Happy Ending Thanks to a Young Hero

Just before the Arctic cold gripped our area a 
hungry, dirty teeny kitten surely would have died had it not been for the heroic action of Daven, a teen who, not only picked up the kitten and fed her, but brought her to the League so she could be adopted into a forever home.  Daven wrote on the intake form, "I am surrendering this animal because I found her not fed, dirty, running in the street, and I felt I needed to do it."  Many people -- teens and adults -- would have walked right by the kitten figuring rescuing a six-week-old kitten was not their responsibility.  Not Daven.  Thank you Daven for doing the right thing!   The kitten, named Peppermint by shelter staff, has been adopted and will be home in time for Christmas!

Snow Storm of the Century Brings Out the Best, Worst, and Just Plain Fun!

HEROES --We live in Washington, DC, not the North Pole. The weekend weather made some kind of once-in -lifetime mistake. Even the President, who lived many years in Chicago, acknowledged the blizzard in the nation's capital, calling it Snowmageddon. The most snow ever recorded during one storm in our area happened on the weekend. And, three wonderful, loyal Washington Animal Rescue League staffers managed to care for all of the animals. Thanks to Eugene, Ehuniz, and Oscar, the cats and dogs were kept fed and clean. You are my heroes -- AMAZING!!!

DUMB MISTAKE -- Not everyone is so responsible. My neighbor, who has two dogs for his "kids", opened up the door at 3:00 a.m. Sunday morning to see if a plow had gone down the street -- why would a plow have gone down my little street ? -- and one of the dogs ran out. The dog has yet to come back. The dog, an unneutered male, older chocolate Labrador retriever, is not wearing any identification tags and is not microchipped. Not only did record breaking amounts of snow fall, but bitter cold is bearing down on the region. The dog is super unruly. I'm hoping, however, that he let some kind soul take him in or somehow got to the Montgomery County Animal Shelter.


FUN-- Dogs LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the snow. check out the picture of Nigel. Why would a dog want to just park in the snow? Seems to me he'd be a little chilly, guess not. The first time out, while the snow was still falling, was a little tricky. It had already mounted so high that Nigel needed a path to comfortably go to the bathroom. Once that was taken care of, the rest of the outtings have been all fun. Nigel played with his buddy Jackson and another dog who met us in the street. At that time, you couldn't tell the street from the yard. Notice the snow on Nigel's snout? He loves using his nose to tunnel through the snow like a gopher.



HEROES REVISITED -- When I was watching the news on Saturday I saw a a shot of a church that had collapsed in Washington. The reporter mentioned how it was believed that no one was injured, however an Urban Search and Rescue team, who had just returned from Haiti, was in the building checking for anyone who may have been trapped inside. Sounds like D.C. Fire Department Sgt.Christopher Holmes and his partner Cazo were hard at work on their home turf. Thanks. So glad to hear that both are in top form. When I spoke to Sgt. Holmes earlier in the week he told me that Cazo had been injured while looking for survivors in the rubble in Haiti. Cazo's injury was so severe that he underwent a 90 minute surgery to remove the foreign object that was lodged in his flank. Cazo finished a round of antibiotics and was cleared to go back to work right before the storm. Obviously, search and rescue teams don't get snow days!

Pit Bulls -- Heroes and Friends

Despite a bad rap in the media, pit bulls are typically loyal, loving, intelligent family dogs who are often known to take heroic action to protect those they love. Jasmine, a pit bull living in Alexandria, Virginia, recently saved her family from disaster. When a fire erupted in the dryer vent of the family's home in the middle of the night, Jasmine barked nonstop waking her family so they, and Jasmine, could escape unharmed.

The Washington Animal Rescue League adopts many wonderful pit bull dogs into loving, caring forever homes. Two staff members adopted pit bulls in recent month. One lives with a baby and other animals; the other lives with another dog and comes to work with her guardian every day. Trixie is another successful League pit bull adoption. Her new family, including two boys and another dog, reports that Trixie has lots of energy but knows how and when to chill, too. That's her in the picture above, snoozing with her buddy Jack.

For a wonderful fiction story highlighting the hard luck life of a pit bull named Cash, check out Dog Lost by Ingrid Lee discussed in the March 5th Post

Wild Animals are Wild

An article in yesterday's Washington Post, On the Wings of Love, At Temple's Aviary, Problem Birds Find Feathered Friends, was another reminder that wild animals should be left in the wild. According to Mira Tweti, author of the book, Of Parrots and People, "they (birds) are never domesticated. They are wild animals". And, yet, people continue to buy birds -- wild animals, sometimes caught in their native lands, sometimes bred in captivity -- and expect them to be happy living in cages. The article told how the 35 resident birds living in a small building next to the Kunzang Palyul Choling Buddhist temple in Poolesville, Maryland cared for Jetrunma Ahkon Lhamo and others could not be kept by the people who purchased them. The birds -- African grey parrots, macaws, and cockatoos from Australia and the Pacific Islands -- developed destructive behaviors. Many were brought to the sanctuary because they developed self destructive behaviors -- pulling off their plumage, sometimes to the point of piercing their skin underneath. Others become aggressive biting people and other birds.

Kids can help the birds. Trading in Slingshots: HSI Teaches Youth to Protect Wild Birds in Nicaragua an article on the Humane Society of the United States' website, http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/international_trade_policy_and_capacity_building/trading_slingshots_for_backpacks.html tells how children load rocks into a slingshot and take aim at a wild bird's nest. After the rock hits the nest, the mother bird is usually killed or injured, and the nest falls from the tree with the baby birds inside. The young birds who survive the fall will have their wings clipped and become someone's pets, forced to live in cages or remain confined to a house for the rest of their lives. A Humane Society International education program is partnering with the Foundation Friends of the Nicaraguan Zoo (FAZOONIC) to show students the impact of their actions and expose them to wildlife conservation efforts. At the end of a program, that lasted several month, a ceremony was held where each student lined up to throw a slingshot in the garbage in exchange for a backpack labeled, "I protect animals in my community."

We should be lining up daily to protect the animals in our community. What are you doing?

A Heroic Rescue

Shark Attack!! Have you ever seen the movie Jaws? It was released when I was in middle school; I remember the music, where I was sitting in the theater (I saw it in Key West, Florida) and how I wouldn't go into the water for quite some after seeing the movie. Every little detail came back to me tonight when I read the blurb in Parade Magazine about how a man dove into the water off a pier in Islamorada, Florida to attack the shark that had snatched his dog!!!!

That's right the man attacked the shark.

The man punched the shark until it loosened it's bite. Jake, the rat terrier (little dog), suffered many puncture wounds, but nothing life threatening. Had Jake's guardian not acted instinctively and immediately, there would have been a much different ending -- Jake would have been lunch.

Jake's person, Greg LeNoir, is a real life hero. Some times heroes accomplish death-defying rescues like pulling little dogs from the steel jaws of five foot long sharks. Other times, they do things that are not quite so dramatic -- like cleaning kennels, feeding dogs and cats and telling them how special they are. I spent Christmas at home. but, many Washington Animal Rescue League staff members were at the shelter, cleaning dog dens and cat condos, telling Ziggy and Chrissie that they are definitely going to get another chance at forever homes and waving the string with the feather in front of Spanky's paw -- giving him just enough time to get it (He loves that game). The kennel staff made sure that each of the dogs and cats got a bowl of food, with a little extra, clean water and a comfy bed.

Thank you animal heroes near and far.