There is a place where the old and infirm, abused and injured are given respite from the weariness and pain they've tried to survive. It is called, "Journey's End."
I'm going to paste the link here and hope - in these days when political candidates are spending millions on negative TV ads - we can see where that money would be much better sent.
In my animal-loving opinion, this is one of them: http://www.journeysendsanctuary.org
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Help the Homeless
Short but sort of sweet post here...to all who care about the plight of homeless animals yet lack the funds/time/etc., please visit The Animal Rescue Site. One click each day gives a shelter/rescue pet approximately one bowl of food. I do this every day like clockwork. Here is the link:
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Thank you!
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/
Thank you!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
My Maggie is gone...
Haven't posted here in many moons but, as this is an animal blog - and I'm all about animals - had to write a little eulogy for our Maggie, who died yesterday.
She'd just passed her 16th birthday and, though struggling mightily with arthritis, she was still perky and interested in life. Until yesterday morning. We think she had a stroke; in any case, we also knew she wasn't going to rebound from such a crisis. So we took her in to the vet - in the pouring rain, mind you - and she passed away as peacefully as possible (albeit after throwing up on the vet).
Anyway, our Maggie was never an 'easy' dog...a border collie mix, she was a handful her entire life. And, oh did we have many a battle of wills. But I loved her dearly. From the day I rescued her from the SPCA, stricken with parvo, to the last breath she took.
I know I'll feel better. After all, been through this before. Yet the grief is still very raw and her absence is huge. For the first time in 25 years, our home is without a dog. Don't know how long I'll be able to stand that.
For now, I hope and pray that Maggie is running and jumping in the air after a tennis ball as she did for so many years. And I hope she knows we did the very best we could for her...and that includes letting her go.
Rest in peace, brat...and kiss Emma, Beau, and Tarkio for us. I'll see you all again one of these days.
She'd just passed her 16th birthday and, though struggling mightily with arthritis, she was still perky and interested in life. Until yesterday morning. We think she had a stroke; in any case, we also knew she wasn't going to rebound from such a crisis. So we took her in to the vet - in the pouring rain, mind you - and she passed away as peacefully as possible (albeit after throwing up on the vet).
Anyway, our Maggie was never an 'easy' dog...a border collie mix, she was a handful her entire life. And, oh did we have many a battle of wills. But I loved her dearly. From the day I rescued her from the SPCA, stricken with parvo, to the last breath she took.
I know I'll feel better. After all, been through this before. Yet the grief is still very raw and her absence is huge. For the first time in 25 years, our home is without a dog. Don't know how long I'll be able to stand that.
For now, I hope and pray that Maggie is running and jumping in the air after a tennis ball as she did for so many years. And I hope she knows we did the very best we could for her...and that includes letting her go.
Rest in peace, brat...and kiss Emma, Beau, and Tarkio for us. I'll see you all again one of these days.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Why I wrote "Do Unto Others"
If anyone needs another reason as to why I wrote Do Unto Others (http://www.amazon.com/Do-Unto-Others-ebook/dp/B005KMBC1E), please read the following story (from the Orlando Sentinel, 1/11/12)...
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-sea-gulls-killed-beach-animal-cruelty-20120110,0,806912.story#tugs_story_display
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/crime/os-sea-gulls-killed-beach-animal-cruelty-20120110,0,806912.story#tugs_story_display
Thursday, November 17, 2011
A Christmas "dog tale"...
My poor blog has been so woefully neglected that I thought I'd give it a little attention via hoping readers will give my short story a lot of attention...
Way back in 1996, we put one of our dogs - Beau - to sleep on the day before Christmas Eve. Lousy all the way around, to say the least. Got even lousier when Beau's sister, our precious Emma, mourned him for over a year. And, to be quite honest, I don't know why she snapped out of her grief...maybe because I did?
In any case, I sat down and wrote Zellwood: A Dog Story in 1998. And after two decades of professional writing, this little piece of work remains my favorite. So, I've decided that - this Christmas - I'm going to try and get as many dog lovers as I can to read it. Especially those who've lost and mourned a beloved pet, as we have (Emma died in 2004 and our third dog, Maggie, is now 16 so her days are surely numbered).
And although the story may initially sound like it's too sad for words...trust me...it has a glorious ending. So I hope all of you who read it will find it as cathartic as it was for me. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Zellwood-ebook/dp/B004KAA9PC
To each and all...have a wonderful holiday season.
Way back in 1996, we put one of our dogs - Beau - to sleep on the day before Christmas Eve. Lousy all the way around, to say the least. Got even lousier when Beau's sister, our precious Emma, mourned him for over a year. And, to be quite honest, I don't know why she snapped out of her grief...maybe because I did?
In any case, I sat down and wrote Zellwood: A Dog Story in 1998. And after two decades of professional writing, this little piece of work remains my favorite. So, I've decided that - this Christmas - I'm going to try and get as many dog lovers as I can to read it. Especially those who've lost and mourned a beloved pet, as we have (Emma died in 2004 and our third dog, Maggie, is now 16 so her days are surely numbered).
And although the story may initially sound like it's too sad for words...trust me...it has a glorious ending. So I hope all of you who read it will find it as cathartic as it was for me. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Zellwood-ebook/dp/B004KAA9PC
To each and all...have a wonderful holiday season.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Dog Books
If anyone is still reading my pitiful blog, the reason it's rarely updated is because I'm so busy writing books for Amazon's Kindle...and marketing said books (which is a major p.i.t.a.)...that I simply run out of time and energy.
Anyway, on that woeful note, I'm going to list my current books below in hopes that my animal-loving friends will - at the very least - sample them. And although they range from short stories to a suspense novel to my previously-published columns, they all have one thing in common: DOGS. Beloved, beloved dogs.
Here are the links to the books:
http://www.amazon.com/Zellwood-ebook/dp/B004KAA9PC/
http://www.amazon.com/A-Three-Dog-Night-ebook/dp/B004M191IA/
http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Moon-ebook/dp/B004HFRGIS/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Animal-Advocate-ebook/dp/B0045OUK9S/
Very soon, I will have another book to add to this list. Again, think DOGS...:-))
Anyway, on that woeful note, I'm going to list my current books below in hopes that my animal-loving friends will - at the very least - sample them. And although they range from short stories to a suspense novel to my previously-published columns, they all have one thing in common: DOGS. Beloved, beloved dogs.
Here are the links to the books:
http://www.amazon.com/Zellwood-ebook/dp/B004KAA9PC/
http://www.amazon.com/A-Three-Dog-Night-ebook/dp/B004M191IA/
http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Moon-ebook/dp/B004HFRGIS/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Animal-Advocate-ebook/dp/B0045OUK9S/
Very soon, I will have another book to add to this list. Again, think DOGS...:-))
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Brevard County, FL Animal Services: Reactive vs. Proactive
Regarding the resignation of our current county animal shelter director and the search for yet another one:
This entire situation makes me so sad...I've lived in this county since 1965 and here we are in 2011 yet hardly a thing has changed in all those years. Brevard is 72 miles long and currently home to over 500,000 people. But we still have ONLY two animal shelters, both of which are in abhorrent shape. NACC should've been demolished decades ago (I used to work there so trust me on this one) and SACC never lived up to its touted expectations. So, if it weren't for the various humane societies, rescue groups, etc., I can't even imagine how our abandoned animals would suffer...as if they're not suffering enough already.
But it always seems to boil down to the same crap: money (not enough) and politics (too many). Animal services in this backwater county has always been reactive vs. proactive. As someone who has been involved with animal issues for over 30 years, I've never seen a time when this place didn't have serious issues with how we handle homeless pets.
For the record, I am not a proponet of "no kill" shelters UNLESS and UNTIL there are sufficient funds and space to make this program work. Nor am I a TNR fan. Sorry, but as a former shelter employee, I'd much rather see an animal humanely euthanized than to live out its life in a cage or simply "sustained" in a colony.
Do I have an answer? Well, I wholeheartedly agree that there should be more "publicity" (ie, adoption events, foster programs, etc.). I'd also be in support of a mandatory spay/neuter law for a set amount of time, one that was heavily enforced. But all that takes money. Personally, I'd like to see our shelters privatized as Brevard's powers-that-be still have their heads up their butts and I doubt a new director is going to be able to change a damn thing.
But since I know my "ideas" won't ever come to fruition, I just continue to beat my head against this wall that should've been demolished long ago. In my dreams, huh?
This entire situation makes me so sad...I've lived in this county since 1965 and here we are in 2011 yet hardly a thing has changed in all those years. Brevard is 72 miles long and currently home to over 500,000 people. But we still have ONLY two animal shelters, both of which are in abhorrent shape. NACC should've been demolished decades ago (I used to work there so trust me on this one) and SACC never lived up to its touted expectations. So, if it weren't for the various humane societies, rescue groups, etc., I can't even imagine how our abandoned animals would suffer...as if they're not suffering enough already.
But it always seems to boil down to the same crap: money (not enough) and politics (too many). Animal services in this backwater county has always been reactive vs. proactive. As someone who has been involved with animal issues for over 30 years, I've never seen a time when this place didn't have serious issues with how we handle homeless pets.
For the record, I am not a proponet of "no kill" shelters UNLESS and UNTIL there are sufficient funds and space to make this program work. Nor am I a TNR fan. Sorry, but as a former shelter employee, I'd much rather see an animal humanely euthanized than to live out its life in a cage or simply "sustained" in a colony.
Do I have an answer? Well, I wholeheartedly agree that there should be more "publicity" (ie, adoption events, foster programs, etc.). I'd also be in support of a mandatory spay/neuter law for a set amount of time, one that was heavily enforced. But all that takes money. Personally, I'd like to see our shelters privatized as Brevard's powers-that-be still have their heads up their butts and I doubt a new director is going to be able to change a damn thing.
But since I know my "ideas" won't ever come to fruition, I just continue to beat my head against this wall that should've been demolished long ago. In my dreams, huh?
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