Our insurance agent is also my cousin, so we get into a lot of conversations that the normal agent/client don’t have because of our family relationship. He was out at the farm and asked whether or not we had a brown recluse spider problem in our home, which we don’t (Thank God), and he mentioned it’s best to take preventative measures so you don’t get a brown recluse spider problem in your home. He went on to explain that you can’t spray for spiders and be very effective because they’re nocturnal creatures and the only way a spray will get them is if it is sprayed directly onto them, which is highly unlikely so they’ve come up with baited sticky traps that you place on the floor along your floorboards, the direct line of traffic for most spiders. The next evening I got up in the middle of the night and was surprised to see two wolf spiders in the kitchen, something you don’t ever like to see but especially not something you want to come upon in the middle of the night when you’re barefoot and susceptible to nightmares from seeing the big hairy guys scampering across the floor. It’s the price you pay for living in the woods and having animals that go in and out incessantly day and night. Then I got to thinking about spider bites and animals and how I have no idea what would happen to my poor babies if they irritated a spider, something I’ve seen the cats in particular attempt on more than one occasion. Any time they see a bug on the floor they think it’s play time, and we are bug central this year. Part of the problem is one of the cats decided it was their duty to remove as much of the weather stripping around the door as possible because it was interfering with their ability to do whatever cat things they needed to do at the doorstop. So we are heavily ventilated around ground level, just perfect for letting all sorts of God’s creatures into the house to search for water during this particularly hot and dry spell. So the first part of my plan was to go out and purchase spider traps, and I bought four packs of four each, put them all together, and started placing them in strategic places around the house. I purchased the brand that is non-toxic for anything that ingests it but will attract critters by the sweet smell, then they walk in and get stuck on the super sticky substrate that is on the inside of the triangle that you create when you pull the paper off and put the traps together. But be careful because they’re really, really sticky and it doesn’t take much to stick one side to the other and pretty soon you won’t have any usable traps. But I digress. So once I set my traps all around, hopefully along the walls that the spiders are using as their highway through the house, I began to center on part 2 of the plan and that’s to educate me and you on what we need to look out for should our sweet babies get too rambunctious with a poisonous spider. So according to e-How.com, here is everything you need to know:
If your pet starts to innocently explore outdoors–as in, put his nose where it may not belong–he may end up with a spider bite. The two main types of spiders to watch out for are: the black widow and brown recluse. Both of these spiders bite, and release venom when they do. Pets are commonly bit by the black widow (identified by their red hourglass-shaped marking) when they invade their nests. Although black widow bites are rarely fatal, smaller pets may have a more severe reaction, which can turn out to be fatal if not treated properly. Brown recluse spiders (recognized by the fiddle-shaped mark on their back) tend to hang out in dark, secluded areas and bite when they feel their space is invaded. Pets usually recover well from brown recluse bites, although a full recovery may take several weeks. Here are the steps for treating both of these types of spider bites.
Instructions
How to Treat a Black Widow Bite
Keep your pet as calm and quiet as possible to slow down the venom from spreading. If the bite was on a limb, make sure to keep the limb lower than your pet’s heart level.
Give your pet 1 mg. of Benadryl per pound of body weight after checking with your pet’s vet to make sure it’s OK. This will help reduce swelling, inflammation and itching. 3
Apply a cold or ice pack to the area to reduce swelling. A bag of frozen vegetables will work also.
Schedule an appointment with your vet as soon as possible. If you notice any unusual redness or swelling, or your pet has difficulty breathing or moving (paralysis), get her to a vet or animal emergency clinic immediately.
How to Treat a Brown Recluse Bite
Most pets won’t realize they were bitten by a brown recluse, but look for redness to appear after a while.
Clean the wound with hydrogen peroxide, chlorhexidine or povidone iodine.
If your pet develops a rash, fever, chills, vomiting, diarrhea or appears lethargic, seek veterinary attention immediately.
If the wound becomes larger or there is constant drainage, it is also a good idea to seek veterinary care.
Tips & Warnings
Signs of a black widow bite occur immediately.
There is a black widow antivenin available at hospitals for humans that can be also be used to treat pets, but always consult with a veterinarian before administering this type of treatment to your pet.
There is a variety of topical treatments that you can apply to the bite area including antibiotic ointment and natural remedies that will prevent infection and aid in healing.
Smaller pets may have more severe reactions to black widow venom due to their size, and cats normally have a more severe reaction than dogs.
Pets with shorter or thinner fur are more prone to spider bites and scorpion stings.
Do not place a tourniquet above or over a spider bite, as it will cut off circulation. With a black widow bite it will not stop the venom from spreading and with a brown recluse bite the venom normally stays in one place, anyway.
If a brown recluse bite wound doesn’t heal, surgery may be required to remove the skin from around the affected area.
I hope you all found this as interesting as I did and God forbid if you need the information, now you have it. And never forget, it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
As you know I’ve been writing about the two felony animal cruelty tickets that were written by the Randolph County Animal Control Officer in RandolphCounty. Yesterday morning was the first hearing to determine if the Officer had probable cause in writing the tickets that caused the persons who did the deeds to be at Courtroom number 2 in Randolph County, Illinois. They appeared with their attorneys, and Ed Braun, the Randolph County Animal Control Officer, appeared along with the State’s Attorney who would be prosecuting these cases. After finding probable cause with the first case the second gentleman (and I use that term lightly) decided he wanted a different judge, so the entire procedure had to be moved to the other courtroom. The new judge that didn’t hear the first case (finding probable cause by the way) found probable cause in this case. Now, this is the guy that shot the dog with the arrow and allowed the dog to slowly bleed out till it was dead; a long, slow, horrific death where this poor animal suffered. This man is already a convicted felon so he has the greatest reason to be fearful of these proceedings because if he is found guilty he is going back to prison for his offense. So do you begin to see a pattern? The only kind of person that would do this is someone that has no feelings. You probably wonder how I could possibly know that because you may be thinking he did it because the dog was mean or the dog tried to attack him or any other number of scenarios, but none of those would be applicable, and even if they were you still have an obligation to kill without causing this kind of horror and pain. This dog belonged to his daughter-in-law and was her beloved pet. It was a vindictive move by one of those people that doesn’t deserve to walk the same earth as the rest of the law-abiding people that treat others with kindness and love in their heart. Or at the very least, do no harm. So if you think that someone doesn’t deserve to spend a year at Menard for killing a dog, would you change your mind if it were your child or grandchild that was next? Because anyone vindictive enough to torture and kill a family member’s beloved pet, well, think of what they could do to someone they just disliked? And he lives in our midst folks. So it’s up to us to make sure these kinds of things don’t happen.
So on June 29th at 9 am I am going to be sitting in the court room with the photo of my dogs on my T-shirt along with the saying “I Am Their Voice” written across it so there is no question why I am there and who I support, because the dog that died doesn’t have a voice. Not unless I go there and make mine heard. How about you? If you’re inRandolphCounty you can join me and support the Animal Control Officer that had to personally witness this horror and everyone else that puts in their time and efforts to bring this animal (the man, not the dog) to justice. If you live elsewhere follow the cases in your county. Read the newspaper because it will state “felony animal cruelty” in the charges posted in the police blotter. Remember, if anything is to change it’s up to us to make that change, otherwise the animals will continue to suffer. But make no mistake, if it continues, it’s our fault for not demanding better for them.
And never forget it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
There was an article in the paper this morning about a couple that lost their newborn because of dog bites from the dog that had been part of their family for 4 to 5 years. My heart goes out to this entire family because they lost their newborn child and I’m sure their dog will also be euthanized for his part in this horrific incident. Their 3 day old baby was left in a swing in another room with the dog. When they walked back into the room their baby, still in the swing, had been attacked. After being flown by air ambulance to the hospital the baby died from head trauma. They parents swear they didn’t hear anything when it happened from either the baby or the dog.
Okay, so what is wrong with this story? There is so much here that I barely know where to begin. First of all, you never, ever, leave a child and dog alone, unattended, for any length of time, most especially a child that can’t defend itself. Dogs by their very nature are prey driven and the sounds that babies make can awaken those long silent prey drives that your dog is never exposed to because they never hear the sound of a small animal in distress that in their distant past would have signaled meal time. You can’t breed out all instinct from an animal. And never, ever, leave a child that can’t take care of itself unattended in a swing. That in itself should not have happened. When you have a newborn baby the baby goes with you wherever you go unless the baby is safely tucked into its crib, safe and sound, away from the world where things like this can happen. Put your baby in the car seat and move it from room to room with you, setting the car seat on the table where you can see your child at all times.
I never rest for one moment when my grandchildren are here, and to be honest I would prefer to visit them than to have them visit me because my dogs aren’t used to being around small children and their high pitched screams. There is never a moment that I am not vigilant because I am frightened beyond my ability to describe that in that one second that I am not paying attention the unthinkable would happen, and not only would something happen to my grandchild but I would lose my best friend in the process because of my dog being a dog. So I keep my eagle eyes trained on the dogs faces at all times and never have a moment to enjoy the visit. I’m not willing to risk the price I’ll pay otherwise.
May 20-26, 2012is National Dog Bite Prevention Week, and State Farm Insurance published the following information about dog bites and how to avoid getting bitten. I was impressed to see that State Farm doesn’t consider dogs by breed to be bad and doesn’t refuse insurance by breed as many insurers do, so if you have dogs you would do well to contact your local State Farm office for a quote on your homeowner’s policy. In this day and age it is a positive state of affairs to find a company that is that forward thinking to allow us to have whatever type dog we choose without requiring us to pay extra to have it. Kudos to State Farm. Their statement on National Dog Bite Prevention Week is:
Each year, almost five million people are bitten or attacked by dogs. Dog bites are a serious public health problem that can cause both physical and emotional damage to victims and considerable cost to communities.
Top 10 States for State Farm Dog Bite Claims in 2011
State
Number of claims
Claims paid (estimated)
California
527
$20.3 million
Illinois
309
$10.0 million
Texas
219
$5.1 million
Ohio
215
$5.4 million
Pennsylvania
197
$4.9 million
Michigan
181
$7.0 million
Florida
157
$5.1 million
Indiana
139
$3.5 million
New York
133
$6.1 million
Minnesota
117
$3.5 million
State Farm® nationally paid more than $109 million as a result of the nearly 3,800 dog bite claims in 2011. The Insurance Information Institute (III) estimates that in 2011, insurers across the country paid nearly $479 million in dog bite claims.
A dog’s tendency to bite depends on such factors as heredity, obedience training, socialization, health, and the victim’s behavior. There are good dogs and bad dogs within every breed, just as there can be responsible and irresponsible owners of each breed. State Farm does not refuse insurance based on the breed of dog a customer owns in any U.S. state.
It’s not the breed, it’s the bite is one of the reasons that State Farm recognizes National Dog Bite Prevention Week May 20-26, 2012.
Avoiding The Bite
Children and seniors are frequent victims of dog bites. In fact, more than half of all dog bite victims are children. In addition to stressing responsible pet ownership, State Farm and the American Humane Association encourage responsible behavior and caution around dogs, including family pets. Under the right circumstances, any dog might bite.
NEVER leave a baby or small child alone with a dog.
Be on the lookout for potentially dangerous situations.
Start teaching young children — including toddlers — to be careful around pets.
Children must be taught NOT to approach strange dogs.
Always ask permission from a dog’s owner before petting any dog.
For more information about dog bite prevention, visit the American Humane Association.
So take heed and keep yourself, your family and your animals safe from harm. It is up to you to protect your family, with fur and without. And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
On February 17, 2012, Joe Szynkowski of the Southern Illinoisan published the following article that was so informative I thought it important to share the information with everyone because it’s not your normal pet emergency that’s addressed in online help articles:
Dr. David Lane has seen it all in his three-plus decades of caring for animals. Pets have been carried into his office with injuries from venomous snake bites, vicious dog fights and gruesome car collisions. While unpredictable by nature, pet emergencies can almost always be prevented, says the founder of LakesideVeterinaryHospital in Carbondale.
“I tell people to be vigilant and get to the vet,” said Lane, who started his practice in 1978 and specializes in dentistry and general surgery at Lakeside. “Especially with the issues that don’t seem as serious as the hit-by-cars. When people see unusual behavior from their pet, they may be too busy or they may think it can wait. I tell them to at least get a call into the vet.”
Below is some advice from Lane on how to handle some of the more common pet emergencies. Lakeside and many other local offices offer extended hours to accommodate pet emergencies that may occur after-hours.
Preventable emergencies
“We will see emergencies that weren’t emergencies three or four days before. When people think their animal isn’t acting right, they need to talk to a vet or get the pet into a vet right away. Most people don’t recognize the sicknesses early on until they become emergencies.”
“People can also prevent emergencies by keeping their pets on leashes at all time. We will see massive injuries like hit-by-car or falling off a cliff, which is not that unusual with hiking. Leash laws are meant to protect the dogs and people. Dog fights are not usually emergencies, but we will see problems with larger dogs killing little dogs. Some of those little dogs think they are big dogs and that can be a problem. Dog owners need to have leashes on all of their dogs.”
Hit by a car
“Most emergencies with dogs occur during the daylight or evening. Very seldom do we see emergencies late at night, maybe a hit-by-car occasionally. We usually see those kinds of problems when people and vehicles are moving at the same time, usually around dusk. Animals move at dawn and dusk. That’s when it’s most dangerous. You just can’t have your dog loose.”
“Stop any overt bleeding after a hit-by-car. If the dog is unconscious, open the jaws and airways to see if there is any blood or vomit in the back of the throat. You can also blow into the sinuses of the dog. A dog like a short-nose pug would be more difficult. Get the dog onto a moveable piece of board. Roll them gently onto the board and get them into the back of your car and get them to the vet.”
“On a conscious dog that has been hit by a car, you need to make sure they are breathing. Don’t open that dog’s mouth to check for obstructions if you hear them breathing. Odds are, you’re going to get bitten. Keep them warm. If they’re bleeding, wrap the wound and apply direct pressure. If their legs are injured, obviously keep them off of the injured legs. And try to keep them calm. The more they flail, the more they can damage.”
Snakebites
“Snake bites are extremely dangerous. We see copperheads toward the middle section of Illinois, but we see more rattlesnake bites near the Mississippi River. The most common way to get injured with a snake is when the dog will bark at it, and the snake tries to protect itself and strikes the pet’s face.”
“The best thing is not to try to cut the dog open and suck out the venom. Just transport the dog to the vet. If the snake isn’t too big, we can usually take care of it with a lot of cortisone and anti-histamine fluid therapies. Get your dog into the vet or emergency hospital within the first couple of hours of a snake bite.”
Cat emergency
“In cats, plugged tomcat or plugged penis is the one true emergency. A lot of people don’t recognize it at first and it can happen to males or females. It is a urinary obstruction that can lead to big problems.”
“If your cat is sitting in their litter box making unusual sounds, that’s an emergency. Call the vet and get them in right away. There is nothing you can do for that at home.”
Keep this information handy and reread it regularly because in an emergency there is never enough time and you need to react in the right way to save lives.
And never forget, it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
I received this in an email a few years back and published it but when it came back around the other day I decided it was time for a reprint for a new generation that perhaps had not yet heard the story of Mary and her very best friend:
Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ Lucky was a real character.
Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.
Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys. Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.
It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease……in fact; she was just sure it was fatal.
She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her….what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through.
If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.
Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap.
Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. She couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned!
While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.
He had covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky. He still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember…..live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing from God. And never forget….the people who make a difference in our lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God .
Today I saw a video about two dogs that at first made me cry, then made me laugh, then made me cry again, out of fear that no one will come forth to love and care for them because no one will love one as I love my Jackson, and that makes me sad. Before I continue, you need to watch the video: http://www.godvine.com/Dog-That-Was-Shot-Saves-and-Guides-his-Blind-Doggy-Friend-1457.html
The lead-in to the video was:
Dog That Was Shot Saves and Guides his Blind Doggy Friend
Here’s a heartwarming story that you might not believe at first. Tanner was on the verge of being put down due to uncontrollable seizures when Blair came along and changed his life forever. The way these two interact is beautiful to watch.
If you watch the video you’ll find that Tanner was blind since birth from cataracts. At about age one year his owner died, and he started suffering from a mild seizure disorder which became exacerbated by the loss of his owner and best friend, which being blind, he didn’t understand. So a Golden Retriever Rescue stepped in and had him placed in a foster home, and this is where I begin to come unglued. The foster mom stated that during his seizures he made a bit of a mess, and the overvoice talks about how that’s an understatement because they lose control of their bowels and bladder and as they continue to seize the feces can be ground into the carpet. Yes, it’s a mess. Yes, it’s unpleasant to have a male dog with urine flying through the air until you can throw a towel over him as his body is seizing because he has lost control of all bodily functions at this time but even more worrisome is the damage that could be happening to his brain. Who has time to worry about carpet when a life is in danger? Apparently quite a few people. So when this “loving” foster mother returned Tanner to the vet where he started his journey the vet recommended to the rescue that Tanner be put down. Then something magic happened. A black lab named Blair was at the vet’s office after being shot. She was skittish around people, but she took to Tanner like he was her long, lost love and picked up his leash and began leading this blind, epileptic dog around the yard, showing him the love he so needed and had not felt since his owner had died when he was just one year old. What he couldn’t get from man he could get from beast. They say they have no soul but I beg to differ. Right here is a perfect example of how an animal is more accepting of the “human” condition than any human on this earth. I know, because I went through school with a kid that had seizures, extreme seizures, every day. Every day he fell out of his desk and laid on the floor, between the desks of the kids that looked on in horror as his body went into convulsions, losing control of the very same bodily functions that my Jack and Tanner loses every time they suffer a seizure. I know he ultimately suffered brain damage from the daily attacks on his brain so I know how damaging uncontrolled seizures can be on a body and a soul. I think of him often, wondering if knowing him was my preparation for this part of my life, a lesson in how not to respond to the suffering of another, or if it is Karmic justice coming back around so quickly for my horror in looking on as he convulsed on the floor while the rest of us looked on in a mixture of fear and disgust caused by a lack of understand due to our young age. I believe it is the first, that I was blessed in being given an opportunity to have the experience of knowing so many different people so early in my life that I was prepared to accept and love where others perhaps are not as blessed as I have been to have learned these lessons on how to love through difficult conditions so early in life. But I still don’t understand why the only soul that loves this poor blind, epileptic Golden Retriever is another dog. Isn’t there another person out there that could come forth and adopt them both because it would be a crime to not keep them together since it is so obvious they belong together, forever.
Those in the Tulsa, Okla. area interested in adopting Tanner and Blair can fill out an application with the Sooner Golden Retriever Rescue. Those outside the area can contact the same rescue and ask about what you need to do to adopt them and have them transported to you because there are ways to do this if you are the right person to give them a life.
Whatever you do today, watch that video and take it to heart. Take the lessons these animals offer the rest of us as a gift and really feel the love, the unconditional acceptance, they have for each other. Then look within and see if you measure up to the least of them. I know on any given day I fall down regularly, but with role models like these to look up to I at least have a path in goodness to follow. And if you can open up your life and your home to these two animals, make that call today. They need you, and they need you to step forward now.
And never forget, it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight. That’s a powerful quote by Albert Schweitzer that we need to remember when going through our daily lives. Coming up on the 10th is the first of the court dates for the man that shot the dog through the neck with an arrow and allowed it to bleed out, a slow tortuous death that was painful beyond our ability to imagine the suffering. About a week after that will be the court date of a man that coerced animals into a barn so they were trapped, slaughtered them when they had no chance to get away, then disposed of them in a field. I plan to be at the courthouse, representing the animals that have no voice to represent themselves except through the animal control officer that felt strongly enough about his job and the animals he protects to see to it that these people had the limit of the law thrown at them. And yet they still were able to bond out at $500 and $750 respectively. Not much for the pain and suffering they caused a living creature. I am hoping that my presence in the court house will cause the judge pause and make him understand that there are people in the community of Randolph County that are committed to the welfare of the animals. If you would like to join me during the week of May 6 and May 12 at the Randolph County Courthouse, call me through the Randolph County Humane Society office and leave your name and phone number and I will return your call with the time of the court case and location of the court room. Because in the words of Ella Wheeler Wilcox:
I am the voice of the voiceless;
Through me the dumb shall speak
Till the deaf world’s ears be made to
hear the wrongs of the wordless weak.
And I am my brothers keeper,
and I will fight his fights;
and speak the words for beast and bird
till the world shall set things right.
Should we continue to go along with our days and ignore the horror that is going on in our own back yard, allowing it to continue while giving lip service to the horrors we see in other back yards? I know I can no longer sit back and do nothing and let these people walk away as if they drove without their seat belt fastened. They willingly and knowingly tortured animals, allowing them to suffer, and that is against the law. We need to do more than be accepting of this behavior and let our judges know that we expect them to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. And if they don’t, we’ll remove them from the bench and put in judges that will follow the law, limited though it is.
And never forget, it is only though you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
I thought I’d been shocked by things in my life but never as much as today, so I threw out the Tail Talk I’d written to put these thoughts to paper. Tomorrow the shelter is having an event to raise money so we can keep our doors open for a couple of more months. But that only happens if the event is successful. And it should be a day filled with rip-roaring fun because it’s our 2nd annual poker run and rally, starting in the morning with those that take part in the poker run and ending the day with a delicious BBQ catered by one of the best restaurants in the area with dancing and fun immediately afterwards. Businesses have donated prizes for raffles and our auction, and everything is set. So imagine our surprise when we contacted the DJ only to find out that he had been told that the event had been canceled, so he’s booked another event in its place.
Whoever told him that the event was canceled obviously held enough weight (and I don’t use that term lightly) for him to understand that it was a done deal. We thought it was odd that the last couple of days we’ve had calls come in to the shelter from folks that had heard that the event had been canceled but they at least asked, unlike the DJ who was told and did not check with the shelter because the person that told him represented the shelter in his mind. So whoever made this up to hurt the people that work so tirelessly to save the animals that have no one, you’re not hurting us, but you are taking food from the mouths of the animals we’re trying to save. But here’s where it gets interesting because if there’s one thing I know about life, this is the one thing I know.
You may think that you’re hurting us, whoever you are, but ultimately the only person you’re hurting is yourself because you will pay for the deeds you do against the animals that need this help so to keep our doors open and operating. You will pay in ways you never imagined and you’ll probably never attribute to your “little” lie about the event. You’ll spend your days lonely and unhappy, unloved and unlovable, a horrible creature that exists in your body rather than living a full and fulfilling life. What a poor excuse for a person you are, and you deserve the existence you have, because anyone that knowingly and willingly takes the food from the mouths of the animals we serve deserves no less than the horror that is you. Karma is only a bitch only if you are, and you qualify.
If anyone would like to help us overcome this setback, you can send donations via your PayPal account to donations@randolphhumane.org. Or you can visit our website at http://RandolphHumane.org and click on the PayPal link there. Any help you can give us will be appreciated. Let’s show these narrow minded people that try to hurt the ones that give the shelter their all that you’re not going to stand for it, because it’s only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
I’m sure by now everyone has seen the video of the dog that wouldn’t leave his friend that had been hit and was lying there, dead in the middle of the busy street. If not, you can see it here:
It’s difficult to watch, not only because of the loyalty of one dog to another and the love it feels towards its now dead friend, but for all the people that just continue to drive by, leaving the still live dog in peril. How heartless are people now that they can’t even be bothered to stop and offer help to the least of them by removing the carcass from the street so the still living dog can survive. What is wrong with people? I will never understand what happened there.
What I do understand, though, is the undying loyalty that animals feel towards those they love, whether it’s toward the people that protect them or the other animals they spend their lives with, when they give their hearts they give 100% of their heart and soul. They are completely selfless in their giving. And it’s not just dogs that act this way. When our cows live together, day after day, and it’s time for them to fulfill their ultimate destiny and the first to go is painlessly taken down, the others that were his friend are distraught beyond my ability to describe. It is not as others would have you believe that they just look and go on eating grass as if nothing happened. They know. They know where there was life earlier in the day there is life no more, and this animal spirit they’ve spent every day with no longer embodies this mound of flesh and they feel the pain of loss. They are distressed and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see they are distressed. Animals are so much more than what we currently give them credit for being because we don’t understand how much they understand and feel. We are willing to acknowledge that our dogs feel joy when we see them play ball but we don’t acknowledge that cattle feel joy, yet you should see them when we put a new round bale out for them. They run and buck, then they run around it and chase each other for a while, showing their complete and utter happiness at the new round bale we’ve just put into their pasture. I’ve been told that only animals that are well fed can experience play, and I would imagine they’re also the only ones that can experience joy, because when you spend every moment searching for something to fill your stomach to survive you can’t think about having fun.
Lately I’ve read more than one story about a dog that is put into a crate or attached to a chain and left to starve until it is found, nothing but skin hanging on bones, so weak from malnutrition that they can’t stand without help because there is no muscle mass left to support their bodies. In some of these cases there are other animals in the household that are well fed and well kept, making you wonder why this one was chosen to suffer so. After they are removed from their tortuous situation they are fed and loved and brought back to health, but there is always a sadness in their eyes that never leaves because they always know that it is just the luck of the draw that put them in that situation and the same that would put them right back there. I know because our sweet Girlie Sue was an abused dog before she came to us, as was Action Jackson, but Girlie never lost that look. She never lost the fear, and she was with us for over 16 years.
So no matter what, give your love as wholly and completely to every living creature you come into contact with, even if you don’t understand whether they are deserving of it or not. When you sit down to eat your meals, give thanks for the animals that live out their ultimate destiny that you might live and prosper. Be grateful for them. When you play with your animals, be grateful that you have them in your life and they bless you with their joy, their love and devotion. There is no place else on this earth where you will be blessed in this manner. Don’t take it lightly. It is a gift from God. Enjoy it as such.
And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
Last night about 3 am Tim woke me up saying something happened to Bubby, our kitten/cat that is the other half to Sissy, the brother sister pair we adopted from the shelter about a year ago. I got up and went to the dining room table, and there was our little Bubblelicious, bleeding from the nose and rectum but with no other discernible injuries other than some minor facial scratches. So what on earth could have happened to our poor baby that could have injured him so badly to cause internal bleeding that is now bleeding out in this manner? Did he get hit by a car down our country lane so late at night? Or did a bobcat or coyote get our little guy. Whatever got him really did a number on him, and at moments like this don’t think that the first line of defense shouldn’t be the power of prayer because when you don’t know what you’re dealing with sometimes asking for help is the best way to begin. At first our thoughts were to put him out of his misery, but since his Sissy was right there that’s not an easy thing to do. The reason why Tim found him in the first place was all the cats had gathered around him outside in the rose bushes, the place at the fence where he normally crosses from the outside yard into the dog’s yard to make his way into the house.
In the middle of the night last night Jack woke me up to go outside and bark. I don’t remember what time it was because I was sound asleep, but I got up and let him out but now I wonder if his sudden entrance into the dog’s yard with barker ablazing and the lights coming on didn’t save Bubby’s life by interfering in whatever was taking place outside our warm and safe bed where Bubby should have been sleeping. We’ll never know because he’s not talking, and that’s the rub. It’s heart wrenching when your baby is suffering from something that happened outside your line of sight and you have no way to know how serious it is except to know that the symptoms all point to something with fatality as the outcome. It’s not a pleasant place to be and no matter what you consider the considerations are equally distasteful. So you set off on a wing and a prayer, and you act on faith alone and that gut feeling you have to guide you.
Even when everything is telling you there is no chance if life seems to shine from his eyes, I have to listen. I would never let him suffer, but this guy got to the vet’s office and stood up, turned a couple of circles, rubbed everyone hello, then laid back down on his bed from home that we put inside the carrier for the trip to the vet. We decided to bring him to the vet because even though a lot of country folk would end their cat’s suffering quickly and painlessly with a bullet when they sleep with you at night it’s difficult to find that spot where it’s right to take care of business. So it would be best for the vet to take care of it. And here he is, still bleeding but acting like nothing is wrong, so we’ve decided to investigate it further. Because he’s our baby. He’s our Bubby. He’s Sissy’s Bubby. They sleep together, arms and legs intertwined, family at its best in the animal world.
He’s the cat answer to Jack; he’s the lover of all animals. We looked outside one night and there sat Bubby, sitting on the outside table with an Opossum, like they were chewing the fat and enjoying the night air. There is no animal that is not his friend and that might be what got him into trouble. How do you teach an animal that loves all animals that bobcats and coyotes are not part of the lovable group? I guess I’m grateful I can’t teach him that, because just like in my life, if I had to live worrying about which people are the good people and which ones aren’t I’d have a desperately unhappy life. So I go under the assumption that all people are good and will like me, right up until you tell me you don’t. I’ve been told I’m not liked, and it’s always a surprise because it’s not something I look for in life. So I guess Bubby, Jack and I will continue to go through life being surprised by those people and things that don’t like us. Fortunately for me none of my encounters have almost cost me my life, even though the pain in my heart feels that way at the time. Hopefully Bubby will be resilient and recover from whatever got him and will live to love another day.
And never forget, it is only through you that the Randolph County Humane Society continues to save lives, one by one.
Posted by tailtalk 
