Archive for the ‘From Your Fairy DogMother’ Category

CONTACT: staradoptions@yahoo.com (yahoo.com),
Jan Dacci jandacci@roadrunner.com (roadrunner.com) or
Julia Sharp juliatat@yahoo.com (yahoo.com)

CROSSPOSTING DEEPLY APPRECIATED!

www.juliasavesdogs.com   [Paypal donation also available at this site]

www.petfinder.com/shelters/KY251.html

Once again we are begging for help. We are overloaded and have waaaay too much on our plates right now. I know all of us in rescue are in the same boat:(

STAR is in deep financial trouble. We have too many dogs. Medical costs are horrible.

Paypal to sdcreasap@roadrunner.com or use ChipIn’s on STAR Petfinder page to help financially. You can also make checks out to STAR, a 501c3 non profit, and mail to STAR c/o Julia Sharp, 164 East Main Street, Morehead, KY 40351 This is also the mailing address for supply donations.

We desperately need Frontline SPRAY. We have yet another litter of lice puppies:( Frontline Spray works great on lice. Dogs have been full of fleas lately. We can also use Capstar.

We need collars, dewormers, leashes, vaccines, HW prevention, money, gas cards, food, blankets, dog beds…..the list is endless for Santa

Billerica banishes dog from the town

BILLERICA — Standing before selectmen last night, Glen Munson pulled up his shirt sleeve to reveal scars he’ll bear for the rest of his life.

On June 12, Munson was viciously attacked without provocation by a Rottweiler as he walked home from work about 7 p.m. The 33-year-old scientist was taken by ambulance to Saints Medical Center in Lowell where he was treated for deep bite marks to his right arm and left hand.

In a 3-1 vote last night, selectmen declared the dog dangerous and banished it from Billerica. The decision was handed down despite the owners’ insistence that their 3-year-old dog never acted aggressively before or after the attack on Munson.

The dog’s owners, Richard and Henryka Smejlik, of 20 Old Elm St., showed selectmen a series of photos of their pet appearing to interact calmly with very young children. Richard Smejlik also said his wife, who was handling the dog at the time of the attack, would no longer take the animal for walks.

“He’s not dangerous,” said Richard Smejlik, a Polish immigrant who speaks limited English. “He never makes trouble.”

But in a key piece of testimony during the public hearing, police Officer Stephen Cogswell revealed that the dog, named Otis, was involved in a violent altercation with another dog last September.

Cogswell said police responded to Veterans Park on Sept. 6, 2008, after Richard Smejlik reported his dog was in a fight with an unleashed “yellow” dog. Smejlik said he was bitten in

“I think this goes a way toward learning about the disposition of this dog,” said Selectman Mike Rosa, after hearing about the earlier incident.

Cogswell also told selectmen that Henryka Smejlik was carrying a muzzle at the time of the attack. Smejlik had difficulty controlling the dog after it bit Munson, said Cogswell, but was eventually able to place the muzzle she had with her on the dog’s mouth.

Selectmen Rosa, Bob Correnti and Bob Accomando voted to force the Smejliks to remove their dog from Billerica within 14 days. If the dog is relocated to another community, the Smejliks must notify authorities of the animal’s violent past.

Before the final vote was taken, Lombardo implored his colleagues to reconsider, saying he does not think the dog is a “killer.”

“I used to laugh when people said a dog is part of a family, but it’s no joke,” said Lombardo, who preferred sending the dog to obedience classes and having it checked on periodically by the town’s animal-control officer. “Maybe it’s because I have a dog, so I have more emotions. It’s really serious taking a dog away from a family.”

Rosa countered that if the dog had attacked a child, it could have resulted in death.

“We could be here under much more serious circumstances,” said Rosa. “If we don’t deal with our role to protect the public in Billerica, then we’re not doing our due diligence.”

Andrew Deslaurier recused himself from the hearing because he lives next door to the Smejliks. He said he did not want his presence to pose a conflict of interest.

In other action, selectmen appointed Town Accountant Paul Watson interim town manager while the town searches for a replacement for former Manager Bill Williams. Watson will receive a $700-per-week stipend for the job, which will last about three months.

Please send your comments to us at DogBlessed via our Contact Us page!!

Billerica, MA Animal Control Phone Number:  978-671-0909

*****YOUR VOICES COUNT*****

Billerica, MA Selectmen

Marc T. Lombardo, Chairman

9 Eubar Circle

Billerica, MA  01821

(978) 362-3290

marctlombardo@comcast.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Andrew Deslaurier, Vice Chairman

1 Wilson Street

North Billerica, MA  01862

(978) 262-1418

anewton77@hotmail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Michael S. Rosa, Secretary

29 Riverdale Road

Billerica, MA  01821

(978) 663-2834

Robert B. Accomando, Member

134 Treble Cove Road

Billerica, MA 01862

(978) 670-9832

accomando2008@comcast.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Robert M. Correnti, Member

9 Francis Road

Billerica, MA  01821-3618

(978) 667-1411

bobcorrenti@comcast.netThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Billerica Town Manager’s Office

Hours of Operation:

Monday – Friday:  8:30am – 4:00pm

Contact Information:

About:

The Town Manager is the senior appointed office of the Town and is responsible for the effective operation of the Town’s administration. The Town Manager directs the administration of departments, as well as various boards and commissions. The Town Manager attends all meetings of the Board of Selectmen and advises and recommends actions related to the needs of the Town.

That’s right!!  Our friend Julia in Kentucky is going to help us with a new Spay & Neuter program!

Sadly, year after year, we see pups at the pound that resemble some of last year’s pups.  There’s a rough economy out there and lots of dogs feeling the “pinch.”  Not only are lots of beautiful house pets being dropped at the pound daily, but loads and loads of puppies!!  The only way these little guys have a chance is by vaccination and spay/neuter.

We work hard to rehome these babies and continually need supplies, fosters, drivers, paid transports and donations.

Luckily in Kentucky, these pups can have this procedure for a mere $70.00  This is certainly a bargain, compared to our New England fees!

Thanks for reading and thank you in advance for your support.  Donations can be made on our CHIPIN page:

http://spayandneuteratroanco.chipin.com/saving-the-animals-at-rowan-spay-and-neuter-fund

Dog Bless!

This is Archie!

Archie has come to us via a divorce situation.  It is very clear to me that his mom Maureen, has given this guy lots of love and snuggles!  He is a big, snuggly black German Shepherd.  Archie is also AKC registered and full bred GSD.  He is almost 2 years old and is well handled when eating, chewing a bone, etc., He demonstrates no food aggression or dog aggression whatsoever.  We currently have 3 of our own dogs and Archie has blended in with our pack just fine.

This boy is truly a treasure and whoever adopts him, will be adopting their very best friend. Let me assure you!  He is a tall, somewhat clumsy, fun boy to be around and a dog that we are ready to rehome.  He has nice manners and is very sociable, knows his basic commands and is house trained.

What a joy he will be- to the right family!!

I ask that adopted dogs are well cared for, vetted [though he is current on rabies etc.,] and that if circumstances of owners change, that the dogs be returned to me- no questions asked…no judgment…..I just want to ensure dogs never enter the shelter system, once adopted.

Thanks for reading and contact me soon!  info @ dogblessed.net

That’s right!  I have some great new bumper stickers!!  They say www.dogblessed.net on them and feature this pic:

The great news is, that I am selling these for $5.50 a piece. They were expensive for me to produce, but I am donating ALL PROCEEDS to my friends at the Rowan County Dog Pound in Morehead, KY.  These pound dogs don’t stand a chance without the great volunteers in Morehead.

Please email me for details!  I can ship any method you’d like and assure you that your contributions will be 100% free and clear to the dogs!!

Let’s give something back to the animals that I feel, give me more, than I could ever give them.  Thank you and DOG BLESS!!

Yes, that’s what I think. 

If there are God, Gods, Goddesses that are in another realm, providing us security, strength, love, devotion and faith, then my Dogs are my loves, here on this spiritual plane.  In the here and now, I have never known such unconditional love and healing, from another living source. 

These were just some loving thoughts for my dogs today, as I am not at home with them.  Their “dogsitter” and best friend in the entire world- Colleen, is keepking them by her side this weekend.

I just wanted to share this appreciation with all of you and hope that the world might see how dog blessed, we all are!

You know, it’s troubling to think that someone adopting a child, will not be able to do so with a german shepherd dog.  Does this make sense?  Can we not be as biased when it comes to people, careers, ethnicity or socioeconomic status?  If not, than how can we be so breed discriminating?  On which scientific theory or statistic has this decision been based? I think that these “assumptions” are grossly inappropriate displays of ignorance and based on nothing more than that. 

Frustration….  I have a pure german shepherd, that is not only a therapy dog, but one of the loves of my life.  Nonsense deserves to be called nonsense.  Punish irresponsible breeders and cruel humans.

From Julia in Kentucky! PLEASE HELP US!

Hi, STAR has been extremely busy keeping up with the HUGE numbers of dogs at the Rowan County Pound. Thankfully we have a great dog warden (Our Jimmy) that works with us. Because of STAR’s efforts, a former high kill rural dog pound is now a low kill facilty. http://www.petfinde r.com/shelters/ KY251.html   We practically emptied the pound a week and a half ago and now it is full up again:( We also step up to help many strays and abandoned dogs in this area. If you can help rescue some of our dogs, please contact staradoptions@ yahoo.com (yahoo.com)   There are a few ChipIn’s on the homepage. We desperately need funds. STAR (Saving The Animals of Rowan) is a 501c3 and all donations are fully tax deductable. You can also mail checks to: STAR 123 Oakwood Drive Morehead, KY 40351       OR you can make checks out to STAR and mail them to me and I will personally deposit them! STAR c/o Julia Sharp 164 East Main Street Morehead, KY 40351       We still need to raise $225 to finish paying for Story’s HW treatment. Story was a street dog that had been terribly abused. Story needs a kind rescue ASAP!!!! She needs human socialization that she is not getting at my house. She adores me and my husband but she needs to be exposed to more people. She is a very sweet and unusual girl. She is very dog friendly and kitty friendly. She is smallish, only about 38 lbs. http://www.petfinde r.com/petnote/ displaypet. cgi?petid= 13273378   Poor Rosco was tied to a tree in a closed campground and left to starve. He is simply too adorable! His initial vet bill was almost $80 and he is not neutered but is HW neg and UTD on shots and dewormed and started on prevention. http://www.petfinde r.com/petnote/ displaypet. cgi?petid= 13440222     [***Ok Julia- I'm in love with him and will take him, if we can get tranport even close!]   We DESPERATELY need small and medium collars. Used ones are fine! We have LOTS of larges and extra large but no mediums or smalls. We also need slip leads. We need more Frontline Spray badly since fleas and ticks are TERRIBLE here. We prefer the spray because it works so quickly and you can adjust the dosage for size of the animal.   We need all sorts of supplies. So if you have extra anything, I am sure we can put it to good use! Some things we need:   -Puppy pads -Leashes and collars. -Cleaning supplies/trash bags/latex gloves/etc. -Food. -Eagle Pack Holistic Solution…excellen t product to fix little tummies. -Dewormers, panacur and pyrantel -Ivermectin -Gerber powerded electrolytes. -Frontline Spray. -Puppy vaccinations. -Adult vaccinations. -Medications such as antidiareah/ antifungals/ wound treatment (Cloud Star makes a great product called Buddy BooBoo)  -Ex-Pens. -Gas cards for our transporters. -Nylabones/Kongs/ easily sanitized toys -Pens and tarp covers are desperately needed for temp holding…we have a Lowes locally that carries them. -Dog houses.   Thank you for reading. We could not do the work we do without your kindness and generosity.. .Hugs and Blessings… .Julia

 Special thanks to Gail in CT, for this contribution!!

The current, April 13, edition of Newsweek has a superb article, by Suzanne Smalley, mostly about puppy mills, which is titled, “A (Designer) Dog’s Life, and sub-headed, “If the Obamas choose a hybrid, unethical breeders will try to cash in—and puppies are likely to suffer.”

The article opens with:

“The White County sheriff’s department noticed the stench from a mile up the road. By the time rescuers entered the series of sheds in Sparta, Tenn., some were forced to wear respirators. Inside each shed were scores of dogs in tiny cages, many covered in feces. The sheds reeked of urine and were so frigid the officers had to set up portable heaters to work inside. Authorities, who raided the farm in February after receiving tips from angry customers who’d purchased sick puppies, discovered 300 dogs on the three-acre property—many of them malnourished, mangy and infected by parasites. Some were housed a half dozen to a cage in near total darkness. Many of the pups were ‘designer dogs’—trendy new breeds like puggles (which result when a pug is bred with a beagle), Maltepoos (a Maltese-poodle mix) and Chipins (a Chihuahua-pinscher cross). ‘It’s market driven,’ says Melinda Merck, a forensic veterinarian who assisted with the Tennessee raid. ‘People just see a designer breed and
say, I’ve never heard of that dog but it sounds cute’. And for puppy mills like this one, designer dogs—many of which sell for more than $1,000 apiece—have become a huge business.

“The line connecting this canine hellhole to the White House is admittedly indirect. But any day now the Obama girls will bring home the puppy their father promised them in his election-night speech. In January, Obama told ABC News the family was strongly considering a Labradoodle, a Labrador-poodle hybrid that’s become especially popular among allergy sufferers—a group that includes Malia Obama. Michelle Obama has said she favors a purebred Portuguese water dog; a White House spokesperson won’t comment, but an announcement could come this week. No matter which breed the Obamas choose, animal-welfare advocates expect to see a “101 Dalmatians” effect: a sudden burst in popularity that results when a movie or a celebrity puts a spotlight on a particular dog, a phenomenon breeders try to capitalize on it by mass-producing similar dogs.”

The article has more descriptions of puppy mills, such as:
“Often, the animals are left outside during the frigid winters. Their feet slip painfully through the cages’ wire floors—and sometimes, so does their excrement, which rains on top of the dogs below when breeders stack cages to save space. Some of the dogs are nearly as big as their cages, leaving them little room to move. In front of the farms handwritten signs advertise the different breeds available. On these farms, hybrids like Labradoodles and puggles are plentiful.”

We read about the huge profits puppy mill owners can make, and legislative efforts to improve conditions. The lengthy article also gives us information about the unreliability of the designer dogs’ traits. The piece is accompanied by photos of dogs living in tiny stacked cages — those photos are also on line.

Please check out the article at http://www.newsweek.com/id/192478 and email it to your friends; magazines keep count of clicks and email forwards, and thereby learn which topics are of the most interest to readers. You can leave a comment on the web page, underneath the article. And please send an appreciative letter to the editor discussing the joys of adoption, so that Newsweek readers learn more about this topic in upcoming issues as they read your letters.

Newsweek takes letters at letters@newsweek.com

Please also remember to take the opportunity to speak up for shelter dogs any time you see the Obama dog story covered in your local media. Some smaller papers publish close to a hundred percent of letters they receive so why not take just a few minutes to spread the good word throughout your community?

Always include your full name, address, and daytime phone number when sending a letter to the editor. Remember that shorter letters are more likely to be published.

Yours and the animals’,
Karen Dawn

(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. You may forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts if you do so unedited — leave DawnWatch in the title and include this parenthesized tag line. If somebody forwards DawnWatch alerts to you, which you enjoy, please help the list grow by signing up. It is free.)

Please go to www.ThankingtheMonkey.com to read reviews and see a fun celeb-studded video and an NBC news piece on Karen Dawn’s new book, “Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way we Treat Animals,” which was chosen by the Washington Post as one of the “Best Books of 2008.”