www.Straydog.org UPDATE posted TUESDAY 11/18/03 at ~7:30 p.m. CT

Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

A report from Erin ...

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 18 2003

Another roadside rescue by Erin: Sasha, a Golden Retriever

     On my way to Straydog this morning I stopped at a corner store at the intersection of two country highways near us, and a lovely Golden Retriever came up to me. A man was standing in the parking area next to his truck. At first I thought, "Oh, good. This must be this man's dog." But it wasn't. "The highway isn't a good place for this dog," the man said, but he couldn't take the dog home himself. I asked the dog to jump in my car, and she did. Then I went in to talk to the store owner.

     "This dog has been greeting folks all morning," the store owner said. "Don't know who she belongs to. I think I've seen her here other times. They must let her run loose."

     "Can I put a sign up here later with the dog's picture?" I asked.

     "Don't know who she belongs to," was the store owner's answer.

     "You know what?" a young lady (maybe the owner's granddaughter) said from behind the cash register. "At the church about three miles down the road people are dumping dogs all the time. Maybe the dumpers are thinking folks will pick them up and care for them."

     "Do they?" I asked.

     "No, the dogs just hang around for a while and then disappear."

     After I got to Straydog with the newly rescued dog, Dad took some photos and told me to take the dog (whom by now I'd named Sasha) to Morton's Small Animal Clinic for Sasha's new arrivals checkup.

Sasha goes to the vet

     Sasha rode in the front seat with me, and I petted her and noticed she was matted and had ticks. Dr. Morton was too busy to look at the Golden right then, but they would keep her overnight and told us to call tomorrow.

Stray dogs everywhere out in the country

     On the way back to Straydog from the vet clinic I saw a starving (ribs showing) German Shepherd who looked like she'd been nursing pups for a while. She headed away from the highway and into the woods when I stopped the car. I knocked on the door of a nearby trailer to see if they knew about this dog, but there was no answer. It did not look good to see the dog's ribs through her long hair.

     A little closer to Straydog I ran into another nursing mother dog, a smaller black dog and an older arthritic (or hurt) unneutered Dalmatian mix. Again I stopped, but the dogs crossed the road and continued on their way. The old male turned his head back once and barked at me.

     I wish that our city and county and state officials would somehow in a very big way encourage people to spay/neuter their dogs and cats. The problem is overwhelming here.