Geena is one of 3 small female dogs that were a group package owner surrender in July. He said they were dumped near his home. All weighed 10 pounds or less; they are Chihuahua, Rat Terrier or some mixture of the two. Georgia went to Bexar County SPCA in San Antonio and was adopted the day after she made her debut there. Poor Gayla has heartworms so she will be here until she goes through ‘the cure’. Geena was scheduled to go with Georgia to Bexar County but broke out in a rash the day before they left. The rash cleared up and has never returned. I think she knew her destiny was elsewhere. The day she was waiting for arrived last Saturday. She was adopted and this is an email from her new mom. What a great match!

——
Geena is adjusting to her new home just fine. When we left on Saturday we
traveled to my daughters home in Austin. She has two cats. Geena spent all
Saturday chasing the cats around the apartment and then the cats spent
Sunday morning chasing her around the apartment. I guess they thought about
it over the night and decided it was their home, who knows. She did fine in
her cage for the night and did her business outside. She was a good girt.
When we got home on Sunday she blessed her new home immediately by peeing
on the carpet. Not the first time the carpet has been peed on. She was fine
the rest of the night. She seems to be getting used to going outside. She
slept in her cage all night and didn’t cry or bark either one. When I went
to work I left her in her cage until my mother got up and then she let her
out. She did fine until my mother went to the bathroom and Geena tried to
get her breakfast drink off of the table and poured it all over the chair
and the floor. She is reminding us what it is like to have a young one in
the house again. She is so different from my Precious. Precious just slept
on her pillow all day. Geena is on my lap or on my heel all day. She is
sweet and we are adjusting to her. She likes lots of attention. I think we
decided to name her Lady. I registered with 24 Pet Watch as Lady. She
actually responded to kitty when I was at my daughters. I will probably
call her baby which is what I called my Precious. Thanks for taking such
good care of her while she was with you. I think we were meant for each
other. Thanks again.

I had a call from a lady near Shady Oaks Speedway (whatever it’s called - out on 622). She found a black Lab, male, unaltered. She said he is very well mannered and it seemed that someone had worked with him. She thought surely someone would be looking for him. Well, welcome to the real world. Think we’ve seen too many great dogs and cats that nobody is ever looking for. The woman said she already had 8 dogs.

The Lab is at Acres of Animals. Dr Cochran told her she would check at Adopt-a-Pet in Victoria to see if they could take him. If AAP has no room, Dr. C will keep the dog until Wednesday then she will have to take him to the pound where he will be destroyed. Dr. Cochran explained to her that big black dogs are a dime a dozen and difficult to place.

Dawn will talk to Dr. Cochran today to see if she will HW test and if negative, neuter so we can take him to Pawmatch. Assuming he is as advertised.

In my conversation with the lady, I mentioned the free spay/neuter program. There was a silence then she said that she breeds Min Pins. And has just gone to San Antonio to buy a Dobie that she plans to breed later. Moving along to the issue at hand, I’ll update when we know more about the Lab.

Ever sighing,
Betty

I work in a hospital in a neighboring county. On the weekends I am scheduled to work I can often go in at 7 a.m. and leave within a few hours. Today was one of those days.

As I was leaving, I saw 4 cats walking in a small cleared area between the parking lot curb and a brushy area adjacent to the parking lot. I put out 4 paper plates of cat food. Yes, I carry cat/dog food, water, plates and bowls wherever I go. They all ran back into the tall grass as I approached them with food. I returned to my car and waited so I could pick up the plates. First one came forward, then another. When all was said and done, 9 cats came to eat- 7 solid black cats and 2 Siamese/Tabby mixes. Then one by one, as they had come, they disappeared back into the brush. Sigh. All feral cats. Big sigh. I could continue to feed them. I wouldn’t mind at all (Even though I’m a dog person). BUT, if there are 9 now, how many will there be in a year? 50?? More?

I wish that county had a feral cat resuce. Trap, spay/neuter and release but they don’t. So, I guess, on Tuesday I’ll call Animal Control and ask them to set out humane traps. I hate death by starvation and hit by car to be forms of population control. Euthanasia breaks my heart but the other options make me sick.

Another day, another animal.

Betty

This past Thursday, 8/23, we once again met with City Council. We were all hoping there had been an enlightenment, an awakening of sorts on the part of the Council to what we do for this community through our hard work and unending sacrifices. Especially now that the City Animal Control Shelter has been closed for renovation for the last 4 months. We, as a group, have to take all the city’s calls for stray dogs and cats that people want someone to pick up NOW. As volunteers, we now have the responsibility of taking on the work their paid employees are unable to do. We thought that maybe that would render some sort of sympathy, or appreciation from our council members. But once again, we were sadly mistaken.

Two of our volunteers live within the city limits of Goliad. There is an ordinance which only allows each household to have a combined number of 6 pets. We went to council asking that our volunteer foster homes be exempt from this number, simply because the foster animals are not permanent. They come in, we get them well, then they leave to their new homes, and then more come in. It’s a never ending circle. Many of these dogs are coming from within the city limits, which at this time, there is no city facility to take them. What was the outcome, you ask? Well, nothing. Table it until the next meeting, 2 weeks from now. Another meeting, more of our precious, ever fleeting time.

Another issue we wanted to be in on any decision to euthanize any dog or cat that was brought into the city pound, once it reopens. Our group wanted to have a voice as to which dogs or cats we could save. There have been many dogs in the past that have come in with broken legs, that they would have euthanized, had we not been there to step in and save them. We just wanted it official, since we are no longer going to be at the pound on a daily basis The result of this discussion, … tabled until the next meeting. They said we need to come up with matrixes, guidelines, and charts, as to what our criteria would be for saving animals. We told them it comes from our hearts not charts. They have to discuss it with their lawyer.

The city allocates funds for the Free Spay/Neuter Program that we created almost 2 years ago. This program allows any person, regardless of income who lives anywhere in Goliad County, to bring in any or all of their dogs/cats to be spayed or neutered free of charge. Thanks to the continued support of Dr. Dan and Debra Gamblin and Goliad Animal Clinic, this program has been a huge success. Over this 2 year period, we have spayed/neutered approx. 550 dogs and cats at a cost of $25,000.00. Prior to today, the city has given the program $4,000.00, and the county has given the program $4,000.00. The remaining $17,000.00 has come from our organization, Goliad Pet Adoption.) At the meeting the council told us that $5000.00 had been proposed but Ken Bays, the city manager, but it not been voted on so we could not count on actually getting that much. We are sure hoping we do, as that account is totally broke. We know our Free S/N Program is what is going to help us in the long run, so in order to keep it going, we have been covering it out of our on personal pocketbooks. We are supposed to find out at the next meeting how much money the city will allocate for the program. Hopefully everything will work out in our favor at the next meeting. I guess all we can do is prepare and think positive.

Our Commissioners Court meeting went better. The county allocated $5000.00 for the Free Spay/Neuter Program. And they are in the process of trying to locate land to build a County Animal Control Facility. We are hoping the City and the County will combine forces and build one large facility, and hire a full time animal control officer. That will save us time not having to go on the calls all over the city and county to pick up animals. We can then go to the Facility and pick the animals up from there, a couple days a week.

Well, I guess that’s all till the next meeting.
Dawn

Recently a few of our dogs, Eleri and Eulabell, were adopted thru Pawmatch. They, Pawmatch, are a little disorganized, and didn’t give the new owners their bios, or the vet records. So yesterday I contacted them, mainly to give them their vet records for the future. I also told them about how they were spotted by a school bus driver and some children, and how I spent an afternoon trying to find them. Those two, along with their sister, were very hard to find, somehow I did. They were in bad condition, on death’s door, but they all made it. I’m so happy they are all in good homes now. I wouldn’t have found them, if they weren’t so brave to come up to me on that road… Here are some of the responses.

Patricia: Thank you so much for your e-mail. I cried all the way through it. We have been calling her Belle. She is so sweet and wants us to love her all the time. Your story makes me so glad my daughter saw Belle and called me. I had to put my dog down that I had for 14 years named B.J. and I was so depressed about it. I just love Eulabelle and it helped me get over BJ. So thank you so much for telling me about her.

Bebe Smith

And here’s the letter from Eleri’s new owners. The picture of the little girl is so cute! I’m happy for Eleri. He deserves it.

Hi Patricia,

With Love and sincere appreciation,
Sheryl McMillan

I’ve been hearing over the last couple of days about Michael Vick’s Plea Deal. What’s that all about? Since he pled guilty, that means he is guilty of the crime. Why should he get a lessor sentence? The man is sick, along with all his cohorts. Anybody who can do such a cruel thing to an animal, is capable of doing the same to a human. He just cannot say how sorry he is and expect that all is forgiven.

He is sick, and I don’t think a person like that can ever change. He’s just sorry that he got caught. Please, who amongst us believes that sob story he gave to the press? This is our country’s chance to stand up to people like him, and say enough is enough. We will not allow such atrocities to happen. I think a just punishment for Michael Vick and his buddies, would be 5 years in prison, then after their 5 years of prison time, they should then have to volunteer at the local humane society, (the one that is caring for the dogs that were rescued from his place) 10 hours a day - 5 days a week for an additional 5 years. And in addition Michael Vick should have to donate 5 million dollars a year for 5 years to humane societies and to legitimate organizations that are working hard to put an end to dogfighting throughout this country.

Now that would be a somewhat appropriate sentence. I pray that the Judge has the strength, courage, and wisdom to let it be known, through his sentencing, that we will not tolerate such sick behavior in our country!
Dawn

I couldn’t help but think of Delphi, she’s the momma pit bull from the videos, on Sunday when we took our beloved Narnia to Dr. Cocharan to give her the least stressful way to leave this earth, to leave whatever it was that made her unacceptable in this world to a more peaceful perfect place.

I hope as I write this both of you are looking down and find it in your hearts to forgive us. All you did was be born to the wrong households. Delphi, I have your two pups, and they are strong, healthy and loving, they are pit bulls but you’d think they were the most spoiled labs in the world. They know nothing of what you, their mother endured. At first, right after I took you to the vet and felt the life in your body leave you and you licked me in the face as you went I couldn’t bare to look at them and their other 6 siblings…they only reminded me of the guilt that I couldn’t save you from all the damage and that they survived and I hated them for awhile. But now, I love them so much..Digby and Darby the sweetest boys in the world and they will never know of mans ugliness…not as long as I’m living at least.

Back to Narnia and why we had to take you to Dr. Carson: Your owner is the son of a pedophile and his grandfather a __________ in this tiny little town, perve too. I saw his tall skinny body when I was a kid in that window so it’s no doubt his son end up just like him. Anyway, the grandson owned Narnia, and he couldn’t keep her anymore so the grandmother turned Narny into the pound. I knew once I saw her face I couldn’t do it, we couldn’t make the decision so we set out to rehabilate. She stayed at the pound for over a year…Anna and Betty loved her every day, took her for walks, fell in love. She never got much better about men though. Black or white, all men made her crazy. But she seemed to get better and when they threw us out of the pound Narnia went to Dawn’s ranch and there she got more room, more time with Kayte but then one day she went crazy when Tim was outside the barns…she wanted to kill him. No matter what man, she wanted to kill them all. Poor Narnia…no tellin what happened to her in he past. So we had to do it to Narnia. Please forgive us.

You fought so hard against that shot that it took two strong doses and we held you and watched you try to focus so hard and that tongue of yours kept reaching out to taste every bit of what was left to taste and it was hard to watch you go and I’m sorry I took video, I know’s it’s morbid but I needed to put your life, your very real life recorded.

Your son Gunny got adopted the day before you left us. He used to paint the walls of his little kennel with shit every day to keep himself occupied so he wouldn’t go crazy. I brought him to my house about 6 months ago to socialize him. He continued to paint the walls with shit for months, and stayed under my desk, was like his cave. Didn’t like it if any other dog got near the desk, got into fights alot with Teddy. But I finally figured him out and then he turned out to be the best boy in the world.

A couple from Austin, Charles and Sara, fell in love with him and it was totally out of the blue they called me. So I brought him out to their 87 acres with a beautiful house and studios (both artists, both kind hearts) and he jumped in their oversized wading pool and swam underwater like he’d been swimin his whole life. I just cried. He was so happy. Never saw anything so beautiful. So I left him there, drove away, felt happy. It was the next morning that I got the call…Charles went out to the barn and there was a rattlesnake so he shot it and the gunshot must’ve scared Gunny to death and he just disappeared so they called me.

I went out there and called and combed the brush all day….no luck. And then I came across a big culvert and saw two little eyes peering out at me and it was a mangy baby pit staring out of the dark…grey and white in color and terrified. I tried to catch him/her? and it ran across the highway and I was so scared I was gonna get it killed trying to save it. And then I saw another dog, a big black mama dog and she sat on top of the hill and ran if I even looked her way. Went back home, hoped Gunny might have travelled those 10 miles back to town and be waiting for me but no he wasn’t. So when we went to take Narnia in for her last moments we asked her to please send her son, Gunny, home. It was an awful day.
I saw a shooting star that night. And at 9:45 I got a call from Sara.
Gunny came home.
I hope that Narnia and Delphi both know we loved them, and we tried our best, and it wasn’t enough.
Patricia

At August Market Days - a “street fair” that happens every month at the town sqaure in downtown Goliad and I run the booth that has our rescue dogs ready for adoption - I had a short confrontation over illegal Pit Puppies for sale. I wish I had handled it differently — better. How can people breed Pits and sell them on the street corner to whomever comes by with $100 cash? Preferably $150 but if someone must write a check for that amount, grab the cash!

It was dreadfully hot. At noon a black pickup truck backed up the northwest corner of the square. In the back was a wire crate FULL of Pit pups - adorable puppies. I asked the sellers, two young women, if they had the sales permit required by the city. They replied no. They had been trying to sell the puppies at a vacant lot on the main highway. But, they said, it was too hot there. I can guarantee it was no cooler on that corner of the square and said so. Just as hot but more potential buyers. They were too busy to talk…snatching money from people pointing at pups, picking them out with no interaction with the dogs at all. I took the passive aggressive approach, I’m sorry to say, and reported them to the Sheriff’s Office. A deputy came and asked them to leave which they did.

We, as a group, made that extremely difficult, excruciatingly painful decision to no longer take Pit Bulls into our program, and I was the last to come to terms with it. It is sooooo difficult to find good homes for them. We tried several breed rescue groups but they were all full or overflowing. Our first casualty was a female who had been at the pound a few months. It would be difficult to find a sweeter dog. We named her Angel. There have been several since Angel. It doesn’t get any easier. And now? Another litter out there. If they don’t end up in the pound, probably their puppies will, or their puppies’ puppies. And are the breeders so naive to think that their puppies will not end up in a dog fighting operation? That evil IS in this county. Fighting or hunting hogs - both options usually offer short, miserable lives.

A few days ago I saw an ad in the paper… offering Pit Puppies for Sale - $50. Are these the same ones or another litter? I accomplished nothing with my actions. I hope I have learned from my mistake and will do better next time. For the dogs’ sakes. I may still call the Sheriff’s Office but I’ll try education first. Of course I do have a can of whup ass in case all else fails.

Thanks for the chance to purge.

Betty

Last week Catherine Sykora called and said that on Sunday afternoon Aug 12 she came home and found an adult male Pointer/Pit Bull mix dog laying on her porch. She lives in Charco. He has a terrible cut all around his neck. Looks to be an inbedded collar. There was no longer a collar there. He did have a flea collar on, but that is not was caused this injury. The cut went down about 1 to 1 1/2 inches and it is all infected.

The dog is very sweet. He is liver and white, marked like a pointer, but has the head of a pit bull. He weighs about 75 lbs and is approx. 3 or 4 years old. Patricia took video and we named him Heathcliff. I took him straight to the vet. He is heartworm positive. At this point they are cleaning the wound and have him on antibiotics awaiting our decision as to what to do. I called Catherine because she said she has friends that live in the country that might be willing to take him.

She said they were interested, but not if they had to do anything. She said they both work and don’t have the time to really mess with a dog much. I told her to have them call me ASAP and I could explain and they could then make a decision as to whether or not they want to take him. I’m keeping my fingers crossed, because I simply don’t have room over here.
– Dawn

Audrey and Darryl Own have lost their male yellow lab. He is approx. 1 1/2 years old, no collar or tags. They said he sometimes walks with a limp. He is more white in color rather than yellow. He is large in size. He sometimes answers to Bisquit. He has been lost since around the first to middle of July. He is missing from their home 13 miles out on Slover Rd. I e-mail the pics of the male yellow lab from Super S, but never heard a response, so I’m guessing that wasn’t him.

– Dawn