o.m.g. & w.t.f.??

So, the other night it was about 11 p.m. and Sparky and I were watching some shows we had dvred earlier. We were also doing the After Dark Kitty Roundup.  Everyone was in except Stanley Manley.

That's Stanley up there with his one blue eye and his one green eye and his spot on his nose.  He is quite the looker, he is.

Stanley was just chillin' on the front porch and observing whatever goes on at night in our front yard.

When all of a sudden we heard a loud dog barking right up against our front door!  This doesn't happen at our house.  Our dogs never and I mean NEVER go out front.  And we knew Stanley was out there so we were up and Sparky hit that front door like a shot!  I was right behind him.

And we found Stanley up in the flower beds with a pack of 5 large feral mutt dogs clamoring for him.  They quickly realized we meant business and they took off.  We could see them running down the street into the night.  After grabbing up Stanley and pitching him inside we surveyed the area to see what we could see.

I went inside and we checked Stanley over to see if he had any wounds or anything and he seemed to be all there.

The next thing I did was to get on my neighborhood HOA yahoo group site and make a report of the pack of dogs.

In the morning I checked my email and had damn near 20 responses of people who have seen these dogs doing the following:

A. Chasing an early morning jogger (reported by the jogger)

B. Chasing a cat

C. Chasing our neighborhood deer

D. Catching and killing one of the fawn

E. Killing a cat 2 streets over

F. Just this morning, mauling a cat who later died at the emergency vet's office

Now, I don't know about you but this scares the hell out of me.  We have a LOT of older residents who are not-so-swift, shall we say?  We have a fair amount of feral cats that have all been caught, neutered, vaccinated and returned to their locale.  And additionally, we have a lot of early morning walkers, joggers and some are with and without dogs. What I am saying is there are a ton of slow moving and unsuspecting potential victims of this pack of dogs.

Our neighborhood is older and established and has a lot of great hiding places for wildlife.  I have seen many a deer, possum, raccoon, and foxes.  We also have hawks, buzzards, owls and all the smaller birds.  But a pack of dogs that seem to have teamed up and gone feral?

The local Humane Society is right across the road from us.  And people gather up their unwanted pets and take them over there thinking they can just drop them off.  That's not the way they work.  You have to call ahead, you have to have an appt., you have to be there between certain hours and you have to pay or they won't take these poor animals.  And do you think those people are going to make the appointment and take the pets back home and care for them until the appointed day and hour?

Of course NOT!  They come across the street here and dump them in the green space and think they will fend for themselves.  Like a German Shepard or pit bull has ever lived in the wild and will recall how to find food, shelter and defend themselves.  It is interesting that domesticated animals that have no idea how to find food and all that will instinctively band together to form a pack and try to survive that way.

I am scared for my little old neighbor who walks all up and down our street every day looking out for all of us.  I am scared for my around the corner neighbor who has taken in so many abandoned little dogs and cats and walks them every day.  And the little kitties who are just trying to keep body and soul together till the end of their days?  Well, this is horrific for them.  They have no safe place to get indoors.

Everyone has called Animal Control Services, but they are so under-staffed who knows when they will get there.  And when they do?  No one seems to know where the dogs are denning up during the day to sleep to even find them.  This is not a good situation and I don't see a good outcome for those dogs at all.

Have any of you dealt with a similar occurence?  I am not sure what to do except to warn my neighbors with small pets, children and the elderly.

My cats have not been outside since this happened and not for the foreseeable future.  And I was looking into putting something out front for the deer as a water source for them, but I think I better not.  As much as I want to help them through this drought, it would be easy for the dogs to use it as an ambush location. And that would just kill me.  Dead.  Good Lord, this is just horrific.

Any ideas?

Lots to tell!

It has been a really long week, which is why I haven't posted anything.  But here goes!  And please forgive the random way these thoughts may jump around, but that is the way my brain works.  If you and I have ever had a conversation you already know this about me and probably expect it.

First and foremost, I want to say this and get it over with.  The Casey Anthony trial just finished.  I obsessed over this damn case since it first happened.  Then there was nothing in the news.  Nothing.  I would search online for what was going on.  Who could believe it was going to take 3 whole years to get to trial?  So when I found that they were going to televise the proceedings I was all over that.  I felt like I had watched this unfold from the beginning and wanted to see it through.

How on earth the state of Florida allowed the only 12 people in this country who didn't think Casey was guilty to be on that jury is a puzzler, for sure.  Were they not seeing the same witnesses I was?  Did they not hear the same testimony?  They found her guilty of 4 counts of providing false information to law enforcement.  Why would she do that?  Was she hiding something?  Like maybe?  Oh I don't know . . .

How about the TRUTH?

The truth of what really happened to Caylee.  Who knows the truth?  Only Caylee, the murderer and God.  Unless the murderer is more than one person.  But by Casey hiding the fact that Caylee was dead for 31 days (which by the way it is ONLY 31 days because Cindy called the cops, NOT because Casey decided to ask for help finding her "missing" child.  It could have been 131 days if not for Cindy.) and then lying to the police and FBI that were now on the case looking for this missing child and leading them on a wild goose chase in all sorts of wrong directions, she sent a clear message that she didn't want them to find the truth.

Why would you do that?  What motivation was there for misleading the very people who were trying to bring your child home?

And this jury saw fit to say Casey was not guilty of 1st degree murder.  She was not guilty of aggravated child abuse.  She was not guilty of manslaughter.

She is only guilty of 4 counts of lying.  It's the motivation behind the lying that they seem to have missed.

My heart just sank when they started reading the verdicts of these charges and I realized that justice would not be served in this case.  That poor tiny child died a needless, senseless death and no one will pay for it.  I was stunned, I was sickened, and this horrible uncomfortable feeling came over me that it is too easy to get away with murder in this country.  I don't want that to be true.

So I am done, D U N, talking, obsessing, thinking about this trial.  I hope Casey never has a day's peace. And I am done.

In other news, I was at a birth this week.  Mom and Dad labored beautifully and were so in tune with each other.  I was so impressed to see him rise to this occasion.  I am never sure about how dads are going to be in birth.  Some tell me ahead of time how they see their role and we get a plan of how to best engage dad and keep him where he is comfortable and still best able to support the mom.  But this guy? He so totally exceeded my expectations.  It was fabulous to watch.  Which brings me to this, why did I have expectations?  I should have an open mind and not set these expectations or limitations for that matter of what I think will happen and how people will behave in labor.  I never want to bring any judgement to a labor.  And I hope I didn't.

We had a very low-key weekend celebrating Mr. Big Ed's belated birthday and also 4th of July.  Lots of grilling of food and just hanging out.  No fireworks around here.  Remember the drought we are having? It's still the worst on record since they started keeping such records.  It is bad.  I could care less about the stupid grass, but I do want there to be enough water to keep our trees sustained and if possible to keep the garden going.

Oh!  remember the silk solar lanterns that I got Mr. Big Ed for fathers day last year?

Here's a look at them from last year:

Well, I got him SIX MORE!!!

We have them hanging in the trees under which we have the new table and chairs.  It was magical sitting out there last night under the silk lanterns.  They have the softest light and they just float in the breeze. Lovely.

In other, other news!  You all know that Sparky and his girlfriend live here, right?  Well, she is a barista at a world-famous coffee shop that shall not be named.  And on Sunday, she found this little stray kitty had wandered up to the front of this coffee shop and was very obviously pregnant and in distress.  So she found a box to put her in and the next thing you know, she is acting as this cat's doula.  2 little babies were born in that box while she continued to talk reassuringly and stroke the new mama kitty.  Awww, it warms my heart to think about it.

She called the humane society who told her they would send someone to get them and foster them.  And you know what?

THEY NEVER SHOWED!!!

What dickheads.  And a co-worker said she would take them to her house but backed out at the last minute.  Yet another dickhead.

We could not in good conscience leave her and those babies helpless in a cardboard box on a busy street, so we are fostering all 3 of them.  We are also looking for a good cat shelter to take them.  If any of you have good advice about this, I would appreciate it.  There is no way I am keeping 3 more cats.  No. fucking. way.  I already have 2 10-year old cats who piss and shed on everything.  I have 2 5-year old cats who kill birds, squirrels, and various wildlife.  I have 2 geriatric 14-year old dogs that are not doing well.  And to top it off I have 4 year old Ernest T. Bass who wants to kill the cats and keeps trying to climb the Alpha pet ladder.  He is on the bottom rung of that ladder and is staying there, so he just needs to get over it.  So no way we are keeping these 3 precious gray stripey kitties.

But they could be yours!  I will post some pictures right away so you can see how absolutely precious they are.  That mama cat is so sweet and loving and just a joy.  And the 2 teensy little 2-day old babies?  O.M.G.!!!  Are they ever adorable.

Be on the lookout for the most awww-inspiring pictures coming soon!!

p.s. Big Brother starts in 2 days.

You'll never guess what I've been doing

No, I am sure no one will guess what I have been doing. Especially not Rachel Pie! She won't guess *this* because she HATES it when I do this. Ha!

That means I have been looking at the local Siberian Husky Rescue sites again. I can't help myself. I love my Husky so much and I would love to have enough of them to pull a sled. My own little dog sled team! Wooo Hoo!! Of course I would have to have wheels on my sled since there is never any snow here. Why do I find myself looking at those sites? It's like I am drawn to them. Someone on the outside just looking at this might say something insane like "LisaPie, why on earth don't you just go rescue a Husky and enjoy it?" To that person I would have to come to my senses and tell them that in addition to the beautiful Husky I already live with, the Princess Nikita Babushka, there are 2 other dogs and 5 cats. Only a certifiable person would actively seek out MORE pets!

In my defense, Princess Nikita Babushka is the only one of this herd that I went looking for and actually paid good money for. Well, that's almost a lie. I did go look for and pay way MORE money for Maxwell Banks II, the old grouchy Schnauzer that is Mr. Big Ed's dog. He was a birthday gift. But all the others are foundlings. We have acquired pets in 4 different countries and if we had lived in 5 or 10 different countries, I can take a wild stab in the dark as to how many MORE pets we would have acquired!

So, this dropping off of pets on my doorstep or near my home is not limited to the current home, this happens everywhere. People need to get over thinking of pets as disposable items and not as living, breathing beings. Jackasses! This is something that I just can't abide. You take on a pet and it is exactly the same as having a 2 year old toddler in your home for the next 20 years. Be prepared for that responsibility and don't take it lightly! I can't stress that enough.

I know most houses look better and more homey with a cat or a dog draped over something, but seriously people! if you can't deal with the feeding, the vet bills, the walking, the interacting and exercising part of it, then you are not a good pet person. Get a plant.

And so I keep looking at the Husky rescue sites wondering how can there be that many people in the world who don't understand what it is to take on the care of another living creature and then just give or throw them away. All these Huskies deserve better. If I won the lottery I am afraid I would buy a lot of property and end up with my little wagon/sled team of rescued Huskies with my Princess Nikita Babushka as the lead dog. I think she would love to be the lead dog in charge of a bunch of other dogs since she is quite the bossy little Princess who always has to have the last word.

I do love my Husky. Instead of adopting another one right now I think I might just make a donation to a rescue group so they can keep doing the good work they are doing. Rachel Pie, never fear, I have not turned your room into a Pink Princess Palace for Nikita yet. And I will do my best to just look at the pictures of the rescued Huskies and pray for them and their foster families. And I will make that donation.