...and if you know the anwser, don't tell him!
What is more powerful than God,
more evil that the Devil,
rich people want it,
poor people have it,
and if you eat it, you will die???
I guess this is one of those things that hardly ever happens and when it does you sort of just look on with your head half-cocked wondering...hmmmmm?
The other day I met my six year old in the front yard to receive him off the school bus. As the bus pulled off from the stop I realized that an entire funeral procession was delayed behind the bus (no police escort). There are two nice big spaces to pull off the road from the school to my house (I live about a quarter mile from the school). Was this a rude bus driver? Or, are there rules about pulling the busload of kids over to the side of the road? There can't be, as my oldest son tells me the bus driver pulls over all the time because of unruly kids.
I just sort of stood there, tilted my head to one side and watched as a funeral procession followed the bus to the next stop and once again stopped behind it, a couple of houses down and truly wondered, "What the Heck is she (bus driver thinking)?"
I personally think she could have and should have pulled over...
There was a woman walking along the street one day who was mugged and stabbed, then had a heart attack and fell over into the street. A bus hit her when she fell off the curb.
The witnesses behind her saw the mugging and told police she had been mugged and stabbed and died. They didn't see the bus hit her for all the other traffic. They weren't close enough to know she had a heart attack.
The witness closest to her said he was coming out of a store when he saw the woman grab her chest with pains, but he immediately went back inside the store and dialed 911, so he didn't see her get mugged or hit by the bus. He says she died of a heart attack.
The witnesses on the bus said she fell off the curb and was hit by the bus and died.
None grasped the entire truth, but relayed accounts as they percieved them. However, ultimately all were right...
I apply this to our diverse religions now days. We may all be ultimately right, even without grasping the entire truth of God, the bible, and it's meanings. Who of us are witnesses to the mugging, the heart attack, and the traffic accident...
OH...and what if the woman had a brain clot and the stress from events is what killed her??? Well, dang, we'd alll be wrong!
Here's the arcticle that was online this morning in the TimesNews:
Lee Dickinson hoped that going public with the story about his dog Petey, who was euthanized an hour after he was surrendered to the Alamance County animal shelter last month, might keep other dogs from meeting the same fate and their owners similar heartbreak.
Dickinson, a sophomore at Elon University, never thought the story published in the Times-News March 5 would generate as much response - outrage, compassion and blame - from the public as it did. As of Wednesday, there were more than 150 comments on the Times-News Web site. The incident also became a topic on a local talk radio show.
Now, policy changes at the shelter will make consequences for surrendered animals clearer.
Some people called Dickinson an irresponsible pet owner for surrendering his American bulldog mix to the shelter in the first place. Dickinson, who recently transferred to Elon University from Arizona State, made that decision after the neighbors in his apartment complex repeatedly complained that Petey barked every time Dickinson wasn't home.
Others sympathized with the young pet owner, who believed that because Petey was vaccinated and neutered he would be adopted from the shelter, and were angry that the shelter euthanized the dog so quickly.
Less than three hours after Dickinson surrendered the dog Feb. 20, he had second thoughts and had a friend return to the shelter to pick up the dog for him. That's when he learned that Petey had already been euthanized because there wasn't enough room at the shelter.
The experience prompted Dickinson to contact the Times-News to make sure the same thing didn't happen to someone else. Dickinson's willingness to share his story also proved to be an opportunity to educate Alamance County residents about overcrowding at the animal shelter.
In addition to criticizing Dickinson, the public also took issue with the animal shelter, blaming employees of Burlington Animal Services for the number of dogs euthanized at the shelter on a daily basis. Following a talk radio show, several people called the shelter and hung up. Some called shelter workers names and used expletives, said Burlington police Capt. Greg Seel, who oversees the shelter.
"I think the shelter got the brunt of the public's reaction to this," Seel said. "They have no control over the number of animals that come in that shelter. ... They don't fill those runs and cages up with dogs and cats. Anybody that points the finger at animal services as being responsible for this problem is misguided and incorrect. You should commend them for being able to go to work every day and be able to work with a very difficult situation."
Seel met with Dickinson Tuesday to explain the policies at the shelter as well as the animal overcrowding issues that the animal shelter - which houses dogs and cats from Burlington, the county and other smaller cities in the surrounding area - faces. He also wanted to hear from Dickinson to see if there was something animal services could have done better when dealing with the public.
"I wanted to make sure he understood as best as we could relay to him why this happened and the situation the shelter was in," Seel said. "In our opinion, this is as much of a community problem as anything. It's not that we were not aware of the problem. We were doing what we could to alleviate the issues down there."
While officials at animal services are sorry that they had to euthanize Petey, they have maintained that euthanization is always a possibility when a dog ends up at the shelter. Frequently, owner-surrendered pets are first to go when room is an issue because there are no state statutes or policies requiring that the animal shelter hold the dog for any period of time. They must hold stray dogs for 72 hours and dogs that have bitten someone and may not have a rabies shot for 10 days. Dogs that are part of a court case must be held until that case is completed.
Even so, the animal shelter is making some changes. The wording of the "affidavit for release of ownership" form will be changed and signs - in both English and Spanish - will be posted in the lobby of the shelter to let people know that owner-surrendered dogs could be euthanized if space is an issue.
Dickinson signed the affidavit, surrendering ownership of Petey, but he didn't know that Petey would be euthanized, he said. The form stated in bold print: "I do hereby give animal control full and complete authority to make the final disposition of said animal in whatever manner said animal control shall deem fit." The new forms will add "including euthanization" to the end of that statement.
If the form that Dickinson signed had "including euthanization" on it, he said, he would have found another option for his dog.
"It would have made a big difference for me," he said. "It really shouldn't be something you have to read between the lines for."
The change is to eliminate confusion, Seel said.
"If the shelter is full and there is no space for an animal to come in, even if it is adoptable, people need to know that euthanasia may be a possibility," he said. "If you don't want to take that risk, you need to consider other options."
Seel also provided Dickinson with shelter reports and statistics. In 2006, 7,223 animals were taken into the shelter with 851 getting adopted. That number rose to 8,605 in 2007 with 822 adoptions. More than 6,060 animals were euthanized in 2007.
THE SHELTER, which in the past relied solely on a gas chamber to euthanize animals, also is in the process of transitioning to euthanization by injection, Seel said.
In August of last year, Burlington City Manager Harold Owen set up a county-wide animal task force made up of elected officials from Burlington, the county and surrounding cities as well as representatives from local animal-welfare groups and other concerned residents to look at the issues facing the animal shelter and to determine immediate and long-term needs.
An affordable option for people to spay and neuter their pets is among the issues the task force is addressing.
Dickinson, who is from Oakland County in Michigan, where the euthanization rate is much lower than it is in Alamance County, said he appreciated the fact that Seel shared all the information with him.
"He treated me with respect and answered all my questions," Dickinson said. "I don't think he was trying to hide anything."
Dickinson said the task force's plan for affordable spay and neuter is more of a long-term approach of looking at the problem, and he is interested in see some quicker changes.
"There isn't much short-term or immediate action plan," Dickinson said.
In the meantime, Dickinson expects to do what he can to help alleviate some of the animal overcrowding problems the county faces. He plans to start at Elon University by raising awareness of the issue and with fund-raising events.
"It's a lot bigger problem than I ever thought it was," Dickinson said.
I understand that the Shelter has a maximum limit they can hold. What I don't understand is how this dog was put to sleep in under THREE HOURS!!! Poor thing didn't have a chance to get adopted. I think it would have just been 'nice' , 'professional', and in true 'animal lover fashion" to have told the owner he had a better chance of adopting the dog out at Humane Society, (five minutes up the road) or Greensboro, or putting an ad in the paper. How about this? There are persons all the time who call vets and local shelters waiting for a certain breed, sex, or demener of dog...was this list checked? Was the foster list full? Did they exhaust every avenue before they put this dog down? UGH...this really gets my goat.
So the 911 tapes have been released, revealing that zoo personel did not take pleas for help seriously... said the kids must be on drugs...
Zoo officials and security were obligated to check this out! I don't care what they "thought'!
Who cares? If I have a gun and some one calls me and says my gun has shot someone- well dang it - I am gonna go check it out ! I don't care if the gun is in a safe and I hold the key!!!
Also, retaining walls were reported to be several feet shorter than 'retaining wall guidelines'...
Outragous!
No matter how smart you are and how persuasive you words are, no matter how passionate your good intentions are: if you present youself in a manner that puts down others, downgrades them, or dismisses their own opinions, you will fall onto deaf ears.
If you really would like to make a statement, or make a stand, try doing so in a manner that will make people proud of you, make them talk about you ina positive light. Perhaps you are only trying to stand out...atleast that was my impression.
I found this the case on several blogs, where opinions were dismissed or badly critisized by long rants, essays with bibliographys, quotes, and (lol) really big words. I felt bad for the bloggers who put their opinion out there only to have it over-analyzed, over-exaggerated, and under-appreciated.
The Fox 8 Weather Ducky had been quackynapped and is being held at a secure location in exchange for snow in the amount of six inches.
Quackynapper wants to assure the Weather Team that the Ducky is alive and healthy at this point in time, however, if snow is not received by Thursday, safe return of the Ducky is unlikely.
Please do not alert quackynapper-authorities, as this may result in Ducky being squeeked.
