The story in the April 25 issue of The Telegraph about the 100 plus dogs seized from the horrific conditions at a kennel in Jersey County was too tragic for words.

The state and county enforcement agencies, together with the area animal humane organizations, deserve high praise for coordinating their efforts to achieve one goal: the rescue, medical treatment, and eventual adoption of the dogs. Not an easy task, considering the condition of the kennel and the number of dogs involved.

Too bad our area humane organizations can’t work as well together all the time, whether it involves one animal or 100.

Maybe it’s because they are vying for the same piece of the pie, donations. Operating a nonprofit agency is difficult at best and probably even harder when it involves animal welfare, which, to some people, is low on their priorities when compared to human heart disease or cancer. The need for the donation of money and other items never goes away.

Whatever the reason, the community as a whole suffers when different organizations in the same business, trying to accomplish the same thing, adopt an “us vs. them” attitude with each other. After a while the jabbing, finger pointing and allegations take on a life of their own, the issues become personal, and the drama of the personal issues becomes more important than the reason the organizations exists. The result is the credibility and reputation of the organizations suffer. Much like politics, the public gets weary of chest thumping and a negative campaign. The potential exists of turning off valuable potential volunteers and donations.

Credibility is achieved by maintaining an open, honest, and most of all, modest relationship with other organizations, agencies, and the public. Once credibility is established, the donations should be easier to obtain.

The Telegraph community needs every one of its humane organizations. Until all the kennels like the one in Jersey County are put out of business, people stop abusing and abandoning animals, and the majority of people start to spay and neuter their pets, that need will never go away. They could best serve the public by maintaining an open dialogue with one another and helping each other out along the way.

Once I determined my dog’s butt was in one piece, I carried him home.
It was a Sunday, so instead of calling animal control, I immediately called the police department. An officer responded quickly and took the situation seriously. He said that a report would be filed and the owner of the bulldog would be ticketed.

When I was able to take my time to examine him, I found Jakers did suffer a tooth puncture on the outside of one hind leg and a terrible bruise on the inside of the same leg. He had bloody claw (or tooth) scrapes on the other hind foot and both front feet. The next day, Monday, I called the vet and got antibiotics and painkiller for him. I also called animal control and told them the story.

Later in the week, I double-checked to see that a report had been filed by the officer. There was and I now have a complete copy of it to put with my dog’s records.

The best information I could find on what else I could do was on the Web site www.pawperouspets.com The Web site is operated by PawFriendly.com, a community Web site. There were all kinds of resources in the case of attacks on people, but precious little about when dogs attack other pets.

Neighborhood scuttlebutt has it that this is not the first time this bulldog had escaped its yard. Please people, if a dog in your neighborhood attacks your pet or is loose and seems threatening in any way, call animal control or the police department. You may not only save another pet from harm, but a child.

I wrote in an earlier blog of the dogs wandering loose in my neighborhood and the fear I had of a serious fight occurring between my dog, Jakers, and another dog. I didn’t think it would be so soon and I thought it would be a stray, not a dog in a fenced yard.

Recently, I was walking Jakers, my 23-pound terrier mix, when a 93-pound American bulldog nosed its way out from under a wood fence and came charging out of its yard, heading straight for my dog.

I did exactly what you’re not supposed to do: I picked Jakers up and tucked him under my arm. What else was I supposed to do? Leave my dog on the ground and let him be torn to shreds? Aren’t we supposed to try to protect something weaker than ourselves?

I stood planted to the ground, screaming my lungs out while this dog lunged again and again at my dog’s rear. As the bulldog lunged, I would twist my body, hoping to throw off its aim. I was terrified Jakers’ rear legs and hind end were in shreds.

After what seemed like an eternity, the bulldog’s owner came running out of the house and dragged it off.

In my next blog — what I did.

Easter is upon us once more, but it should be standard practice all year to keep candy away from your pet. At the very least, it could make your pet sick, but chocolate is downright dangerous for a dog. The darker the chocolate, the more hazardous it is.

It’s been on Web sites for the last two days now, but with all the depressing news about global warming, it’s exciting and encouraging that scientists have perhaps discovered new species of marine life after exploring the Ross Sea. Also, the size of the starfish, jelly fish, and other sea life they found apparently was a suprise to them. Just think, a jellyfish with 12 foot tentacles. Maybe there is a Loch Ness monster after all.

For an update on what has happened to some of the pit bulls seized from Michael Vick, visit the Web site bestfriends.org. (You can find this sight in the lower right hand section of this page under Blogroll.) It’s heartening to see that some of these dogs are being well cared for and getting some TLC.

Area pet news:
Love a Golden Rescue Trivia Night: 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 29, American Legion Post 648,
1428 Scenic Hill Dr., Grafton; fee for a table of eight is $80; doors open at 6:30 p.m.; applications available at loveagolden.com.

Hope Animal Rescue Trivia Night: 7 p.m. April 5, American Legion in Edwardsville. Teams of 6 to 8 people at $120 a team. Teams can register at www.hoperescues.com or at the door.

Metro East Humane Society’s third annual Rescue Rendezvous: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 26, Traveling Tails Inn, Edwardsville. No admission charge. Pets from area shelters and rescues will be on site with animals looking for permanent homes. Vendors will be available with pet related products and services.

Staunton Girl Scout Troop 330 is trying to earn their Silver Award by collecting needed items for the animals at the Benld Adopt A Pet shelter.
The Troop is asking people to donate Dawn dishwashing soap, 3.5 floppy disks, mops, brooms, dog/puppy food, cat/kitten food, antibacterial hand wipes, ferret beds, trash bags, jars of baby food (banana, yogurt, chicken or veal), throw rugs with no rubber backing, stamps, paper towels, paper plates, towels, blankets, Pedialyte, dog collars (small and medium), bleach, and aluminum cans for recycling. They are also planning to make blankets for the animals from any donated fabric or material.
Other items on the shelter’s wish list are a new computer, portable cage dryer, electric clippers, a printer/copier, and a heavy duty washing machine.
Smaller items that are donated can be left in a box at Casey’s General Store, 725 Macoupin Street in Staunton.
For donations of larger items, call Adopt A Pet at (217) 835-2538, for arrangements.

I know I have written about Uno before, but I thought I was the only fool in the world that would get such delight out of a small-town dog and his accomplishments. I guess I was wrong.

Since Uno, Belleville’s beloved beagle, won Best of Show at Westminster, the month of March has been declared Uno Month in Illinois (after all, he put Belleville in the nation’s limelight), Oprah has called him, the St. Louis Cardinals want him to chase the first ball, the White House wants him to visit, and he’s going to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. (He has retired from the show ring, but with all this publicity, he wouldn’t have time to work anyway.)

Is all the fame because Uno is the first beagle to win Westminster or because he’s a beagle? Would there have been as much to-do if a poodle had won Best of Show?

I admire and respect most breeds, from the Chihuahua to the Irish wolfhound, but I love it that Uno represents the hounds, a group of dogs that aren’t carried in a handbag or pocket, clipped, primped, fluffed, and styled and have no unusual characteristics of the breed like no fur or floppy skin.

During our work-a-day world, with all the technology driving us nuts, all the hype coming at us from every direction to buy stuff we think we need, Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, and presidential election craziness, if just for a moment, maybe Uno brings us back to basics. I think Uno has given us more than he knows.

Items of interest:

Love a Golden Rescue Trivia Night; 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, March 29, American Legion Post 648,
1428 Scenic Hill Dr., Grafton; fee for a table of eight is $80; doors open at 6:30 p.m.; applications available at loveagolden.com.

Hope Animal Rescue “Save a Litter, Fix Your Critter” Trivia Night; 7 p.m., American Legion in Edwardsville; teams of six to eight people, $120 per team. Teams can register on the Web site, www.hoperescues.com, or at the door.

When I was very young, I loved to spend a summer’s evening catching toads and the bigger, the better. My father built a small cage for me to keep them in, which my family dubbed “the toad cage.”

One day, I put a clod of grass in the cage with a toad I had caught the night before. Just as I had hoped, a big old bug came crawling out of that clod and started running around the bottom of the cage. I thought if I just sat and waited long enough, maybe that toad would behave as I had seen in nature movies. Just maybe it would flick its tongue, grab that bug and eat it. It must have been a hungry toad because I didn’t have to wait very long. Just like in a National Geographic special, that tongue flicked out and the bug was gone in a flash. I felt privileged to have witnessed it.

When I spied the story on the Internet about the Devil Toad (or Beelzebufo) fossil that scientists found in Madagascar, I was curious. (Below is a reconstruction of what he must have looked like, with a pencil and present day toad for comparison.) What a toad it was! Scientists believe it weighed about 10 pounds, was 16 inches long, had a wide mouth and powerful jaws, as well as teeth. A little different than the garden variety I use to spend a summer’s night looking for.

On a different note, as much as I was glad that Uno, the Belleville bred beagle, won Westminster’s Best of Show last week, I am fearful that shelters will be overrun with beagles that were given up because the glamour and cuteness wore off. It always happens. When the movie “101 Dalmatians” came out, shelters found themselves saddled with Dalmatians because everyone wanted one, only to find that the dog was not what they had envisioned.

Please people, do your homework. Make sure the beagle, or any breed, fits your lifestyle before you take on the responsibility.

In the previous blog, I mentioned that Uno, a beagle co-owned and bred by Kathy Weichert of Belleville, was up for top honors, Best of Show, Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Westminster Dog Show in New York City.

He won the Best of Show and is the first beagle ever in the history of Westminster to do so.

I love it when the underdog wins.

Smooch Your Pooch at PETCO Valentine’s Pet Party, Best Kiss Contest

ALTON — Nothing says “I love you” like a big slobbery kiss from your favorite furry Valentine. Pet parents can smooch their pooch, cuddle their cat or hug their hamster at PETCO’s Valentine’s Pet Party at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9.
The event, sponsored by Hill’s Science Diet, will be held at PETCO locations nationwide. Festivities will include a best pet kiss contest, where pets and their parents can show their best public display of affection (for furry friends only). The top smoochers will be awarded a bag of Science Diet Oral Care Dog or Cat Food and a tin of Yip Yap breath fresheners for dogs. Following the contest, pet parents can return the favor and decorate a heart-shaped cookie for their special friend.
At the event, attendees will pose with their pet and get a free commemorative Valentine’s Day photo frame. Pets can “personalize” a Valentine’s card with their very own paw-print “autograph” and PETCO’s groomers will treat pets to a Berry Love spritz and stylish red or pink hair ribbons.
For more information or to find a PETCO near you, visit PETCO.com.

First, let me say that I am not bashing veterinarians. The equipment and medications that go with operating a veterinarian’s office cannot be cheap. In addition, if my dog has a particular problem, I expect the vet to be aware of the latest information and treatment for that problem, just as any human would if they visited a doctor. This means a vet’s education is never ending. Another expense.

I suspect, like a gallon of gasoline or milk, the cost of providing medical care to pets is going up. Like any other business, the vet has to pass that cost on to customers.

Fortunately, I have a healthy mixed breed mutt. He usually goes once a year to the vet for his annual vaccinations, heartworm, and exam. His visits in between are very few and have been for relatively minor maladies. Nonetheless, on those occasions where I have taken the dog to the vet, I found the cost of just the office visit higher than the last one.

In retrospect, I wonder what I would have done had he been a dog with constant ear infections, diabetes or some other problem that needed constant monitoring and medication. He’s 12 years old now and, just like humans, becoming more prone to dreaded diseases like cancer. Will I be able to afford the kind of care I would like to give him? Because I lack the income someone else might have to afford longterm treatment, will I have to make the decision to put him down?

Will there come a day when a person of limited or modest income have to forgo the compansionship of a pet because of the expensive involved? Has that day already come?

In reference to the fire in Brighton that, allegedly, a dog started by knocking over a kerosene lamp: Hey, dogs are still man’s best friend. Humans are supposed to be smarter than dogs. Why was the kerosene lamp left where the dog could reach it to knock it over and start a fire? Just a reminder folks. When you have a pet that can get in trouble roaming the house alone, treat the household as if you have a toddler and pet proof it.

There is a television commercial for a rug cleaner, where a little boy hollers for his mom to “check out Toby’s new trick.” Mom is horrified because Toby is scooting his butt across the carpet. Poor Toby. Toby might be scooting because he needs his anal glands expressed. My dog has a minor problem with them and I try to get it tended to about every six months, otherwise the potential is there for the glands to become impacted. (Yuck) Some dogs have a problem with it; other dogs never have a problem. Several years ago, I asked a vet about having the glands removed. The answer I got was “Oh, you do NOT want to do that.” It seems vets in the past haven’t liked to do it unless it’s an extreme case because of the potential of nerve damage. The dog might lose control over his bowels. (Again, yuck.) Last month, I took my dog in to have his “butt squeeze” and found out that there is a totally new procedure for it that is simpler and not as scary as the old one. My dog is 12 years old now, so I’d have to weigh disadvantages, advantages, cost and his age. But for people out there who have dogs that really suffer from it and keep “doing a Toby” across the white, plush carpet, call Dr. Formea in Alton. He went to Kansas City last summer to learn this new procedure.

I was worried about the safety of pet toys long before the China scare. I would check out a stuffed dog toy for toughness, stitching, and parts that an animal could swallow like I was going to give it to a baby. Now with the fear of lead-tainted pet toys, what is one to do? I fooled around on the Internet and the most interesting Web site I found with USA (and organic) products for the whole family was ourgreenhouse.com. It may seem a bit pricey, but I’d rather pay more money for a product I had reasonable assurance was safe. And the by-product of shopping this way? It’s eco-friendly.

If you have a favorite pet organization (or other charity or school) you would like to donate to, check out GoodSearch.com. The Telegraph was tipped off to this search engine through an e-mail.