THURSDAY JUNE 15 2000 - Bobby's knee hurting again!
This has been a really busy day, beginning with an early morning trip to the clinic, as Bobby's knee is really bothering him again. For the past couple of days he's been holding his leg up most of the time, putting very little weight on it, so I took the fella to the clinic this morning for a checkup arriving just before eight o'clock.
After Dr. Collinsworth examined Bobby's left leg, he said he really needed to take x-rays, which would mean he'd have to give Bob an anesthetic, after which it would be several hours before I'd be able to take Bob home. I stayed with Bobby while Dr. C gave him the injection, and within minutes he was peacefully sleeping, and I left the room.
Since I'd have to come back for Bob in a few hours, I decided I'd just take the new stray, Binks, home now, and by the time Binks was settled in at our Happy Home for Strays, Bob would be ready and I could go back for him. (Round trip to and from the clinic, by the way, is 36 miles.)
Noon - Bobby is back home now and the x-rays show that he has indeed messed up his knee again. Dr. C will email his report and the x-rays to the doctors at the Dallas Veterinary Surgical Center (where Bobby had undergone surgery on his knee last February) and will confer with them on his findings. Then one of the vets will get in touch with us advising us as to what we'll have to have done for Bobby next. Dr. C thought we would have to redo the operation. This is terrible news. We hate for Bobby to have to go through this again, and I really think it's harder on me than it is on Bobby--not to mention the expense.
Binks former owner calls
The clinic found Binks' owner through the tag check and gave him our number. The man called us and said he had given the dog away about a week ago. When I told him the condition the dog was in, he said he wanted us to keep the dog and find him a good home. This we will do.
The man told me that the dog's name was "Binks" and that Binks is about a year old. Binks' checkup was good, except for being so underweight, which we can certainly take care of. No heartworms, thank goodness! He had already been neutered, and the clinic gave him all his vaccinations. Binks is a sweet, lovable, gentle dog.
We gave Binks a much needed bath and had to do some quick rearranging of kennels for this unexpected but welcome new arrival.
FRIDAY JUNE 16 2000 - Plans for another doggie adoption day at Petsmart are finally set for tomorrow
Who would ever think that planning an adoption day would take so much time, but it does! Adoption afternoons are every Saturday, and starting Sunday John (Big Dog) Pippin, M.D. and I spend the next six days trying to round up volunteers to help us out for the upcoming Saturday adoption day. Now it's Friday already and we think we finally have the plans set for tomorrow.
SATURDAY JUNE 17 2000 - A soggy Doggie Adoption Day at Petsmart
At 9:30 a.m. our pick-up drivers for this morning, Ruth Carpenter and her friend, arrived in their big van to help us take some of the dogs to Dallas for the afternoon. Blackie Husky dog was waiting excitedly to be put in her kennel in the van (she loves to go!) and spunky little Spunky was waiting for his turn to hop into his kennel too. Once these dogs were ready, we put Binks and Sammy-pup in our doggie wagon and off we went. We could only take four dogs this morning because the soon-to-be new arrival, Jake, would be brought to us at Petsmart, and he'd make doggie number five for the day. Then, if not adopted, Jake would be coming back to our Happy Home with us.
We hadn't seen Jake yet. He was rescued two weeks ago in Dallas and had an infected wound on his neck. The woman who had rescued Jake could not keep him and couldn't find a home for him. She'd heard about our no-kill shelter and prayed that we could take him in, saying we were his last hope before taking him to the pound.
We couldn't turn Jake away, so we asked her to board the dog at a vet clinic in Dallas for two weeks, since our quarantine kennels were occupied, and during his stay at the clinic his wounds would be treated and he would have his checkup, vaccinations and be neutered.
Jake's two-week stay is up now, and the wounds are healed. I was looking forward to meeting this fellow.
Jake is a young, big, average-type, "street-wise" looking dog with mixed shades of short brown fur. At first glance Jake looked to me like a big dog who has had a very rough life on the streets (which obviously seemed to be the case) and my heart went out to him. He certainly is a mixed breed, maybe some Chow mix and who knows what else. Jake's rescuer had to pick Jake up from the vet early this morning and was not able to obtain his health record at that time, so she will mail it to me. He is probably a little over a year old and weighs about 65 pounds. This is one, very strong dog!
Jake was neutered a week ago. The person bringing Jake to us mentioned that it looked as if Jake had recently chewed out the stitches from that operation, so Dr. Pippin (a medical doctor and regular volunteer on adoption days) checked out the incision and thought that it would be okay if Jake left it alone.
Puppy-dog, Sammy, is adopted!
A very nice family fell in love with Sammy (the pup Angry Neighbor had brought to us at the end of May) and signed the adoption papers. We'll take care of Sammy this week, while the family gets settled in their new home, and then take Sammy to his new home next week. He will have three wonderful kids to play with soon!
Another father and son thought Spunky would be a good house pet for them and companion for their dog, but they want to think it over a little more.
We sat through the several downpours during the afternoon, Petsmart's overhanging roof protecting us from the storm. The rain put a bit of a damper on the rest of the day, and we were on the road home again at 4:30.
SUNDAY JUNE 18 2000 - We have to "rescue" Tony, again!
Another very rainy day and we were all hoping things would be quiet around here for a change! Then came a surprise phone call. It was Dr. Stephen from Lakeside Animal Clinic saying a man had called him regarding a dog the man had found wearing their clinic vet tag. So Dr. Stephen traced the dog to us and said it was "Tony!" Geesh!! Tony was on the loose again!
The man gave Bill directions, and we drove the ten miles in the pouring rain to get the fellow. Thank goodness Tony had on the tag. When we pulled into the driveway Tony was at the man's side as they stood beneath their garage roof waiting for us. We thanked this kind man for trying to find Tony's owner, and as I opened the door for Tony, he happily jumped in the car.
Instead of trying to track down Tony's owner right then we decided to bring him "home" and care for the several deep scratches on his face.
As always, complete financial records are available upon request.
Dog food, veterinary expenses and kennel crew wages have been running over $2,000 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 all our bills and living expenses 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 47 rescued dogs!
Please take a look at some of our newsletters (click on links below) 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 Straydog Inc. 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.
