Straydog, our Happy Home for Strays
(The hexagon is the "Big Play Yard," which we usually refer to as "the park")
(Photo taken May 2002)
Straydog is a "lifeboat" (and sanctuary) for rescued dogs. A vacant spot in a kennel is an empty seat in our "lifeboat," so please, if you're interested in adopting a dog, see our "Dogs for Adoption" links below, or call to inquire about dogs you may have seen recent photos of but who may not yet be included in our "Dogs for Adoption" links. And please continue to support us. We will continue to row this "lifeboat" to shore, dropping off rescued dogs into the arms of good adopters, and we will continue to fill the space left vacant by each adopted dog with another desperate homeless dog for as long as we can hold on (financially). We believe that our example (and the example of all other no-kill shelters) must be publicized to wake people up and make them aware of the necessity to SPAY and NEUTER their pets so that homeless dog-rescue "lifeboats" will no longer be necessary. (Ditto for cats!)
Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
SUNDAY JUNE 8 2003
Today our youngest son, Joe, is 38 years old
Joe has been staying here at the house with me since Pat died. His sister, Erin, has stayed several nights also, and our other two children, Bill, Jr. and Stacey, are spending as much time here as they can. I must say once again that the amount of work Pat was doing is overwhelming, but we are streamlining her processes as much as we can (something she was sometimes very reluctant to let us help her with) without changing the results of the work.
This evening we're going to have a birthday dinner for Joe and talk about his mom and all the wonderful times we had during Joe's previous 37 birthdays.
My two sons, in an attempt to get me to take a break from Straydog, invited me to go on a boat ride at Cedar Creek Lake this afternoon in the boat of a friend of Bill, Jr's. I tried to get out of it, since there's so much work to do here, INCLUDING doing a big Sunday Update, but they insisted.
We rode around the lake for a couple of hours while our other children along with Guy Lucas, our General Manager, and the kennel crew made sure everything ran perfectly at Straydog. As I remembered back to the 1980s when Pat and I had only two (former stray) dogs and a pontoon boat, we would go out on Cedar Creek Lake to one of the uninhabited islands and let the dogs run and play (as there were no other animals on the island). (We have photos or videos of these "excursions," which we'll find and publish someday.)
We were normal, regular people once with normal, regular lives.
When Pat brought the first stray named Happy home in 1992, I said to her, "We cannot ourselves alone fix the problem. It will be solved by population control through SPAY and NEUTER, and that's it." But she said, "But what about THIS dog?" And I had to agree, even though I knew what lay before us. But Pat was right. If we all said, "But what about THIS dog?" and we all demanded that something be done, we would soon solve the problem. It really boils down to the unfortunate fact that there are a lot of human beings who do not really agree with us in our attempt to save and control the population of all dogs (and cats). It's not that they're mean or cruel or evil. They just don't know about the horrific situation and don't understand that dogs (and cats) are beings worth doing something about.
Julie and her kennel mate, Big Jed, are both going to the eye specialist in Arlington, Texas early tomorrow morning
Since we have to be there by 8:30 a.m., we're going to have to leave here by 6:45 a.m. to make the 90-mile trip. We'll report tomorrow night on the doctor's findings.
Lassie has another mild seizure
Doctor Morton's instructions were to give Lassie honey, and we did this morning, and she snapped out of the seizure immediately and was fine all day. We'll keep you posted on this doggie's progress.
Emily is doing fine a week after her knee surgery
Emily's cast came off a few days ago. (See photos to come.) She wants to chew her stitches, so she has to wear an E-collar except during walks or when someone is watching her closely. Emily is staying in the kitchen kennel (except for her walks to the big play yard), and she's eating well and beginning to put some pressure on her leg.
More tomorrow. ...
*Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log
LAST WEEK
MONDAY June 2 2003: No update
TUESDAY June 3 2003: No update
* Little Lassie has a seizure and is rushed to the clinic; blood test due back tomorrow.
* Kennel crew and dogs moping;
* Lassie's blood test not back yet;
* Bad news about Lassie's blood test results;
* Tinkerbell and Megan go to the park for their second outing [PHOTOS];
* Adoption Day Report: None adopted; one returned (Pepsi, who had been adopted last Saturday).
*Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
PAT'S LAST WEEK ON EARTH:
* Outdoor shelter work continues even on rainy days [PHOTOS].
* Rex is returned a second time;
* Nikki meets Puppy Rex, and for the first time she comes out of her shell [PHOTOS];
* Little Rex misses his mom and is returned to Rosie's kennel.
* Blackie goes to the vet with Puppies Annie, Amy and Willie [PHOTOS].
* Sweet Sassy Katie goes to the clinic for mat removal and a bath;
* Back at the shelter Katie shows off her "summer-do" in the big play yard [PHOTOS];
SATURDAY May 31 2003:
* No Update; Pat suffered a brain aneurysm
*Adoption Day Saturday, June 14 - PetsMart on Central at Parker in Plano (Texas)
*Our Dogs for Adoption - Volunteer Shannon's page
*Our Mission & How We Got Started
*"Goodbye, Danny Boy." - An example of the only acceptable use of euthanasia
If you would like to help with our ever-growing vet bill, donations can be sent directly to:
*Click here for continuation of our homepage with no changes to the continuation in several weeks
