David Schmertz and family arrived at eleven o'clock this morning to look at Abby. They fell in love with Abby right away, and wanted to adopt her and give her a loving home as a very pampered house doggie and to become a big part of their family. We immediately saw how wonderful the family is and knew right away that Abby would be so very happy playing with the two children, Matthew and Carleigh, and would most likely be swimming in their big swimming pool right along with the kids, and I'm wondering right now just whose bed Abby will be sleeping on tonight!

The family made the rounds with us and got to see all the dogs and then came back and spent a lot of time with Abby, and she got to know them pretty well and was soon giving everyone slurpy doggie kisses!

At 1:15 this afternoon Abby (happily nibbling on doggie "cookies") was in the back seat of the Schmertz car with Carleigh and Matt, heading down our driveway on the way to Abby's new home in Colleyville, Texas. What a lucky dog Abby is!

We rescued Abby in March 1999 from a family who had abused her horribly, leaving her chained to a stake in their yard--no dog house and no shade--and the chain was only eight inches long! (See the Spring '99 edition of Straydog Journal.)

For the past nine months Abby's been Danny Boy's kennel mate here at Straydog, our Happy Home for Strays, and she has become a very happy doggie.

Now she'll enjoy the life of a truly lucky dog with the Schmertz family. We are so happy for her.

Thank you David, Rosemary, Carleigh and Matthew, and Grandma!

(We will give Danny Boy lots of extra attention and he will have daily romping fun playtime with his kennel neighbor Nickie -- so Danny won't be lonely.)

Our next print newsletter will include the stories of all four recent adoptions. ... Pat and Bill

As always, complete financial records are available upon request.

Dog food, veterinary expenses and kennel crew wages have been running over $1,800 per week, and we are quite often literally paying this week's expenses with this week's donations. We, Pat and Bill Arnold, receive no remuneration whatsoever for any work we do for our no-kill shelter, which includes managing it. (Bill pays our bills from his salary from his regular job in Dallas.)

We continue to thank those who continue to write us such encouraging letters and e-mail messages letting us know that you believe in what we are doing at Straydog (our Happy Home for Strays) as we continue to provide a decent life (as long as may be necessary) for each of our now 49 rescued dogs!

Please take a look at some of our newsletters (click on links at end of page) and see the original article in The Dallas Morning News --on the Internet at "dallasnews.com/archives" (search for Pat Arnold on March 13, 1997).

We rely on donations to keep our shelter going. If you believe in us and in what we are doing, please help us with a contribution to THE ARNOLD STRAY DOG FUND at the following address:

Straydog Inc.
P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, TX 75147

STRAYDOG - THE ARNOLD FAMILY'S HAPPY HOME FOR STRAYS

We are a 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Non-Profit Corporation, which means your contributions are tax deductible.