In addition to the Walk, the event includes Kid’s Corner contests, pet adoptions, raffles, shopping
agility demonstrations, and a microchip clinic.

The fee is $10 for a minimum pledge. Raise a minimum of $25 and receive a free commemorative T-shirt and MEHS dog tag.

To enroll in the Wag-n-Walk or make a donation, visit MEHS.org or call (618) 656-4405.

Please go to the Web site for much more information on this event. With the high price of gasoline and the economy in general, animal shelters need our help more than ever.

Also:
A pet can be the only family an older person may have. Senior Services Plus, 2603 North Rodgers Avenue in Alton, is accepting donations of pet food for the pets of their clients who receive Meals on Wheels. Not only will they deliver the meal to their clients, but leave a little sumpin’ for Fido or Fluffy.
SSP will also accept monetary donations toward the purchase of pet food.
If you have questions, contact SSP at (618) 465-3298.

There’s a raggedy taggedy pack of mixed breed dogs that has been running up and down the streets, through yards, and all around my neighborhood early mornings for the past two weeks. They’re never out at any other time of day, so I guess they’re purposefully let out.

The pack can vary from three dogs that are always together, to five or six dogs, when other smaller, loose (not stray, loose) dogs in the neighborhood join in the “fun.”

There are also two little black pups, perhaps 8 to 10 weeks old, sometimes trailing behind the bigger adults, their little legs pumping, trying to keep up with the “big boys.” If the dogs weren’t such a pain in the ass, it would be funny.

But it isn’t funny. One dog in that pack has charged me three times when I’ve been out walking my dog. I’ve yelled and shouted at her and so far managed to send her fleeing in the opposite direction with her tail between her legs. I just wonder when she’ll get braver and press the issue.

I love dogs, but when dogs are loose, running through a neighborhood, it’s hard to view them as someone else’s beloved pet. They’re a nuisance and dangerous.

By the way, the bulldog that attacked my dog last spring eventually went after a child and was euthanized.

I like Alton. There are wonderful people who live here and the city has amazing potential. But right now in most neighborhoods, it seems more like a town where people do nothing but ride around in cars and throw booze bottles out the window.

If Alton wants to bill itself as a clean, historical river town and attract tourists, city leaders need to get with a returnable bottles law. When you make people pay a nickel or dime deposit at the grocery store on each beer bottle in a six pack, that bottle does not get thrown out a car window. It gets returned to the store. I used to live in a state that was cleaned up almost overnight once a returnable bottle bill was enacted. No more bottles thrown to the side of the road and no more broken glass in street gutters and sidewalks.

In Alton, the little blue recycling bins just don’t work. The slobs who are tossing the bottles don’t care about recycling and you need to hit them in their pocketbooks to make them care.

People get so riled about dog poop and scooper laws. What about all the broken glass?

And for starters, how about the story in The Telegraph on July 3 about the poor woman who lost her toes to her pet dachshund?

It’s important to remember that a disaster doesn’t have to be the result of the forces of nature such as tornadoes, fire, earthquakes, etc. An event such as a hazardous material spill or an industrial explosion could force people and their pets from their homes.

If you have pets in the home and a tornado tears through your neighborhood, what if you aren’t there at the time? If your pet requires medication, do you have extra on hand in case of an area-wide emergency? If you have to evacuate, can you stay with relatives? Which area motels are pet friendly?

If you haven’t thought of these questions before, you need to now. The ASPC  aspca.org) and Humane Society of the United States  hsus.org) have great information on their Web sites on how to plan for an evacuation or in the event pets and their owners have to stay in a damaged home.

Start planning now so your pet doesn’t suffer because you didn’t.

Hope Rescues, Inc., with Traveling Tails Inn, is inviting pet lovers and their four-legged companions to this area’s Chain Off event from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 28. Traveling Tails Inn is located at 2764 Route 66 Business Park in Edwardsville.

During the Chain Off, volunteers will chain themselves to doghouses to raise funds for fencing and to highlight the fact that there are ten of thousands of man’s best friends in a backyard in every state that are chained.

In 2007, Hope Rescues raised enough money, combined it with generous donations, and were able to install three fences for local families enabling them to unchain their dogs. This year, Hopes goal is to raise $1,000 for fencing and install four fences for local families and their pets.

In addition to the Chain Off event, Hope Rescues will have pets available for adoption as well as refreshments, hot dogs, music and games for the pooches.

Any business or individual who would like to donate goods or services or participate in the Chain Off can contact Hope Rescues at (618) 463-9983, or visit www.hoperescues.com.

In case you missed it, the boy was playing in his own front yard when the dog broke loose from a neighbor’s back porch where it had been chained and started biting him. He suffered 20 puncture wounds on his feet and right leg. To compound the injuries, the boy suffers from sickle-cell anemia.

And let’s not forget Lazarus, the black Lab. Lazarus was tied to a tree with a thick, heavy chain and no collar. Over time, part of the chain slowly became embedded deeply in the back of Lazarus’ neck and his skin grew over the metal. By the time he was rescued by 5As Humane Society, he needed months of surgery.

Dogs are pack animals. It is abuse to chain a dog out 24/7. Alton needs to realize this, come into the 21st century, and join other communities that have adopted anti-tether laws.

Go to the Web site unchainyourdog.org. It’s very informative.