Dogs On Thursday - Workin Girl

I have a new job and have already received one pay check. I'm pretty excited! What does this have to do with Dogs On Thursday? Well, take a look at this photo...

Puppies!!! Oh my goodness, I got to hold the cutest little beagle mix puppy who had been in with her sister that day from SOS Beagle Rescue to be spayed at the low cost spay/neuter clinic in the building where I'm working now. The wonderful woman who came to pick them up after they woke from surgery that night was nice enough to let us hold the cute little puppies, the one I'm holding and her sister who was solid red and white (the little girl I held had more of a ticked/freckled coat). They were adorable and definitely "mixes" the rescuer said since their ears were much longer than a Beagle's should be ... I just think it made them that much cuter though. What do you think? :) Who can complain about a job with puppies, right??

In an odd doggy case, we actually only have a handful of dogs right now where I'm working too - which is quite unusual! We're not intaking any dogs either at this time. Why??? Well, we're getting brand new kennels! We're knocking down the old dog kennels and putting in brad new ones which will be great for all the future dogs that come into the shelter I'm working at now. You can check out all the cool details here. Construction is suppose to start in the next week or two so hopefully by mid-April we'll be packed with dogs again in brand new, wonderful kennels piping them soft tunes to keep them calm.

Some people!!

I overheard a woman say today that she heard an "old wives' tale" that to keep her cat from getting fat, she should allow the cat to have a litter of kittens. Are you kidding me?! If nothing else, finding several kittens homes (because cats aren't already dying all the time from over population) is better than perhaps a slightly pudgy adult cat?!!

So, following this old wives' tale because they're always so true!, this woman formulated a plan! To ensure her cat would not get fat like this woman heard her cat would, she tempted a male cat into their house ... and then locked her cat and the male stray up in the bedroom. Oh my gawd!!!!

tan

I'm watching Transformers, the second one, and so far I'm disturbed by how tan the main characters are (the human main characters, that is). From far away and in most of the lightening, they're disturbing, unnaturally tan ... even for laying in tanning beds. I do not like this at all!

Sick girl here

Sick, sick, sick. I'm so sick that I cannot even talk. Though this hasn't stopped me yet, today I finally called out of my new job. Somehow answering the phone with this voice (which just keeps getting worse) didn't seem wise. What do you think?



That's right, home from vacation, employed full time ... and sick! No good! Not fun!!

Oh well, let's stick to the good stuff - here are some photos from FL I'd like to share with you:

Oh yay, FL sun...
The coolest tree house ever, I must say - it's got windows, a tree growing through its porch, etc...
Brand new butterflies fresh out of their cocoons! How cool...
I sent a lot of time with Shanna since she's home raising Silas. We went to pick up Ada from school one day and she wanted to show me her garden plot at school. What a neat idea - each of the kids having their own garden...
I went along with my friends to one of their friend's birthday parties. It was a nice night ... which was capped off by lighting a very old Christmas tree on fire. It was awesome, though looking at the photos afterwards makes me think we should have been a bit more scared...
It was way too early in the morning for all this, but here's the short version of the story: pulling up to the drive thru ATM to get money to go to breakfast, we're behind an old lady on a mobile ... and she was behind a car that had pulled out after using the ATM, then stopped, then had it's passenger door sit open for several minutes before this very interesting woman emerged to wait beside the mobile old woman. Craziness and way too early in the morning...

Farm-life Fridays: In FL

Here's a special Farm-life Friday for you ... a Farm-life Friday post about the wonderful farm my friends have going on in Florida! This is where I'm actually at right now and I love it! Love the people here, love my time here and love whatever it is I end up doing here. Now, they have this wonderful farm going on as well, called Swallow Tail Farm.

Stolen right from their website: "Swallowtail Farm is located north of Alachua, along a fertile ridge of highland soil that crests the spine of Florida. We have crafted the farm as a model of sustainability and fine land stewardship, with a focus on appropriate scale, conservation of resources, and nature-produced fertility. No synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals will ever touch our fields or your food."

This post is brief because I'm busy, but I'm going to edit this entry and try to post some photos when I'm home to this.

Caturday: Valentine

I'm not sure there's a more appropriate kitty to post this Saturday than the cat all over the news ... and the cat that's part of Joa's Arc (the awesome group I volunteer for): Valentine!

Valentine is recovering well and getting lots of well wishes sent her way too. Thank you to the media and all those who cared enough to get the message out about her. Hopefully with the newly increased reward (now at $1,000 from the NJSPCA) and all the attention she's gotten, we'll finally have some justice for the awful act done to her.


Popular perhaps? Check out some of these articles and media clips on Valentine from just this week:
- KYW: Reward Offered for Villain Who Shot Cat With Blow Dart in NJ
- My Fox Philly: 'Valentine' Hit By Dart, Reward Offered
- Gloucester County Times: Authorities probe case of cat found in Gloucester County with dart stuck in eye
- 6 ABC Action News: Suspect sought after cat shot in the eye
- NBC Philadelphia: Cat Shot In Eye With Dart
- Examiner.Com: Valentine, a cat shot in the head with a dart
- People Magazine's Pet Page: Cat Shot with Dart 'Has a Will to Live'
- Love Meow: Cat Shot with a Dart Recovering
- Examiner.Com: NJSPCA increases reward to $1000 for info on Valentine, cat shot through eye with blow dart

Again thank you, thank you, thank you!

Farm-life Fridays: Horse Killer

Ugh, for the life of me, I do not understand some people ... Valentine and the violence done to her is an excellent example. This story is also of a person who is just plain terrible.

Although you might think I'm misplacing this post about Marion Hulick, who's French bulldog recently made history at the Westminster Dog show, becoming the first of his breed to score top honors in the "Non-Sporting" Group - rest assured, I'm not. This woman's "positive" dog news pales in comparison to her awful, awful farm story - that of murder for money!

Hulick served six months in federal prison for her role in the murder of Charisma, a show horse, on Dec. 15, 1990. Witnesses at Hulick's trial for this awful crime said she met with the killer, offering him a $35,000 cut (for killing Charisma) of the $250,000 insurance money. This is gross, sorry, but I want to be as honest here as possible to convey exactly why I think this woman's actions are unforgivable - no matter how long ago it was. The horse's killer, after being led to the stall by Hulick one witness recalled, then attached a metal clip to the horse's ear and another to his hindquarters and plugged a wire from them to an outlet, electrocuting the poor horse.

20 years ago or two days ago, brainstorming this idea, condoning it, organizing it and, most importantly, being present for it is absolutely unacceptable and something you can never, ever make better or expect to be forgiven for, I feel. Not to mention, how can you treat one animal that way and yet claim to care for another? That is not some stupid mistake of "youth" - that's just awful, cruel and sickening!

Not to mention, with the way I love my "ponies", I can't imagine being able to do anything like that. I find a cut on the horses, I get concerned. They nip at each other, I get worked up. It gets a little cold and I'm sure my parents need to put their blankets on. You get the idea! They're huge, that's for sure, and they don't share my home or bed, but they're in my heart and there's the undeniable fact that horses, just like all other pets/animals, are dependent upon us for their care.


I can't believe you got a standing ovation Monday night, Marion Hulick, you scumbucket! You should have had horse manure thrown at you!!!

More info in these articles...
- Horse Killers Are Welcome at Westminster
- Terrible Person of the Day: Horse Killer and Canine Eugenicist, Marion Hulick

Dogs On Thursday - Good people!

Did you read this post: Stalked?! True story! Awful, uncomfortable, terrifying experience! I wrote in the post towards the bottom, "I'm hoping to borrow or foster a big & barky or scarey looking, but nice dog that doesn't chase cats for the next few days." Well, after posting different versions of my awful experience (short, long, detailed or the quick version) on different social networks, a girl that graduated from high school with my older cousin wrote me and said her dog sounded perfect! How sweet! She even sent me pictures as if just saying he was big wasn't good enough ... and my is this dog really big! He's apparently half Bernese Mountain Dog and half St. Bernard.

When I say this guy is big, I mean he's a really big dog - that mix alone sounds pretty awesome to me and would definitely scare off any creepy guys, I think. What do you think? Here's a picture of the gorgeous dog this wonderful girl spoke of ... and he's pictured next to a man (though I cut him out for his own privacy, of course). Do you see what I mean when I say this dog is huge?! Ok, granted, he's standing on a snow bank, but still. When scared of the creepy plow guy, I just wanted a barky dog to stay in the house with me while I finished up cat sitting ... but a dog big enough to literally eat a man would've work too! Not to mention, what a throw off from the picture of the adorable, rolly poley puppy dog she had pictured on her profile. He was the cutest puppy and he is one handsome big guy now!

Thankfully I didn't need to borrow this big guy. I ended up staying with a friend for the last few days or at home and just visiting the cats a couple times a day to feed them and spend some time with them ... during the day and after a friend's boyfriend dropped off a very "manly" looking jeep in the driveway to make it look like I had company. Although there was one creepy guy, I am so excited about the exceptionally nice people that came forward too - like this wonderful girl who sent me photos of her dog and the former volunteer offering her boyfriend's jeep to leave in the driveway. There are so many things to be thankful for!