Texas is burning

Tags

austin, austin pets alive, bastrop fire, bastrop shelter evacuation, bastrop sheriff, cats, centexfires, central texas, clara k.showalter, clara showalter, disaster, dogs, finding lost animals, fires, how can I find my missing pet after fire, lost pet in bastrop fire, news, september 2011 fires, temporary fosters, texas is burning, updates, volunteers to find animals left behind

(UPDATED 9/6/2011)

Texas has been praying for rain. We got fire.

Wildfires burn near Bastrop, TX

Since Saturday, September 4th, the Central Texas area has been battling multiple, very dangerous wildfires. Over 14,000 acres are burning, and over 400 homes have been destroyed.

Fire is a primal fear. It moves faster than any man. It leaps highways and explodes trees into flame from a distance. In an instant your life is gone. If you are lucky you’ve managed to escape with important papers and documents. If you are lucky you escape with your life.

Winds are expected to be very high today, keeping the danger up. Even if you are in an area where there are no fires currently, keep an ear on the news. Small brush fires can blow up into major events with these winds.

• If you have pets, consider keeping everyone inside today. Many in Bastrop have lost four footed family members because they were unable to find them when the flames rolled in.
• Have carriers for pets ready. Have medication for humans ready. Put important papers and documents in an easy to access place. If you get the order to evacuate you may need to move fast.
• Update your information with the City of Austin.
• Don’t smoke outside. Seriously. Your butt can start a fire.
• Don’t grill with an open flame.

Donations are needed for both pets and people.

Central Texas Red Cross is taking donations. (Monetary donations only, no goods)

The Bastrop Animal Shelter evacuated 160 animals. Austin Pets Alive has taken many of those animals in. Donations are badly needed. On a personal note, this is the group I work with. All these animals coming from Bastrop aren’t vaccinated. So we are having to vaccinate them. Any little bit helps.

Austin Humane Society took in animals from Bastrop as well. They don’t have a plea up yet, but I imagine they will. 

If you’ve got friends in Central Texas, keep them in your thoughts. If you live in Central Texas, be safe!

(Update- The large dogs from Bastrop are at Austin Pets Alive. Free adoptions today. Cats and small dogs are at Austin Humane Society. Both groups need donations BADLY. The animals from Bastrop are not vaccinated. Monetary donations will help both groups pay for vaccinations. )

(Update 9/6/11- Donations are still badly needed by animal rescue groups. As strays in Bastrop are being found they are being brought to various Austin shelters and groups. Erica with the Bastrop Animal Shelter has a lost and found registry for the animals in Bastrop. If you are missing a pet or have found a pet, please call her at 512-629-3159.)

Update 9/6/11- Number to call if you had animals left behind in Bastrop UPDATE: SEARCH FOR ANIMALS INFORMATION: NEW NUMBER: 512-332-8814
Per Kristine Dupuis: The Bastrop sheriff’s department is taking volunteers to help rescue animals left behind!!!

VOLUNTEERING IN BASTROP INFO: PLEASE GO TO THE CONVENTION CENTER OR PARK ACROSS FROM POLICE STATION, ADDRESSES BELOW.
Per Daisy the Starfish Thrower Just spoke with Bastrop County EOC. They are directing animal search volunteers to go to the dog park across from the police station in Bastrop. Address is 104 Grady Tuck Lane. Their phone # is 512-629-3159, but the mailbox is full.
Jennifer Ripple Convention Center — 1408 Chestnut St 512.332-8984

Snuggle Bug

Tags

do the right thing, dogs, food rules, pets

I often hear people talking about doing the right thing. Problem is when faced with doing the right thing, they will default to easy. There's a thousand excuses, but in the end it's often a case of deciding the cost is too high.

Since I've discovered that my greens from the farmers market are wilting a bit faster than my greens from the plastic grocery store bag, the plan for Wednesday was a trip to restock the greens pile. I shifted my budget accordingly and planned to head out around 3ish. I also needed to get some kitty litter, so I headed out to my local Petsmart to restock.

Now my Petsmart is like many around the country. They do pet adoption events. One of the groups they use is called Austin Pets Alive! This group has the goal of making Austin, Texas a no kill city. Now I've donated to them before. Usually they have a jar out front and I pop in a few dollars when I stop to play with the animals. This particular day was a dog adoption. One of the dogs quickly caught my attention. She was a pit bull puppy, around 8 months old. In typical pit fashion, Snuggle Bug was bouncing around and generally having a wonderful time. Everyone she saw was a play opportunity. Any dog walking by she wanted to go investigate. Total puppy and all personality.

Now I'm not a dog person, but I am an animal junkie. I confess, I fell head over heals. She was just a special puppy. Now I'm smart enough to know that I do not need a dog. More critically, I could see that Snugs would need a very experienced and firm owner to keep her in check. So you may all rest assured, I did not go home with a pit bull puppy. Part of being a responsible animal owner is knowing what your limits are.

The donation sign they had up was asking for money to help buy Snugs an Easy Walk Harness to, "help her learn to walk like a lady." Easy Walk harnesses are designed to go around the chest and keep dogs from pulling. Again, while Snugs was a great puppy, it was obvious she was going to need some work to be adopted. So I dropped a few dollars into the bucket, got my cat litter and went on my merry way.

The problem was, I didn't quite manage to leave Snugs behind. I spent most of the afternoon thinking about here. Now again, no dogs in Chez Clara. I have no dog owning experience, small apartment, and two cats. Odds are much higher that I'll end up with a new cat as opposed to a dog. That doesn't mean I didn't think about her. She'd all ready been returned once. The family who adopted her were letting their 12 year old train her. Needless to say, it didn't work so well.

Now the plan was grocery shopping in the afternoon. I kept thinking about that harness for Snugs. The right thing to do for me was clear. It would be returning to Petsmart and getting the harness for her. On the flip side, that would throw off my food budget. Now I wouldn't starve, but it would mean I'd have to shift to cheaper food source for the end of the week. Now there are good reasons to source food local. It's part of my attempt to make a small difference and it's proving to be fun.

But what makes a greater impact? There was no question at all.

So back to Petsmart it was. Snuggle Bug and the folks from Austin Pets Alive were still there. I walked in, picked out the harness and brought it out. Snugs wasn't overly keen on it to start with, but the handler was. She said it would make a huge impact on helping to get her properly leash trained.

For around $25, I've helped give an awesome dog another chance at finding a forever home. We forget sometimes that it's not always about sweeping, grand gestures. Small things do add up. So I've got to eat a few more beans and some sketchy greens this week rather than grass fed beef and fresh spinach. Tell me what makes a more profound impact to the world around me?

Doing the right thing isn't always the easiest path. End of the day it will allow you to leave the world a much better place then it was when the day started. I may go to my death bed lamenting my failure to always eat perfectly sourced food. I'm not so sure on that one. I will go to my death bed regretting times where I didn't do the right thing for someone in need. It doesn't matter if that someone has 2 legs or 4.

Someone is going to get an awesome puppy. I'm glad to be able to help send her along the way.