Enjoy the Christmas open house at the Shelter for Helpless Animals In Distress (SHAID), 950 Mullock Road, from 1-4 PM on Sunday, 30 November 2008! Call the Shelter at 902-543-4849 for directions or details.Here is a reminder to anyone who isn't on the direct mailing list that the annual SHAID open house is on and needs your support. Dogs and cats to meet, a craft and bake sale, it doesn't get any better than this. And while you're there why not make a donation. Any size is fine. The shelter always needs non-clumping cat litter, tinned dog and cat food, dry food with no dye, small blankets, and Javex for cleaning. Please NO treats because they have plenty. It's the basic necessities of every day life that get short on supply.
To follow up, and for your consideration, here is an article Randy originally wrote and published nearly a year ago that comes out of how we feel about animal shelters, those who are called upon to operate them, and the animals that come into their care ...
Musings on the Subject of Starfishby Randy L. Whynacht
(Originally published 25 December 2007)
As I sit here happy and content on Christmas day 2007, my fiftieth Yule on this earth, I spend a stint at my computer to send a few greetings of the day and sip my hot buttered rum as I reflect on the life the Gods have bestowed upon me. I have a perfect woman who loves me, I'm in excellent health, I have a few people in my life on whom I can bestow the title "friend" without reservation or doubt and who do me the honour of reciprocating in kind, I have a rewarding career, and three incredible dogs one of whom is warming my feet as he sleeps under my desk. In my more than 20 years in the profession of solving other peoples' problems I have been either directly or indirectly involved in saving the lives of many people but it's the animals that have crossed my path that stick with me.
Milo, the one who's under my desk at the moment, came to us at one year of age with less than no respect for human leadership and both Diana and I wear the scars of his education, although Diana bore the brunt of it in his case, and I don't think I misrepresent the situation when I say that we were his only chance. Now this sweet creature sleeps and warms my feet as I write.
Gunner, our newest arrival, was sentenced to death and only lives because a very few special people (you know who you are) cared enough about justice to send him our way. Before that, every human that entered his life had let him down.
Dusty, our grand old man, now 10, came to me as a skinny half grown puppy, the runt of a litter born to a promiscuous mutt named Shadow. Shadow had a wandering nature, was picked up several times by the police in Lunenburg and brought to me in my capacity as temporary shelter for wayward dogs. Shadow fell in love with me, soon figuring out how to bypass the middle man and come straight from home to my door whenever she went on a toot.
One day she showed up to the usual barkfest from my own pack but this time her behaviour was different. Instead of dashing in as soon as I opened the gate she kept looking at me and running over to the green compost bin in the driveway. She obviously wanted me to see something that was behind it so I followed her to find the scrawny frightened little white waif that grew into Dusty. That, my friends, was an honour that still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. I later played a role in saving two more of Shadow's pups from an icy death and finding them good solid homes, but that's a story for another time.
Diana and I have committed ourselves to dog rehabilitation and recommend to everyone that you help out your local animal shelter as much as you can. Find out what they need and make a donation, even a few cans of dog or cat food, whenever and as often as you're able.
So many abandoned and abused animals, so little time and money. A job like this my father used to call, "shovelling shit against the tide." On that note though, here's an illustrative story that has always spoken to me.
Once upon a time there was a young man who went every morning to the ocean to clear his mind with the habit of walking along the beach before he began his day's work.
One day as he was walking along the shore he looked down to the beach and saw a human figure who was moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day, and he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was an old man and that he wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the sand, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The old man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But," said the young man, "Don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish all along it, what you're doing can't possibly make a difference!"
The old man listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the sea. As he watched the small splash he said, "It made a difference for that one."
So now, as the season of Yule, 2008 approaches, I'll end with a photo of Diana , me, and our pack, taken on the thirty-first day of October this year, on the occasion of our wedding. Right to left: Gunner, Diana, Dusty, me, and Milo. Click on the picture to view it full size.
Compliments of the season to you and yours.
Milo, the one who's under my desk at the moment, came to us at one year of age with less than no respect for human leadership and both Diana and I wear the scars of his education, although Diana bore the brunt of it in his case, and I don't think I misrepresent the situation when I say that we were his only chance. Now this sweet creature sleeps and warms my feet as I write.
Gunner, our newest arrival, was sentenced to death and only lives because a very few special people (you know who you are) cared enough about justice to send him our way. Before that, every human that entered his life had let him down.
Dusty, our grand old man, now 10, came to me as a skinny half grown puppy, the runt of a litter born to a promiscuous mutt named Shadow. Shadow had a wandering nature, was picked up several times by the police in Lunenburg and brought to me in my capacity as temporary shelter for wayward dogs. Shadow fell in love with me, soon figuring out how to bypass the middle man and come straight from home to my door whenever she went on a toot.
One day she showed up to the usual barkfest from my own pack but this time her behaviour was different. Instead of dashing in as soon as I opened the gate she kept looking at me and running over to the green compost bin in the driveway. She obviously wanted me to see something that was behind it so I followed her to find the scrawny frightened little white waif that grew into Dusty. That, my friends, was an honour that still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. I later played a role in saving two more of Shadow's pups from an icy death and finding them good solid homes, but that's a story for another time.
Diana and I have committed ourselves to dog rehabilitation and recommend to everyone that you help out your local animal shelter as much as you can. Find out what they need and make a donation, even a few cans of dog or cat food, whenever and as often as you're able.
So many abandoned and abused animals, so little time and money. A job like this my father used to call, "shovelling shit against the tide." On that note though, here's an illustrative story that has always spoken to me.
Once upon a time there was a young man who went every morning to the ocean to clear his mind with the habit of walking along the beach before he began his day's work.
One day as he was walking along the shore he looked down to the beach and saw a human figure who was moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day, and he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was an old man and that he wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the sand, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The old man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean. The sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But," said the young man, "Don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish all along it, what you're doing can't possibly make a difference!"
The old man listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the sea. As he watched the small splash he said, "It made a difference for that one."
So now, as the season of Yule, 2008 approaches, I'll end with a photo of Diana , me, and our pack, taken on the thirty-first day of October this year, on the occasion of our wedding. Right to left: Gunner, Diana, Dusty, me, and Milo. Click on the picture to view it full size.
Compliments of the season to you and yours.
