Barkus 2007 - A Street Dog Named Desire

Thinking of breeding your dog so your kids can experience the miracle of birth?

Order: THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH VIDEOTAPE

Intended for all those who want to breed little Fluffy in order to let children experience the miracle of birth. This real-time videotape set can either substitute for home breeding or guide you in making the most of your breeding decision. You will experience the joys of seeing a live puppy pop effortlessly from the mothers body. See her consume the bloody afterbirth (Most children squeal with delight seeing this for the first time). Many children make a life-long commitment to celibacy then and there. Enjoy watching the frantic efforts of a breeder trying to resuscitate a stillborn puppy. See the hilarious actions of a bitch that searches for the puppy she thinks she just dropped but which was quickly tossed into the wastebasket because it was only a blackened, half-developed fetus.

Reserve a full 36 hours to see the entire set of tapes in one sitting.

Really, share the drama, boredom, and exhaustion of the breeder as she struggles to help her bitch in extended labor. Watch as a breeder tries to recruit helpers to carry her dying bitch to the car for transport to the nearest animal hospital in a futile attempt at saving the beloved family pet. Seeing the children crying and asking what is happening is half the fun. Follow the fun as a breeder and his wife alternate bottle feedings duties, during a full month of every 4-hour feedings, with a puppy fading and trying to keep 6 others dry and healthy.

Share the hilariously hopeless task of keeping the home odor free while 7 pups deposit hourly stools and urine on mountains of newspapers provided through weekly neighborhood garbage can raids. Thrill to the dazzling sound effects on this tape - you will be amazed at the noise created by 7 pups all screaming at once - especially in the hush of the wee morning hours. Chuckle at the breeders increasingly frantic anxiety as the litter grows up, and no one comes to buy them.

And, as an extra added attraction: Laugh with us at the madcap antics of a typical shelter worker as she accepts new animals keeping a straight face as mom and dad tell little Kevin that the nice lady will take VERY GOOD care of 8 year old Fluffy. Enjoy the pathos as she later shoves unwanted puppies and adult dogs into a gas chamber as she chokes back tears and goes home to try and explain to her children just what she does at work. Yes, if you, or a friend, are considering breeding Fluffy to show your children the miracle of birth, be sure to get this video and show the miracle of death at the same time.

Copyright 1996, John A. McCormick, President and CEO, Nocturnal Aviation Videos. Reproduction and distribution of this advertisement in its entirety strongly encouraged. Telephone, e-mail, or postal orders NOT accepted. This tape is sold ONLY in person because I REALLY want to meet you.

Recognize these dogs? Roaming in Lakeview

Both dogs are living in the garage and under 5549 Woodlawn Place in Lakeview. The Rottie is a female wearing a choke chain collar, and looks as if she may have puppies hidden somewhere. The dog under the house is a male.

Philly, Jan. 12-14: BEN-efit For The Bayou

If you live in or near Philly, ya got to attend next Saturday night's benefit at the Franklin Institute to help rebuild the Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans.

A $35 ticket gets you the Dr. John concert and the IMAX film, Hurricane on the Bayou along with tasty New Orleans food.

January 13th, 5pm-11 p.m.; Concert time 8-9:30pm (over 21 only)

Or for those with kids, the Bayou Family Festival going on the rest of the weekend.

Click on above link for full details.

Lost Katrina Pets site on Newsday

Katrina pets online
Monday, January 1, 2007
NEWSDAY

They're still out there, and their owners are not giving up. Some animals displaced and lost during Hurricane Katrina are finding their way back to their original homes, but it's an arduous process that requires more than a bit of luck. And for all the reunions posted on http://www.lostkatrinapets.com/, there are still far too many entries labeled "missing.

Urgent plea for help for Break Heart Ranch

Val & John Hinderlider and their beloved horses at Break Heart Ranch in Minden, Nebraska have lost power due to the devastating ice storm that struck the western plains. They are in need of hay and monetary donations of any size.

The electricity for Break Heart Ranch may not be on for 3 to 4 weeks. They are currently using two generators to heat water for the horses and other necessities.

(web photo of ice damage in Nebraska)

Check out their website and read about the incredible work they do to rescue, rehabilitate and adopt horses and please donate whatever you can.

Tax-deductible donations (501c3 ) can be mailed to:
Break Heart Ranch Horse Rescue
2141 J. Road
Minden, NE 68959

Please cross-post

End in site for Calcasieu Parish gas chamber

Calcasieu Parish Animal Services and Adoption Center proposes to transition to all lethal injection as a method of humane euthanasia with its 2007 budget submittal to the Calcasieu Parish Police Jury. The National Animal Control Association, as well as the American Veterinary Medical Association, agree that a properly delivered lethal injection is the most humane method available for unwanted shelter animals.

Due to the tragedy of pet over population, millions of animals are euthanazied each year in this country, over 8,000 in Calcasieu Parish alone. The Animal Shelter has the responsibility to employ humane euthanasia techniques exclusively, ensuring a painless and rapid death for every unwanted animal. While always trying to follow the guidelines of the AVMA, Calcasieu Parish Police Jury has to take into consideration the effect this change would have on the staff. A three-month pilot program has proven successful and acceptable. Louisiana State Law requires employees using Sodium Pentobarbital to be certified by the Board of Veterinary Medicine at the LSU Veterinarian School. The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury Animal Services and Adoption Center has 65 percent of its current staff certified as Animal Euthanasia Technicians. The Police Jury offers compassion fatigue training for all staff members and recognizes the difficult task each employee performs when euthanizing.

In support of the Animal Shelter, the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is providing a grant to help pay for renovations to the shelter and purchase necessary equipment to complete the transition. The new work area will provide a quiet and peaceful area for the staff and the animals.

The Police Jury and the staff at the Animal Shelter recognize the growing problem of unwanted animals and believe that through continued public education on responsible pet ownership, increased adoptions, and low-cost spay/neuter programs, all required euthanasia can be reduced. Please help support your agency by considering adopting an animal.

Thank You!!

Milo, another JRT still missing from Katrina

This photo was taken at Best Friends in Tylertown in September, 2005. We believe the white dog in the center could be Milo. Jane and I have spent many months trying to get concrete information about this photo from various sources and for some strange reason, no one knows anything about this dog! If you volunteered at Tylertown and remember this dog (or either of the other two in the pen) or rescued this dog and brought it to Tylertown, or anything else, please contact Jane at 3jax@jam.rr.com and/or me at noanimalleftbehind@gmail.com or feel free to post an anonymous comment here. Thank you!

To all Union County (NC) Animal Advocates:

This email was sent to me a few minutes ago by a resident of Union County, NC:

A friend sent me your blog on the gas chamber in Union County, NC. I live in that county. Currently we're trying to get the shelter turned into a no-kill shelter. The gas chamber would be history. We're going through the county commissioners because they are Sheriff Cathey's boss. No one else.

Now for my request. Below is the announcement calling on all residents of this county who care for the animals to write to the commissioners. If you can post it, great. If not, that's okay too. The only way we're going to get a change is to get the commissioners attention. With enough letters we'll do it.

Here is the link to the original blog post.

To all Union County (NC) Animal Advocates:

In the past couple weeks there were a series of articles in the Enquirer Journal about the Union County Animal Shelter. The County Edge also had an article. Below are a few quotes from the articles.

Far too many animals are being killed at this shelter. There is a solution. It's called the "No-Kill Solution". Here are two links.
A video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1r9GJ_N7WU
The web site: www.nokillsolutions.com

What is needed are letters to the County Commissioners asking for a Special Meeting with the animal advocates of Union County. Write to all five; you can copy & paste. Be polite but tell them it's urgent that this situation be addressed by a special meeting. State the town you're from so they know you live in Union County. Their email addresses are below.

Feel free to give this to any/all animal lovers in Union County. We need this meeting and if the commissioners hear from enough people they'll respond. Please write this week, and next week send another one.

from Saturday, Dec. 16th Enquirer Journal:
The odds aren’t good for the strays. Ninety percent of the cats that end up in the shelter are killed; 74 percent of dogs are destroyed. But there are just too many animals coming in, Tucker said, and it’s impossible for all of them to go back out. It’s not about adoption, he said.

My comment: The new shelter has around 100 dog kennels. Captain Bill Tucker's statement,"It's not about adoption" might explain why there are only 11 kennels allotted for adoptable dogs. They don't even keep those 11 kennels full.

from Tuesday, Dec. 19th Enquirer Journal:
Back when the shelter was run by the Union County Health Department, most of the employees earned between $21,729 and $32,593 a year. That’s the salary range for an animal shelter attendant, of which there are three.

Deputies are a little more expensive, both because of their training and the implied risks of a law enforcement job. Deputies start out at $31,066 per year, and the Animal Control division has six, plus a lieutenant and a sergeant. All told, the personnel budget, including those
salaries plus benefits like paid vacation and health insurance, totaled $514,926 for the 2005/2006 fiscal year. By contrast, the operations budget was $195,456, which kept the lights on and the animals fed, and covered the cost of veterinary care, medications and the general costs of running the facility, including the gas chamber.

My comment: As evidenced by the numbers above, there is plenty of money to run this shelter correctly, with the no-kill solutions program.

from Wednesday, Dec. 20th Enquirer Journal:
Commissioner Allan Baucom said e-mail has flooded his inbox from animal advocates from as far as Arizona, but he has heard very little about the problem from local residents."...he added that the Sheriff ’s Office is responsible for figuring out how to address animal over-population. “This is the sheriff’s responsibility. This has already been determined. They have the new facility and I’m of the opinion that we need to stay out of his business.”

My comment: We need let the commissioners hear from the residents of Union County. If we don't speak for the animals, who will?

Kevin Pressley mayorpres@aol.com He's the chairman
Roger Lane anhast@earthlink.net (be sure to reply to spam blocker)
Allan Baucom allan@baucomservice.com
Parker Mills parkerapmjr@aol.com
Lanny Openshaw lanny@carolina.rr.com

Golden Retriever lost in 2004 is reunited

Click on above link to watch reunion video. Sam I Am got lost in South Florida during the 2004 hurricane season and ended up in Chicago. His owner was found because of his microchip.

If you were reunited with your Katrina pet, most were microchipped. Some were microchipped several times. But if you don't call the company and register the number to you - the owner - and if your pet gets lost again and is scanned, the chip will show ownership being Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries or Best Friends or any number of other post-Katrina shelters or staging areas. Or the chip will be registered to the receiving shelter.

It costs around $17-20 to register your pet's microchip number to your name, but that is a small price to pay for the good it can do.

It's also a good idea when registering a microchip number to include at least one piece of information that is not likely to change, which varies from person to person. One personal email address I've had for at least 8 years is more consistent than any of my cell phone numbers. And as we saw with Katrina, home phone numbers can be completely useless.

A good time to re-vistit this wisdom

Robert Fulgrum wrote All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten around 20 years ago. His words made sense to me then and they make even more sense now in the aftermath of the Katrina animal disaster.

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
• Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
• Take a nap every afternoon.
• When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
• Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
• Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
• And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

A heartfelt look at post-Katrina New Orleans

A story from my friend Sidney

^{One evening an old Indian told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people.}

^{He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.}

^{One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.}

^{The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, consideration and faith.}

^{The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather "Which wolf wins?"}

^{The old Indian simply replied, "The one you feed."}

St. Bernard Parish deputies Minton and England indicted by Grand Jury

Thank you Mimi Hunley and Julie Cullen. Thank you members of the Grand Jury for coming to the correct conclusion.

According to Mimi Hunley, Assistant State Attorney General, Louisiana:

" The Grand Jury in St. Bernard Parish on Wednesday indicted former Deputy Mike Minton and presently employed Deputy Chip England for aggravated cruelty to animals related to the street shootings after Katrina. This is a felony and was the most serious of all the crimes they could have indicted them for. AAG Julie Cullen and I handled the presentation. We are still working on the school shootings.

Mimi Hunley
Assistant Attorney General Criminal Division "

Photos from Rocket's long-awaited reunion

Now that's one happy boy and one very happy dog.
Complete reunion story/details soon.

UPDATE: Lil'Bit & Lisa REUNION PHOTO

Lil'Bit is home in New Orleans tonight with his family. Is he not one adorable and very joyful little dog with that smile on his face and spark in his eyes? Oh yea, hard to see his eyes but you know the spark is back. He looks so much happier here compared to the look on his poor little face in the two bottom photos.
The two photos below were the only surviving ones of Lil' Bit. Lisa had them on her desk at work - everything in their house was destroyed.
Thanks to the continuing determination and dedication of Micci, Lil' Bit is on his way back home to New Orleans with Lisa, his grateful owner. Lisa was forced to abandon Lil' Bit at a bus evacuation site along the interstate, after enduring one of the most tragic sagas of anyone I have ever talked to. And this was after being forced to relinquish her other pets en route to the bus evacuation site over a period of several days. Throughout all this, she and her fiancé clung to their young son and to Lil' Bit. They then waited several more days to board a bus. While waiting for a bus, due to the heat and the lack of food and water, they became frantic that their son could die there. When they were finally able to board a bus, they were forced to leave Lil' Bit on the ground.

Lisa's story and Lil' Bit's photo were included in the People Magazine article from a few months ago, as well as the current issue of Bark Magazine. Micci is a volunteer who has maintained the website Katrina Poms and had hoped to get Lil' Bit home for Christmas. Last year. But Micci, Lisa and others were stymied by endless lies and manipulations from Biannca Kellogg who took Lil' Bit from Best Friends in Tylertown. She took several other cute little dogs too, so stay tuned.

Yesterday a Sheriff in Illinois went to the home of Biancca's friend Jeannie (to whom Biannca gave Lil' Bit) took possession of Lil' Bit and returned him to Lisa. Even after 15 months, Lil' Bit jumped out of the sheriff's arms when he saw Lisa and covered her with kisses.

Lil' Bit was not posted on Petfinder until December 11th - more than 3 months after he was rescued. And then all the information was stripped from the Petfinder record within 6 weeks even though the dog's owner and several volunteers were actively pursuing a reunion.

If you look in Lil' Bit's eyes in the photos below (taken in Illinois by Biancca) you can see how sad he was. He did not want to be there; he wanted to be with his family. And now, thanks to Micci and the Sheriff in Illinois who did his job, Lil' Bit is with his family forevermore.

Around here we call them mutts

UPDATE on Remington

This very special dog found his very special angel. Here are some photos of Rem at his forever home with his new dog and human brothers and sisters (The original story about Remington was posted on October 22).

ROCKET IS HOME!!

Yes, it's true.

Not a stretch of the imagination to assume that the idea of the hearing - specifically the idea of having to face Rocket's true owner in court, along with God-only knows how many reunion volunteers*, newspaper reporters, TV cameras and assorted Rocket-supporters from the area - Lynne Welsh decided - after stalling for five months - to return Rocket today.

He is back HOME in New Orleans now.

Many more details (specifically the chronology of this nasty, pathetic and manipulative saga) will soon be posted.

* at least 11 of us were planning to be at the hearing tomorrow which has been cancelled.

Hearing for Rocket Thursday in Bucks County, PA

WHO:
Plaintiff is Sheila Combs of New Orleans, LA
Defendants are Lynne Welsh & Joseph Welsh of Doylestown, PA
Mollys County Kennels of Lansdale, PA
Holiday House Pet Resort of Doylestown, PA

WHAT: Replevin Hearing

WHEN: November 9th at 10:00 a.m.

WHERE:
Bucks County Courthouse - Courtroom A-9
4th Floor
55 E. Court Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: 215-348-6000
Map of Doylestown
Map to Doylestown

WHY:
To return Rocket to Sheila Combs, his rightful and legal owner.

Media:
Oct. 7, 2006 Doylestown
Oct. 9, 2006 San Diego news
July 16, 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer
July 3, 2006 Philly Daily News