Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

FRIDAY JUNE 25 2004

NOON UPDATE

Not much change in Parvo Puppy Summer; at least one of her sisters is beginning to show symptoms of Parvo

     Puppy Summer ate a little more tuna during the night, our overnight man, Randy reported this morning, and she had a normal bowel movement last night, but the sick puppy is still weak and not feeling well.

     Also late yesterday afternoon at least one of her three sisters (who are still together in the small puppy kennel outside) started having very bad diarrhea, so Juana began giving all three of them the same medications Puppy Summer is receiving. This morning the stools in their puppy kennel look fairly good, the poop picker-upper reported. I went out and checked myself, and though soft, the piles were fairly normal.

From Yahoo! News ...

Schwarzenegger Wants Strays Killed Faster

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Friday, June 25, 2004 - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to repeal a state law that requires animal shelters to hold stray dogs and cats for up to six days before killing them.

Instead, there would be a three-day requirement for strays. Other animals, including birds, hamsters, potbellied pigs, rabbits, snakes and turtles, could be killed immediately.

Schwarzenegger has told the state Legislature that the changes could save local governments that operate shelters up to $14 million.

An estimated 600,000 dogs and cats are put to death each year in California, including 34,000 in Los Angeles alone.

The waiting period has caused overcrowding and forced some shelters to kill off animals simply to make room for new ones, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance.

"Because of space limitations, the shelters are being forced to euthanize animals who are otherwise highly adoptable immediately after the holding time," Palmer said.

Despite Schwarzenegger's huge popularity, some political observers think the proposal will meet stiff resistance.

"There is no organized constituency of cats and dogs, but certainly the pet owners of America will find this reprehensible," said Barbara O'Connor, director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media at California State University, Sacramento.

"Cats and dogs are like mom and apple pie," she said. "Don't mess with the pets. Most people prefer them to other people."

The 1998 law is named for former state Sen. Tom Hayden, who said the governor's proposal "will inflict heartbreak on a lot of owners and people in the animal adoption world."

My only comment (on "The Terminator's" proposal) is that this is again an example of putting all our focus (and all our money) on killing to solve the overpopulation problem rather than on preventing overpopulation through conception control via spay and neuter. Why doesn't Governor Schwarzenegger talk about initiating a massive spay and neuter campaign?

     Instead of trying to save $14,000,000 by reducing the number of days shelters keep a homeless companion animal alive (before putting him or her to death), why not save many more millions of dollars by eliminating the need for homeless animal shelters altogether by stopping the "surplus" from being conceived and born in the first place? Is this solution to the overpopulation problem as simple as I try to make it out to be, or am I missing something here?

Blackie's got a bad cough and will see the doctor this morning

     Blackie's been coughing for a couple of days now, and it's getting worse. I called Dr. Morton's office when they opened at 8:00 this morning, and Vicky (the receptionist) booked us an appointment for 10:30. Vicky said they've recently been seeing other dogs with coughs that indicate a lung fungus that they haven't been able to identify yet.

Russell's eating again

     Russell ate his evening meal yesterday and his breakfast at 6:30 this morning, so he's over whatever was bothering him.

Katie's still going through her daily routine seemingly okay

     This beautiful elderly lady sleeps most of the day in her air-conditioned hospital kennel, and then at night we let her have the entire park (the big play yard) for as long as she wants to stay out. She walks around and around and then sleeps for a while in the cool grass before getting up on her feet and walking around and around some more. We keep thinking that any day might be her last, but she keeps hanging on with no apparent illness and no apparent discomfort.

Roster for Saturday Adoption Day at PetsMart in Plano

     (1) Foxy; (2) Kerry; (3) Puppy Scooby; (4) Puppy Louise; and (5) Baby Girl