March,  2006

Dear Friends:

Another winter is almost gone, and it was high time! Hopefully the picture above will be the last one of 2006, showing snow in Clinton. I wanted to share the photo with you: I think it is so cute – Ruthann’s daughter giving hugs to our boy Dante, the one with the Elvis Presley smile, and behind her our Eskimo Sammy, playing peek-a-boo. Yes, our Shelter-critters are very lucky to be part of the Charley Strays family; they do get lots of attention and playtime!

The pit bull named Titan, who found his way accidentally through the Airline-mess-up to Charley’s, seems to be so happy and content that we decided to keep him. Ted called me last week, saying: “I was at the Shelter today and after tucking them all in for the night, I watched Titan for a while. He seems to be the happiest one of the bunch, content with chewing on a bone, or chewing on his blanket. He does not shred his blankets like Hershey did, but just chews on them. He loves to watch us when we do our chores in the kennel. God only knows what kind of life he had in New Orleans." Well, I rather would not know -- if a dog is so happy and content being at our Shelter, his life could not have been too good.

Mark, the guy who was rescuing animals in New Orleans for six weeks after the Humane Society left, told me that Titan was tied up in a back yard. He was a bundle of skin and bones, most of his fur gone, and in horrible shape. So he probably never had much human contact, or special little things done for or with him.

When Ted was giving out treats in the form of “Oreo cookies for dogs” to the dogs, Titan got so excited over the taste of them, that, when he dropped a crumb and it fell outside of his run, he stretched his leg out through the fence as far as possible to get THAT CRUMB! I am not quite sure which one of our donors sent us these cookies, my guess is the four-legged friends of Iris Martinello, “Sidney" and "Buck” sent them (they mailed us a box full of cat and dog treats).  These goodies seem to be heaven for our dogs. After Ted told me about them, I went on the Internet to find them. They are so high priced, that we can only buy a few for Easter, or Christmas, or when we have a birthday party for a dog

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Just in case you are interested for some for your own pets, here is the website: www.threedog.com. Phone number 1-800-487-3287. They use only natural ingredients to bake these cookies in a bakery for human goodies, and the dogs absolutely love them. They have several different types to choose from. We got the Lick’n Crunch Peanut Butter cookies, order no. 13116. Any leftover crumbs are greatly appreciated!

March was a very busy month at the Shelter. Thanks to our website on the Internet, and to Ruthann and Ted, the three new dogs Abby, Tye and Angel who came in last month were placed. Ruthann did lots of crosschecking, to make sure the applicants were worthy of our dogs. The highlight of the month, however, was the adoption of our pit bull girl, Hershey, who had been with us for six years. She had been brought to us those many years ago as a pup -- actually she had been dropped off at the vets with Parvo, and never been picked up. The vet had asked us to take her in. Anyway, Hershey now lives with a couple in Bangor. She has the run of the house and their bed, and is in seventh heaven! Ted placed our German shepherd girl, the one who had been kicked out by her owners when she was only a year old. So now we have a bit of breathing room at the Shelter again. I am certain that will not last long. Ruthann has established a tender relationship with the Waterville Humane Society; hopefully they will give us the option of taking some of their animals, before they kill them.

Odds and ends news:

I am running low on stamps again, so, you know the old story about holding up your local Post Office and so on. I can’t do it, since I still have only German citizenship, the US will deport me as a terrorist, if I get involved in that. Oh, I have a funny story for you: When we were in Florida, I collected shells. I mailed a bunch to someone, but didn’t think of putting them into a plastic bag before stuffing them into a box. At 10 o’clock at night the Post Office called us, asking what the white stuff was which was leaking out of the box. They had “Anthrax”-suspicion! After clarifying that it was only sand, they were satisfied. And I was lucky that they did not send the FBI to us, I guess! Also in much demand are rawhide chewies, and of course the left over crumbs from the Three Dog Bakery.

Cindy Houston called with some disturbing news: She was going to set up the room again for our fundraiser at the Ramada/Radisson/Holiday Inn, or whatever it is called now, but I guess the many changes into different owner hands took its toll. The manager told Cindy that the price just went up from $50 to $240, for renting the room for a half a day! He could have cared less that we are a non-profit animal shelter. So Cindy of course had her little say, and she is now getting the whole basement for us at the local church; including kitchen, bathroom, and as many tables and chairs as we want. The only worry I had was about finding the church easy from the highway exit, that was no problem either – it’s a straight shot, and easy to get to. And the best thing; the church charges nothing, and is happy for any kind of donation. I still have to find out if it has wheelchair access, but I am pretty sure it does since it is used for all kinds of different get-togethers.

Sad news: Ted lost another dog, "Max" the German Shepherd, who had been at Charley's for several years with his brother Rex. Rex died shortly after Ted took him home; Max enjoyed several more years to the ripe old age of 14. So now poor Ted has only two dogs left, and "Honey Bunny", the little rescued rabbit. But there is another dog, or two, waiting somewhere for Ted, I am sure.

And to give everybody something to smile about, here is something from a friend of mine:

On the first day, God created the dog and said: “Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a lifespan of twenty years."

The dog said: “That’s a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I’ll give you back the other ten?”

So God agreed. On the second day, God created the monkey and said: “Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I will give you a twenty-year life span.”

The monkey said: “Monkey tricks for twenty years? That’s a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back 10 like the dog did?”

And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said: “You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmers family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years.”

The cow said: “That’s kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I’ll give back the other forty?”

And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:  “Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I will give you twenty years."

But man said: “Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back, that makes eighty, okay?”

“Okay," said God, “You asked for it."

So that is why the first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.

CAT REPORT – MARCH 2006

with a photo of our “Firecracker” who is looking for a good home!

This month another friend, Kathy Glenn-Lewin, gave our cats some nice food that her cats turn up their noses at. It was a special bonus: Our Baby didn’t feel good, and one of the few foods that she felt like eating was the dry Fancy Feast Kathy brought. Baby also insisted that she was comfortable only in one of the new pet beds from Carol Jarosz; so when other cats beat her to the two I had in the dining room, she sat looking unhappy until I got her a fresh one.

Baby had a liver infection, which appears to have responded to antibiotics, and high blood pressure, for which she’s on medication daily. She seems to be back to normal now, lively and affectionate.  Dr. Balboni always warns me that these blood-pressure cats are likely to have clots break loose with fast and fatal results, so I worry a bit more about her than about some of the others – but you never know what will happen to whom. Otherwise our cats seem all right. 

We’ve had sunny days that many of them have enjoyed, some on the porch, some on windowsills, some on pillows or beds or just warm sunlit pieces of floor.  The porch is more entertaining now – often I see a group of cats staring intently at a robin or a chickadee.  I look forward to nights that are mild enough so I can leave the porch door open and let them sleep out when they feel like

The Charles’ cat continues to give us canned food every week, and Teresa and her family donated supplies and coupons and are always available when I need extra hands. As always, your donations are essential to keep the cats and dogs fed and warm and the veterinarian happy (the cats’ spring house call is coming up, too).

One more reminder for those of you who, like me, haven’t finished your Maine income-tax forms yet: Please don’t forget to donate to the Companion Animal Sterilization Fund check-off.  That program helps low-income people get their cats and dogs spayed or neutered, and it always has more applications than money. As of mid-February, a total of 1,174 vouchers had been issued to cover most of the cost of a spay or neuter.  (The applicant has a small co-pay.). Almost half the vouchers, 49%, were for female cats and another 30% for male cats. So out of every dollar you give, about 79 cents (a bit less, actually, because big dogs cost more than cats) will go toward helping control cat overpopulation, which is a major problem not just in my house, J but all over Maine.

Betsy Anderson, Framingham

Beverly Maheu, China Vill.

Carole Parker, Stoughton

Cindy Houston, Woburn

Cristine Cardello, Melrose

Donna Bering, Saugus

Doris Lary, Hartland

Dorothy D’Alessandro, Ossipee

Dorothy Eckstein, Medford

Dorothy Watkins, Amesbury

Elizabeth Fay, Northport

Enid Hayes, Halifax

Florence Mason, Lexington

Harriet Snyder, Brockton

Iris Martinello, Tewksbury

Irma Simon, S. China

Jean & Ralph Catignani, Conway

Jim Lavita, Dennis

Joe Arouca, Ormond Beach

Joe D’Alessandro, Tuftonboro

Jon & Barb Anderson, Augusta

Joseph Blake, New Bedford

Josephine Ford, Holden

Judith Crosby, Belfast

Judy & Al Smith, Belmont

Judy Rohweder, Northport

Kay Stewart, Charlestown

Linda Merriam, Dresden

Lisa Monmarquet, Raymond

Lorena & Harry Clark, Beverly

Marcia Smith, Bucksport

Marian Delarue, Woburn

Mark Resendes, Revere

Marlene Kaplan, Melrose

Mary Klayda, Winchester

Michael Kane, Greenwood

Mildred Walker, Presque Isle

Nancy Capone, Wakefield

Naomi Teixeira, Jay

Patricia Thaine, N. Billerica

R.D. Bournival, Palm Beach G.

Roberta Chaves, Westport

Roger Ellis, Holden

Rust Pappathanasi, Swampscott

Ruth McKinney & Charles Ames

Viola McDonald, Woburn

Werner Eckstein, Woburn

Willa Rockett, Belmont

Inge Maiellano, Marblehead

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Jim Lavita mailed us a donation “as a little gift" in the names of “CC” the cat and "Fred" the turtle. A great friend of animals is Gino Pariseau, who looks for strays and feeds them. Thank you Jim, and thank you, Gino, for loving them.

Mary Klayda mailed us a donation in memory of Frank, her late husband, and Chin, her 24-year-old cat, who passed away recently.

This pretty well covers this month’s news. All of us at Charley's Strays wish you a great spring!

Gabriele, Mary, Karen, Ruthann, Ted, Mike, and Jim

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