchy old dachshund that lives at our house. She’s gotta be about 100 years old and gets annoyed when anybody gets within 25 yards of her. So I try to follow her as closely as possible.

Anyway, lunchtime came and then I had to take a nap. Eating makes me sleepy. When I woke up it was time to follow my people (Peeps for short) in the golf cart when they took hay out for the horses. While we were out I decided to check the woods and creek, since I didn’t check them in the morning. Lots of strange smells down there, so it took awhile.

Got back to the house, ran that pesky fat cat off the porch and took another nap in the sun. By then it was the afternoon, which is our organized playtime out in the riding arena – lots of jumps and stuff to climb. It’s pretty easy. I just do stuff like sit, stay, shake hands, roll over, jump over stuff and then my Peeps give me treats. Doesn’t take much to impress them.

Afterwards we hang out for awhile, then I gotta rest before dinner. Later we do the hay thing again and I usually make one more check of the fenceline. Then it’s time to get my Milk Bone and turn in for the night.

So I ask you, with a busy schedule like that, who has time to blog every day?

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!

Hope yours is going well so far. As for me, today I polished off some leftover sirloin and took a long nap in the sun. Seems 2008 is looking pretty good.

Thought you'd like to see a few furry faces that found new homes during the holidays thanks to WAG newspaper ads.







This was Mitzi. She was about 4 months old and spent most of her time belly-up. Can you imagine that fur after about 3 months belly-up in the Georgia red clay? Yikes!




This was Rocky - one of those over-enthusiastic Labradors. Good guy, but a little pushy. See that poor guy behind him in the corner? Rocky hogged all the attention and wouldn't even let him come to the front of the cage to be petted. I've got one of those obnoxious types living at my house. A little too much ego, if you ask me.


This was Pansy - a feline. Fairly decent looking for a cat, if you like that sort of thing.






Seems getting newspaper exposure helps finding homes for plenty of pets. Let's hope our success rate continues all year long.



'Til later, Buddy