DogTales

Friends of BARC is holding a pet adoption event in the Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot at 3102 Kirby at West Alabama on Saturday, March 29 from 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to see some of the great dogs and cats available from BARC. Download the flyer.

Can’t make it to this event? Visit the BARC shelter. You’re sure to find a furry friend while savings a wonderful animal in need!

On Sunday, October 7, 2007, at 4:00 p.m., bring your beloved pet to Houston’s downtown Christ Church Cathedral Bishop’s Courtyard for a blessing in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals, founder of the Order of the Franciscans, and a poet. Pets will receive a St. Francis medal for their collar.

I’ll be there getting my foster dog, Wrigley, blessed. We need all the help we can get.

The Cathedral is a beautiful and historic church in downtown Houston. My husband and I were married there three years ago. If you go, check out the stained glass and woodwork.

I spent most of the day trying to decide if this whole blog thang is for me. I mean, who gives a crap what I might have to say? Will this be like so many other blogs–they start with a bang, then maybe a post or two every six months, if that? I think the turning point in my decision happened after I read the latest on Animal Attraction, Lisa Foronda’s old blog.

The post was bad news–BARC (Bureau of Animal Regulation & Care, Houston’s city pound) is packed to the gills with dogs needing homes. What was so disappointing is that huge amounts of info was missing from the article–Like where’s BARC? How can I contact them? What is the cost of adoptions? Where can I see photos of these animals? Who should I contact about sponsoring or fostering a dog? This blog is on a news web site which I assume is managed by journalists. Leaving out such important facts is just bad journalism. You can see by the comments to that post that there are people who want to help, but have a lot of questions.

I guess that’s where I think I should come in. I’m an animal lover and advocate. I give money to and volunteer with animal welfare organizations. I’ve just started volunteering with BARC. BARC, like most shelters, needs help in so many ways. Maybe I can provide some of the info people need to give shelter pets a second chance and to keep from having pets end up in shelters.

We’ll see how it goes.