Animal Rescue

Ollie is our foster dog. Check him out on the RESCUE site. He’s great fun and very loving. And available for adoption in the Phoenix area. UPDATE (December 10, 2006): Ollie was adopted last night by a family with another bassett hound and a shar pei. Lippard (2006-12-09): Ollie is a great dog. If we didn't already have three and want to continue to keep a fourth slot open for further fostering, we'd adopt him. I think his ideal home would be one where he got lots of attention and had another dog to play with. ...

Odyssey Truett, a Springer Spaniel, comments on the Bible’s negativity about dogs. (Hat tip to Ed Babinski.) Anonymous (2007-11-07): I dont like that link and i think the writer of that "blog" is a complete ignoramus and doesnt understand dogs himself. True that there arent many nice things in the Bible about dogs. Most of the references i've read about them were comparing them to bad things.. dogs eating scraps in the street or the dead people who are sinners unworthy of burial. aka Pariah dogs, living on the fringes of society and not really doing much good for anyone but themselves. However in a lot places in the world this is still true today. the homeless dogs are thieves, scavengers, carriers of vermin and disease, and not very well liked among the locals.Being cast out among the dogs in the Bible was never a good thing for that reason because there is no one to care for you and you are scorned.. and one that i see again and again proven true by people i know personally is in Proverbs 26:11 "As a dog returns to his vomit, so a fool returns to his folly". Yes dogs can regurgitate FOOD but there is a clear distinction of FOOD and VOMIT. When you vomit its because there is something wrong with the food. wouldnt you think you should probably not eat it....? If you barf up steak and eggs are you going to scrape it off the floor and put it back on your plate for a second chance? There are usually good medical reasons why a dog returns to its vomit.. they would rather re-eat tainted food than starve to death because thats the only option a pariah dog has. One way or the other he is going to die.... but at least he can die with a full belly even if its poison rather than dying a slow death by starvation. I dont believe the Bible is saying ALL dogs are bad. i believe it speaks mostly about street dogs. and if you've ever lived in a place where stray dogs were a danger or destroyed your property then you would understand why the comparison fits with sinners and thieves. ...

Jim and I have been volunteering with RESCUE (Reducing Euthanasia at Shelters through Commitment and Underlying Education) since January 2002. Two of our dogs, Otto and Fred, came from RESCUE. We believe it is a worthy cause and I am asking for you help. I am participating in the Fourth Annual Bowl-A-Rama which raises money for animal organizations in Arizona. I am on Team Tango, representing RESCUE. All pledges raised by RESCUE will go directly to their mission of providing a second chance at life for dogs and cats who, through no fault of their own, are spending their final days at Maricopa County Animal Care and Control. Thes money goes toward medical treatment, boarding, etc. while the animals are in RESCUE’s care. The passion that began RESCUE has resulted in a volunteer-driven non-profit corporation with over 300 dedicated volunteers who have helped care for and place over 8,000 wonderful cats and dogs. If you can spare $10, $20 or more, please go to http://bowl.azrescue.org and make a pledge to Team Tango.

See if you can spot the pit bull on this web page. This is from http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/, a great site to learn more about the American Pit Bull breed. I know a lot about dog breeds, and I only got it right on my third try. (Yes, there are many breeds pictured that are not popular in the U.S.) While many cities/insurance companies are considering breed-specific ordinances/restrictions that penalize pit bulls and their guardians, this web site highlights the fact that most people cannot recognize a pit bull when they see one. I believe any dog breed can be aggressive and a danger to society at large. Breed-specific legislation targets the dogs, not the people who are really the problem. ...

Last weekend, our foster dog Nellie was adopted. We fostered her for the past five months, a little longer than our average foster time of three months per dog since we started fostering dogs in October 2003 for R.E.S.C.U.E. Nellie was an owner turn-in to Maricopa County Animal Care & Control. She’s a very shy dog who did not do well in the noisy kennel environment and was on her way to euthanization. While in our care she did not fully overcome her shyness and skittishness, but she got much better and was very happy in our house. Our house is quieter without her and we miss her, but she found a great home. ...

Tonight is the premiere of Animal Planet Heroes Phoenix, a fifteen-episode series which filmed animal-related emergencies last year which were handled by the Arizona Humane Society’s Emergency Animal Medical Technicians (EAMTs), a program launched in September 2002. The show airs at 8 p.m. MST in the Phoenix market on the Animal Planet channel. UPDATE: Kat and I attended the Arizona Humane Society’s premiere event last night at Harkins Cine Capri. Many of the production crew (from Anglia Television), all of the EAMTs, and many AHS staff and volunteers were present, and available to chat after the show. The show (an episode titled “Trapped Underground”) was alternately heartwarming and saddening. A 14-year-old Spaniel was trapped 20 feet underground in a sinkhole in the owner’s yard, a kitten was trapped in the piping of an apartment sprinkler system, a dog and her puppies were stung repeatedly by bees, and a large number of Brussels griffons were being kept in horrific conditions by a hoarder. The upcoming schedule is a new episode each night this week: “Wandering Beagle” tonight (Jan. 17), “The Dog House” (Jan. 18), “Promise to Mother” (Jan. 19), and “Desert Rescue” (Jan. 20). Information on air dates and times may be found at Animal Planet’s site.

In our neighborhood, we frequently see stray dogs, usually without collars or identifying information. We catch them when we can, and turn them into the pound. The puppies tend to get quickly adopted. Others, we point out to RESCUE, an animal rescue group we volunteer with, so that if they get put on the euthanasia lists they may have another opportunity for survival. Unfortunately, RESCUE can’t save all of them. This puppy had been given to a homeless man we know, who in turn gave him to us to take care of. Kat removed numerous ticks and gave her a bath (the first photo is pre-bath, the second is post-bath). We estimated her age at less than three months, and the breed could be some kind of Chow mix. I think this is the fifth stray we’ve turned in this year; last year we turned in about the same number, including at least three puppies. ...