The shelter was full and by the time Cassie, another volunteer, and I finished walking all the dogs, I didn't have and extra time to give the new dog a bath. He wasn't very lively, and he smelled like he had been rolling in something long dead.  Officer Dan gave me permission to take the dog home where I had an assortment of medicated shampoos and all my grooming tools.  I could clean him up return him to the shelter the next day.  How someone could have let a dog get to be so filthy and unkempt was a mystery to me.  I was hoping that his owners would not claim him and he might have a second chance with a family who would take better care of him.  But he needed a bath regardless.

I started bathing him right away.  The stench coming from him was strong, and I thought a good bath would take care of the horrible smell.  Not so.  Once he was washed, fluffed, and dried, he was a smelly as ever.  He stood quietly while I clippered him which was a blessing.  The matts and tangles were horrendous and it was slow going.  As I cut away the masses of clotted hair, I began to realize how skinny he was, but he was starting to look like a real schnauzer even though he still smelled like a rotten egg. 

Duffy was very touchy around his face and feet.  There were clumps of imbedded and foxtails and hair between his toes that I couldn't get out.  The stink seemed to be coming from his mouth. Was it an abcessed tooth, a wound, a malignant mass?  I had no idea.  A vet appointment would give us the answer.  The first available appointment was Monday morning.  He would have to hang in there until then.

Over the weekend, Duffy did a lot of sleeping. He was taken to Monte Vista Animal Hospital in Turlock Monday morning.  Duffy was put out, and the vet removed large handfuls of foxtails from each side of the back of his mouth.  All the vets at the hospital agreed it was the worst case they have ever seen.  They were going to save them so we could see it, but it stunk so badly even though it was double bagged, they had to toss it. His jaws were locked from all the infection and masses of junk.  The vet was surprised he could even eat.   Duffy also had lots more foxtails embedded in his feet, ears, between his toes and other parts of his body. 

The lousy economic conditions have had a huge impact on the number of animals coming into the shelter both as owner-surrenders and unclaimed strays.  Incoming animals 2008 over 2007 is up over 50%.  The shelter kennels are overcrowded most of the time despite continuing efforts by volunteers to spread the word about the adoptable pets via weekly posters, and several adoption internet sites such as Petfinder.com. 

Recently 2 large dogs were surrendered because the family claimed they could no longer afford to feed them.  Earlier this year, 2 small dogs were found abandoned in a garage without food or water.  People continue to dump their unwanted animals in the middle of the night in the general vicinity of the shelter in hopes that someone will take them in. 

There have been several "repeat offenders".  Callie, a sweet spayed young female pit bull, has been a regular off and on all year.  Her owner has had financial trouble and has a hard time getting the money together to bail her out every time.  But she now has a new home with someone who spends a lot of time with her, and takes her out on a walk everyday.  She won't get so lonesome and be so tempted to hop the fence looking for companionship.   

We've also had some nice donations coming in.  The Tractor Supply Company in Oakdale collects cans and bottles and donates the proceeds to the shelter.  An account is now set up with Oakdale Recycle Center so that anyone who wants to collect recycles and donate the cash to the shelter can do so, by just telling the staff at the Recycle Center they want the proceeds to go to the Oakdale Animal Shelter.  Last month we got a donation check for almost $40.00.  It all adds up.

I'll try to be better at doing more frequent and timely additions to the blog.

Out next adoption day will be at Oakdale Pet Station on Saturday November 8 11am-1pm.

Betsie

 All three of us were out to walk dogs today:  Ann, Edith and I.  Several dogs had been adopted earlier in the week but the shelter was still full with only 2 outside kennels vacant.  We noticed that the elderly, blind cocker was no longer there, and neither were the two wild cattle dog youngsters.  We called them Bronco and Billy, because they were so difficult to take out on a walk.  The kennels were immediately filled.  No room at the inn.

 We were hopeful that Joey, the extremely shy, timid 5 year old neutered male Kelpie mix, would get adopted today.  A woman had inquired about him after seeing his listing on Petfinder.  She said she would show up at 10am.  We were keeping our fingers crossed.  He was one of our two hard-to-adopt dogs.  Joey was so scared and timid when he first came to the shelter about 2 1/2 weeks ago that he shivered in the corner of the kennel, and would tried to get away from us when we approached him.  He's become one of my favorites, and 2 days ago he finally wagged his tail for the very first time.  He walked beautifully on a leash and we all felt if only someone would be patient and gentle with him, he had great potential as a loyal pet.

We've all been worried about Blondie, a terrified senior pomeranian, who would be so scared when someone picked her up she would lose control over her bowels.  She was surrendered by the family of an elderly woman who could no longer care for her.  Blondie was skinny and covered with fleas.  She also had a lump on her back that would need attention.  Her chances of getting out of the shelter alive were slim to none.  And her terror from being at the shelter hadn't subsided with time.  I'd listed her as "URGENT!" on her Petfinder listing and we had several inquiries but no one wanted to take on a dog with so many problems.  A man from San Francisco had emailed and sounded interested, but it was a 2 hour drive to the shelter.  Would he show up today?  If Blondie wasn't adopted today, she would most certainly be euthanized.

At 10am on the dot, Kristy showed up to meet Joey.  She explained that she had adopted her other dog exactly one year plus one day ago.  Joey was his usual timid self, but it was pretty clear, he liked Kristy and she took to him right away.  In less that 30 minutes, the paperwork was done, Joey was wearing his new red collar, and he hopped into the car for the ride to his new home.

Joe called on my cell phone to say that he and a friend were just leaving San Francisco. They should arrive at the shelter about 1pm.  He wanted to see if he could arrange to take Blondie home today and have his own vet take care of her spay and other medical needs.  Kelly would be the one to authorize the arrangements.

We got all the dogs walked and I helped Kelly with vaccinations of several cats and kittens, plus the new dog we decided to call Gorgeous George because he is truly a "homely mutt". George has short broad face, long body, and short legs.  He is so homely he is cute in his own unique way.  George is a very easy going guy and if someone can look inside they will see a loving canine companion.  George also has "cherry eye" in one eye that will require treatment.  Kelly will check with the vet to see what the cost will be to fix it.  Ann and Edith went home to finish up last minute Christmas chores.

I hung around until 1:30 but Joe and his friend hadn't shown up yet.  I decided to stick around for another 15 minutes in hopes they would show up.  If not I would go say my final goodbyes to Blondie.  About 1:45 my cell phone rang.  Joe and his friend were less than 5 minutes away.  Whew!  Now, will they like our little scardy cat, or be turned off because she won't run up to them ad wag her tail?

When Joe and Gary arrived I took them back to Blondie's kennel.  When she saw us, she ran to the corner and huddled up trying to become invisible.  As usual, she shivered and shook with fright, but did let me pick her up and fortunately didn't poop on my jacket as she had done earlier this morning.  I set her on the floor and she immediately rolled over submissively on her back.  Joe was able to pet her and although she was shaking, she didn't try to snap at him, which was a point in her favor.  Joe sat down on the concrete floor of the shelter, scooped up Blondie and cradled her in his arms, and stroked her gently.  She was still very confused and scared, but she settle down some and quit shivering.  She let him feel the lump on her back, and open her mouth to check her teeth. 

Joe and Gary both agreed, that Blondie just needed to be in a safe place and with time she would gain confidence and become a happy little girl.  Once Joe explained to Officer Kelly what he would like to do regarding her veterinary care, she agreed that Blondie could go to her new home now, with follow-up to make sure she was spayed. Joe called the vet and set up an appointment for her on Tuesday.  Yahoo!  Blonde had a new home for the holidays.

I was very excited about Blondie and immediately called Ann and Edith to tell them the good news. 

We won't be a the shelter for the next 2 days.  When we return the day after Christmas, will the emply spaces have filled up again? 

I picked up Moe the little lab/pit mix puppy from the shelter this evening. His neuter was postponed last week and has been resceduled for tomorrow.  Since the shelter is fairly crowded, it's easier to keep him here, and make sure he doesn't have anything to eat after 7PM tonight in preparation for his surgery. 

Moe was born with genitals not formed quite right.  It seems to be strictly cosmetic and everything looks a little funny but seems to be in working order.  It's nice his adoptive family has accepted him and his being a "little different."  He is sure a sweet guy.

 He is not happy staying behind the Xpen I have set up for him in the front hall.  He want's to be out and up close with everyone particularly me and my mini-schnauzer Snickers.  The other 2 dogs rush him and want to make sure he knows who is boss. He just does some submissive licking and rolls over on his back. He continues to invite each dog to play even though my Sophie continues to give him a hard time.

 All was well until it was time to go to bed.  He was NOT HAPPY at all at having to be in his crate and whined and cried.  He eventually settled down, but every few hours during the night he would wake up and cry.  His adopting family is going to have fun.  It will be like having a new baby in the house.

Monday September 11-

After a moment of silence in memory of 9/11, I delivered Moe to Olde Towne Veterinary Hospital.  The staff there all thought Moe was just the cutest.  He lay quietly on my lap while waiting to be checked in.  Since his adopting mom couldn't get to the vet before they closed, I agreed to pick him up after his surgery, bring him back to my house and she would pick him up there and we would finalize all the adoption arrangements.

At 1:30pm I got a call from the vet.  In checking him over she discovered he had a heart murmer.  She had thought she heard an intermittent one when she first examined him the week before, but now it was very obvious and she was very concerned about how this would affect his over all health as he grew and developed.  It was urgent I contact his adopting family and let them know about his condition.  The vet and I discussed the options, the obvious was one neither of us wanted to face.  If little Moe has two congential defects, what are the possiblities that he might have more? 

I reached the adoptive family and they were not in a position to take a potentially ill puppy into their family, the vet and I reluctantly agreed that the best decision for this little guy was euthanasia.  This is the hard part of this work--letting go of the ones when you've become attached.  Little Moe would love to lie quietly at my feet while I worked at the computer.  Looking back I think he was such an easy going guy because his little heart wasn't pumping quite right.

 His two sisters were adopted and now in their new forever homes.  I will remember this one for a long time.

 Betsie

We recognized the big red dog as he got her out of the truck.  She was a beautiful French Mastiff (dogue de Bordeaux) just like the dog in the movie, Turner and Hooch.  If you saw the movie you will remember that Hooch slobbered a lot and our new boarder did the same.  Since it was a female and we didn't know her real name, we call her either Hoocherina, or Hoochette.  Officer Jim knew who the owner was and called and left a message right away.  Since Hoocherina has been in before, isn't spayed, and is a second offender, her bail will likely be about $150.00.  Yikes--That ought to be a good reason to have your dog spayed or neutered.  It's a whole lot less expensive to bail them out if they get lost and picked up by animal control.

 I had picked up 4 kittens from the vet who had been spay/neutered.  I put together all their adoption paperwork so that if they were adopted over the weekend, they were all set and ready to go.  Since they hadn't eaten since the previous afternoon, they did some serious chowing down as soon as they were put in their kennel.  Pudge the little male seemed to be feeling pretty perky and was already climbing up the kennel door like a little monkey.

I took pictures of some new cats and will post them all on www.petfinder.com. There is a very nice mama orange tabby with 4 kittens who are already weaned. She is quite tame, but the little  ones are pretty hissy, spitty.  But they settle down once you pick them up.  They are only about 6 weeks old and young enough to tame down with lots of handling and socializing.  Tracy, our Cat Whisperer, will whip them into shape in no time.

We have several dogs in limbo.  One 7 year old Llasa Apso has an owner, but there is some question as to whether he wants him back or wants to surrender him.  Until that gets sorted out, he stays at the shelter and can't get adopted.  Darn.  He is a very cute guy.

The 9 maltese are still there and there is no telling if/when their neglect case will move forward. Today Ann and I brushed them all and cut out more of the matts and they are starting to look like real dogs and no longer smell so badly.  They were all loaded with fleas when they first came in and  now their hair is starting to grow back since we've gotten rid of the fleas.  We all feel so sorry for them.

 The mama pit bull and her 3 puppies have a known owner, but Officer Jim needs to wait until the registered letter is unclaimed before they are available for adopted.  The mama is pretty growly with strangers, and very protective of her puppies.   Her chances of making it out of the shelter are slim to none, but her puppies have a good chance.  We did notice that the little tan male has what must be a birth defect. His penis is not quite normal and he doesn't appear to have any testicles.  I'll see what I can find out online, and then take him to the vet for a check up next week.  Officer Jim says he's never seen anything like it and he's been doing this job for almost 20  years.

Higgins, the beautiful parti-colored tan/white cocker, didn't yet get adopted as we expected, so we postponed his neuter appointment until next week.  Maybe he will get adopted this weekend.

We got all the dogs walked even the little Maltese.  A couple of them don't seem to know how to walk on a leash, but they are getting better.  Don Juan, our bite quarantine, is out of quarantine and gets to go home today.  We all still think he got a bad rap, and never was really a "bite case", but we have to follow the procedures.  Today at least Don Juan got to go out on a real walk. He was happy, happy, happy.

I went back to the shelter after hours to pull the food for Maxwell, the little brown terrier. He got adopted and will be neutered tomorrow.  He has to fast before his surgery.

When I went back to the shelter, Hoocherina was gone, but a beautiful German Shepherd puppy was in the same kennel.  I vaccinated the pup for Parvo/distemper and  emailed German Shepherd rescue to give them a heads up in case she isn't claimed by anyone. 

 A long weekend is coming up so we'll all have a few days off until Tuesday.

Ann, and Edith were both there so we started out walking dogs right away.   When we walk the dogs, it's a good time to discuss things.

I'd been thinking of ways to increase the spay/neuter surgeries with a couple of local vets so we wouldn't have to take them to the one who seemed to have more infections and complications after surgeries.  I ran my idea by Ann and Edith and they liked it.

 After walking the dogs, I asked Officer Jim if we could pre-schedule neuters on a couple of highly adoptable dogs so that  they could be fixed and ready to go to a new home right away.  I'd done some price comparisons with other vets and our local favorite was pretty competitive with neuter prices, but much more expensive with spay prices.  However they usually needed more lead time for appointments that the vet we had been using.  I introduce the idea that we might consider subsidizing the cost of the spays since we had plenty of money in the City's spay/neuter fund.  Once we've developed a track record of a spay/neuter program, we might be able to get a grant to keep the subsidizing program going.  It's got possibilities that we can explore further.

 Officer Jim approved the pre-scheduling and we picked out the 2 dogs to send first--Shiloh the mellow yellow lab, and Higgins, the easygoing cocker spaniel.  We figured they were the most adoptable and would go before anyone else.  Boy, were we wrong.

Tracy came by and took the Wishes and Magic to her house. She will foster them until they are big enough to spay/neuter and get adopted.  Tracy brought one of her other foster kittens, Flash, by.  He had a couple of suspicious spots and we used the Woods Lamp (black light) on the spots.  The spot on Flash's nose flouresced green which indicates ringworm. Darn.  I'm new at using the Woods Lamp so we'll confirm at the vet on Monday. We'll also need to have one of her other foster kittnes checked over because she and Flash are playmates.  Trinket hasn't shown any symptoms, but she has been exposed.  We want to nip and problems in the bud.  Ringworm isn't life threatening like Panleuk (feline dystemper) but it is contagious to other animals including humans.  both kittens will need to be kept separate.  We'll investigate more on how to treat and keep the risk of infection to a minimum.

It was another non-stop day.  A young man came out to look at Little Charlie, the rottie/shepherd mix who is recovering from a severe allergy and will need a few weeks for his hair to grow back before he looks like the handsome dog he really is.  The young man took Little Charlie out for a walk and loved him.  He also said he would be willing to continue giving him his antibiotics if he could take him home now.  Called the vet again, and squeezed L. Charlie in for a neuter on Wednesday.  What a nice surprise.

 While the young man was still making arrangements for his new best friend, a family came by looking for a small dog.  They were immediately attracted to Smarty, a yippy but darling fluffy white terrier mix.  Smarty had a couple of strikes against him:  He was an older dog at least 8 years old.  He needed his teeth cleaned.  He had a lump in the corner of his eye, that might be "cherry eye" and could mean surgery.  It didn't take long for them to decide that Smarty was the dog for them.  Their vet was our local vet, and they were prepared to pay the extra cost for whatever it was going to take to get Smarty all fixed up.  Woo hoo!  Oh happy day.  The woman said, "We want to adopt a dog that might not have as much chance as a younger dog."  I love that attitude.

The family wanted to get Smarty home as soon a possible and the next available appointment was Thursday.  Oh dear, what can we do about that?  Let's let Smarty take Higgins' spot on Tuesday and we'll delay Higgins until Thursday.

 We're on an adoption roll now, but Shiloh were not the first to go as we expected. 

Time to wrap up at the shelter ,and get home so we can clean up and then come back down to get ready for Farmers' Market.  But no, wait---Nancy, the woman who adopted Chica, the little shy chihuahua, stopped by with 7-Ups on ice for our refreshments, and to get more acquainted with Chica. 

Edith needed to leave, and so did Ann.  Once Nancy left, I finished up a few minutes later and zipped home.

At 4PM we were all back at the shelter to load up crates, adoption supplies, water, kittie litter and animals.  I took Higgins, the cocker and the 2 five month old brothers, Jason and Marmalade.  Ann had the tables and chairs in the back of her Blazer, so she said she would let Shiloh ride up front in the passenger seat.  Shilow wasn't too keen on hopping up into the car, so Ann and I did some lifting and shoving to get him in.  Edith took the crate containing the 4 two month old black/gray tabbies. 

When we got to 3rd Avenue, there had been some juggling around of the spaces so we were now in another spot which was 2 doors down from the Elegant Pantry.  It just meant I had to walk a few steps further to get my Cherry Italian Soda when I got thirsty.  No big deal. 

 As soon as we pulled up, the kids started gathering.  Who did we bring tonight?  Where are the dogs?  Do you have any puppies?  Are the kittens here yet?  We've got a system now for setting  up so we can do it now in about 15 minutes. 

The Farmers Market is new for Oakdale and this is the 5th week.  Vendors have been increasing and foot traffic is also increasing.  Shiloh, the mellow yellow lab, got plenty of attention. No surprise there since labrador retrievers are the most popular breed in the US.  It wasn't long before he got adopted by a nice lady who had a high energy female lab at home who could use a companion and playmate. 

The 4 tabbies provided entertainment by climbing like monkeys all over the crate sides and hanging upside down.  Smudge would "attack" Pudge's waving tail, and Hillary and Ashley wrestled each other.  I lost count of how many times we heard, "Oooooh, aren't they soooooo cute." and "Mom, can we get one?"  Marmalade would lie with his head resting across the back of his brother Jason's neck.  More, "Oooooh, isn't that so cute?"  Sooooo cute, is what attracted one family to adopt both brothers.  After all, you just couldn't separate those two, who were obviously so fond of each other, right?

As usual at Farmers, we see lots of people we know.  I met a nice woman from Southern California who was in Oakdale visiting relatives.  She is a huge animal lover and big proponent of adopting animals from a shelter rather than buying pets from a breeder. She also helps small businesses build their websites.  I told her about our website under construction, and my blog.  She thought it was a great idea.

So I've lost count of all the adoption today.  Let's see--Little Charlie, Smarty, Shiloh, Marmalade, and Jason.  What a great day.

Farmers Market is really a great thing for us.  It allows us to showcase the animals in a more festive, friendly environment. 

When it was time to go back to the shelter we counted the money in our donation jar. Only 11.00 tonight but that's okay.  Every little bit helps.  We just spent $115.00 on more vaccines.  Donation amounts have varied from a high of $39.00 to tonight's $11.00.  Next Thursday starts the big Oakdale Centennial Celebration.  It might be a very big night for us.

Save a life.  Adopt your next pet from a shelter. 

 From the time we all arrived, it was a frenzied pace.  One sick kitty was gone, but another was in it's place and all 8 cages were full with some kittens doubled up.  No room at the inn for any more cats for now.

Ann and I decided to walk dogs first while it was still cool.  Today we started with the big dogs.  I took Shiloh the gorgeous yellow lab, Ann took Little Charlie who seems to look better each day now that he is flea free, and Edith took the little Shih Tzu who pooped out half way and she ended up carrying him part of the way.  Two more rounds of walks and all the walkable dogs got their exercise. 

 Just as I started gathering all  the supplies and paperwork for doing dog vaccinations, a woman from Pug Rescue showed up for the Pug. I had just posted him on Petfinder about 7am and here she was.  She obviously wasn't going to take a chance that someone would beat her to the punch. There was some tricky phone call juggling, with Pug Rescue calling her director to fax over the 501C non profit paperwork, and Officer Jim on his phone calling over to the PD to see if the fax was coming through. 

Meanwhile the woman who was adopting Lillie, my little senior doxie, showed up to make the arranements and take her home.  I excused myself and went to bring Lillie's new mom up to date on her meds and remaining treatment for her ear infection.  Her new mom was worried that Lillie had really bonded to me, but when the car door opened, Lillie hopped right in. I thing she will make the transition, no problem.  Her new mom also gave a generous donation to Shelter Pet Alliance to help with Lillie's vet expenses.  Woo hoo!

Just as I was saying goodbye to Pug Rescue and Lillie's mom, Dr. Lindsay showed up with a stray lab in the back of her truck to be scanned for a microchip.  She found him running down the road near Modesto a few days earlier, and had checked the lost listings in the paper.  Scanned him, no chip. She'll get him into Lab Rescue and he will find a good home.  Lindsay also dropped off a big supply of wormer to help the dogs and cats.   I took her over to the office to introduce our friend and supporter to Officer Jim, and Ann came to the door with blood running down her arm.  Uh oh, trouble.

The handsome 7 year old neutered male cat that we planned on taking to Farmer's Market tomorrow attacked Ann without warning as she was trying to replace his water bowl.  No warning hiss, just jumped on her arm--Whammo! He nailed her pretty good.  A serious cat bite means a trip to the PD for an accident report, then over to the Doc for examination, wound cleaning, antibiotics (cat bites can cause bad infections if not treated.) and a tetnaus shot.  Ann wasn't happy about that.  Plus the cat now has to be quarantined for 10 days. No chance for adoption for this guy.

I finished giving the rest of the vaccinations, and logging it all in the chart.  Ann and Edith had fed most of the dogs before they left, so I fed the rest.  The mama pit bull growled when I opened her kennel door, but stopped when she saw I had food.  I wasn't taking any chances though and carefully slipped the bowl through the opening in the door and shut it quickly just in case her mood changed.  I didn't want to follow in Ann's footsteps.

 I was just ready to leave and a woman showed up who had seen Wished, the Siamese kitten, on the new poster. It was love at first sight. She put her name down for Wishes and will adopt her as soon as she is old enough to be spayed which will be about 2 weeks.

 Okay, can I leave now?

New cats means checking out each one, testing their "purr" factor, and deciding which ones are healthy and adoptable.  Tracy is our "cat lady" and together we wiped goopy eyes with antibiotic ointment, applied spot flea treatment, swabbed out gunky ears with ear mite medicine.  We've got some handsome kitties with distinctive markings which means most of these kitties have "curb appeal.  We also had to come up with names.  The Oakdale Shelter is small and only has 10 primary dog kennels and 8 cat cages.  500 cats, and 500 dogs come through the shelter every year, and most are adoptable so we go through a LOT of names. 

 I got out my name notebook for inspiration.  It will be Magic and Wishes for the little black/gray tabby and his sister a seal point Siamese mix.  They won't be old enough to adopt for another couple of weeks.  Alfie is already 2 1/2 pounds to he is ready to be neutered next week.  He some goopy eyes, but no sneezing or coughing so he should be fine in a day or so.  Very cute guy and a real purring machine.  The 4 tabbies (3 females and 1 male) are also almost 3 pounds so they are ready to be spay/neutered and put up for adoption.  We named them Hillary, Ashley, Smudge (he had a little spot on his nose.) and Pudge (he was the stout male in the group.)

 After the kitties were cleaned and squared away, Ann and I started walking dogs.  We usually walk the big dogs first but switched today and started with the small dogs. I walked 2 at a time which turned out to be a mistake.  The senior Pug decided he was the top dog, and wanted to boss the little Shih Tzu around.  The Shih Tzu decided to argue and I had to do some tricky leash work to keep them apart on our way back to the shelter.  Ann "walked" Chica, the little scardy cat chihuahua by holding her in her arms the whole way.  Chica was adopted yesterday and is just waiting for her spay appointment on Friday before she goes to her new home.

 Our next round was a beautiful young male spaniel.  We can't understand why someone isn't missing this dog and why they haven't called the shelter to claim him.  If he is not claimed we will have no trouble adopting him.  After 2 rounds of little dogs, Ann and I each took a big dog.  I took Shiloh a handsome yellow lab, and she took Charlie a rottie/shepherd mix who is recovering from mange due to a severe flea allergy.  Charlie lost much of his hair and he still looks pretty odd, but it's starting to grow back and he'll be a handsome boy eventually.  It's a mystery why his family let him get this bad, but they haven't called to claim him so I guess they just didn't care.

Before we left, we gave Rascal his "last supper".  Rascal is a sweet young pit bull mix who will be euthanized, not because he is a bad dog, but because few people will adopt a pit bull teenager who is past the cute puppy stage.  We have learned over the years to not get too attached to any of the pit bulls who come to the shelter.  Very few make it out alive, but we try to make their stay at the shelter as pleasant as possible and like to give them a big serving of juicy canned dog food for their last treat.

 Tomorrow I'll tell you more about the family of maltese we have in protective custody, and the mama pit bull mix and her 3 pups.

 BC