Shelter Life from Shorty's Point of View

Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way...
I could eat every cookie that is sitting on that tray!

"Shorty! Don't even think about it!"
Not even one?
"No, not even one. You and Sam both know, that those cookies are for the Holiday Open House, so PAWS OFF! Now I have to get a few other things done. Can I trust the two of you to leave those cookies alone? I know it is tempting, and if I could I would move them, but with the holiday decorations laying all over, I don't have any other place to put them until the decorations are up."
Don't worry, you have our word on it.
"OK, I am holding you to your promise. I'll be back in a little while."
Boy, looking at those cookies made me so hungry, but we promised not to touch them and a promise is a promise. Hmmmm..... do you see what I see sitting on the desk, a delicious looking sweet roll!! Sam, are you thinking what I'm thinking? He said don't touch the cookies but he didn't say anything about that sweet roll. Sam, I'll split it with you.
Shorty, I don't know if we should do that.
No offence, but dogs can be so indecisive. You have to seize the opportunity, and that opportunity is now! Anyway, if we get all these decorations up, he won't be mad.
Well Shorty if you're sure we won't get in any trouble.
Sam, if we just sit around waiting for you to decide, the sweet roll will be stale and the only thing you will be able to do with it is play catch!
Catch is fun!
UGH see what I mean about dogs! Here Sam, catch this, you can eat this half and I'll eat the other half.
Okay Shorty, if you insist. CHOW TIME! Boy, that tasted good.
Sam, how could you have enjoyed that, when you just swallowed it whole?
Shorty, I can't help it that you take your sweet time. Uhoh, I hear footsteps... I better help you hide the evidence - GULP!
Sam, did I ask you to do that? Good grief, now lick your lips so all those telltale crumbs are gone.
Slurrrrpppp! Slurrrrrppppp!
YUCK, Sam, I didn't want you to clean my face too! I've been slimed! Ugh dog lips!!

"Well guys, I'm back. Hmmmm, what have you two been up to? I have the feeling that something funny is going on here. The cookies are intact and the office decoratons are up, but something still seems odd. Shorty, you look as though you just had a bath, and Sam, you have that "I didn't do it' look, written all over your face. AhHA, now I see what the two of you were up to, my sweet roll is gone! Where did my sweet roll go??"
Where did your sweet roll go? I never bothered to ask.
"Shorty, that was not funny. I set my sweetroll right here, with the intention of eating it as soon as I got back."
Humph! Number one, that wasn't very nice bringing only one sweet roll when you knew we were here too.
"Well uh..."
Please let me finish. Now number two, as you can plainly see, I did not take your sweet roll, I traded you for it, fair and square! See, I left you a can of cat food in its place.
"UGH cat food!!!"
That is exactly what I said! We ran out of my favorite brand, and that is when the choice became obvious to me. I could not help myself, your sweet roll looked more appetizing, so I switched. I really didn't think you would mind. Anyway I distinctly remember you saying 'Give Shorty anything he wants to eat, so that he gets his appetite back'.
"Okay Shorty, I do admit saying that. I was very worried about you, because you weren't feeling well and lost quite a bit of weight."
Well, now I am feeling so much better, and I do need to put some weight back on; as it stands now it would take two of me to fill out that santa suit at my present size. But tell all my people friends not to worry when they see me, I am back up and around. So for everyone who is coming to our Holiday Open House, please bring me potato chips, cheetos, gourmet cat food, and if you would like my complete list just...
"SHORTY!"
Uhoh gotta run!
Love, Shorty
P.S.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. (Time for my cat nap.)


The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships...

Well not exactly but this is the area winner in the contest the Picture People held. Meet Lilly, who is part of the Murnick Family from Lemont, Illinois. Lilly's portrait will be entered in the national competition, for a chance at winning the $5,000.00 grand prize!
We would like to thank the Picture People for holding the fun event, and for store #179, located in the Louis Joliet Mall for donating the proceeds raised in this area's competition to T.L.C.
So don't miss out on your pets chance of winning next year! Who knows, you could win a bundle!
P.S.
GOOD LUCK LILLY!

Where Are You?
Moving? Please let us know your new address, so we can keep Paw Prints and Shorty's Shelter News coming your way. When we get mail returned, with "moved" written on it, there is not much else we can do but to remove your name from our mailing list. Hope you would miss us as much as we would miss you! Don't let that happen, drop us a line with your new address or jot it down when sending your donation for our furry friends.

Good News For Animals
Effective January of the year 2000, Senate Bill 374 will go into effect. This bill will upgrade the torture of an animal to a criminal offense, Class 4 felony, with a maximum of a $10,000.00 fine and up to 6 years in prison. The law classifies animal torture as anyone who inflicts extreme physical pain on an animal with the intent to increase or prolong the animal's pain, suffering or agony.
Under the new law, which takes effect January 1st, a second or subsequent animal-torture offense will be a class 3 felony, which carries a potential $10,000.00 fine and up to 10 years in prison. This legislation will also call for the party convicted of torturing an animal to undergo psychological or psychiatric evaluation and treatment. House Bill 810 also increases the penalties for further violations of aggravated cruelty against a pet from a misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony.
It's been a long time in coming, but we certainly are glad these new bills have been passed. For years it felt like we were just beating our heads into a brick wall. The mere slap on the wrist did not begin to deter or punish the offender of such atrocities, but now the courts have something to sink their teeth into!

Rufus
We have all had special pets in our lives, and many of us have had to go through the pain of losing them too. A grief envelops you as deeply as if you had lost a member of your family or your best friend, a grief many people do not understand. Please read the following, sent to us by Barbara Cano for all of you to enjoy:
We had a basset hound named Rufus. We called him the "ding dong boy", but I don't know why. He was a very very sweet soul. He never bit man nor beast. When the vet would cut his toenails too short, making them bleed, he would cry and lick the vet. Mean dogs befriended Rufus and turned nice in his presence.
Rufus died yesterday... He was fourteen.
I went for a walk in the park today. The world felt different, changed. There was one less sweet soul. There was a missing piece of the puzzle. It wasn't just "my" world that was different, it was the whole world... everyone's world. People I passed were unaware of the change. They looked so centered, so normal. They didn't know the world was different, for me. I felt so small and alone knowing Rufus will not be at the door to greet me anymore.
I know that when I tell clients that I wasn't in yesterday because my dog died, that will sound small and insignificant to them. Everyone has a dog die at some point. But somehow it feels like no one has ever...or will ever...feel like I do today.
Someone once said that love feels the same way, exclusively belonging to you and you alone. Maybe it's the same. Maybe what I'm feeling is love.
It feels as if I have an aura. And, if that aura is radiating shades of blue there's a red lightning bolt running through the light blue part...clear to the center of my being.
Wherever Rufus is now, I am hoping it is filled with fields of green grass, chew bones, all the treats you can eat and strong legs without arthritis to run in green fields.

The Backyard Dog
Even society's worst criminals...murderers, rapists, etc... Are given warmth, comfort, three meals a day, medical care and exercise
Rex hurt no one. His only crime was being born into a society that regards him as "property", in this case a "guard dog", a warning device. He was sentenced to spend his life at the end of a chain, neglected and largely forgotten. What's been done to him would be considered cruel and unusual punishment if it were done to a human being....even the worst criminal.
If you take a good look around, you will see dogs like Rex, who have spent years at the end of a chain or penned in backyards and junkyards, surrounded by mud when it rains and dust when it is dry. You see them sleeping in crates or rain-soaked houses with a wet, filthy rug for bedding, or shivering in the cold or broiling sun...with nothing to do but pace back and forth by their water bowl, only to find it frozen.
But that is not the worst of it. Dogs are born with a great capacity for love and affection, loyalty and devotion, and boundless energy. Even under the best conditions, a penned or chained dog is deprived of the only two things that make his life worth living....love and companionship.
Please don't do this to your dog. He's no criminal!


Heartworm Woes
This year we have had an unusually large number of dogs at the shelter with heartworm. Many of these dogs were either stray or abandoned; they did not come with any medical history. It came as quite a shock to us when many of the heartworm tests given to these dogs were coming back with positive results. We had one of two options on how to handle this problem, either have the dog euthanized or have the dog treated. Naturally, we chose the latter. There was only one drawback in doing this... cost, but we felt the investment was well worth it. I think you will agree, especially when we were able to get these dogs into loving homes. Your financial support has helped save many dog's lives... thank you once again.

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