Animal welfare

I have always admired people who work for animal rescues and shelters. They devote a lot of time and money for a cause many others are responsible for. Two of our dogs and two of our cats are currently from various local shelters

I thus finally am volunteering, too.I have been volunteering at a local animal shelter for the past two months, ever since I came back from California. I knew this would get emotional and depressing at times, and I was right. But what bothers me more than these homeless animals is the negligence of the people in that town. The stupidity from some of the callers enrages me. And it enrages me even more because these people then pass on their problems to the animal shelter and its volunteers. We are VOLUNTEERS, we earn no pay.

My first observation of the area was that all the dogs we get are unneutered, mostly male. The dogs are allowed to roam the neighborhood and nothing is done about it (nothing can be done about it because there is only one animal control officer for the town of 12,000 and he's busy catching aggressive strays as it is.) unless an animal attacks a person or another animal.

The shelter does not take in surrendered pets, but exceptions are made on a case-by-case incident, such as an owner dying. That happened recently to three youngish cats who then were brought in, traumatized and scared. They eventually settled down and luckily all three were found new homes through a county-wide adoption program.

There is a feral cat problem in town. One woman called and asked if she could drop off two of her dead friend's cats. She was hesitant to tell me the story, but in the course of her oratory she confessed that she didn't have two, but twelve, and that those cats were really hers. "I think it's a sin to neuter an animal" she told me. Oh fine, I thought, and when you get overwhelmed with cats you think you can just dump off all your excess on the city?

The animal control officer is well-known within the community. Everyone calls him by his first name and everyone expects him to take care of the problems. The man is overstressed. I know he's basically kind to the animals, and anything else that may be said about him is probably a vicious rumor.

Just a few days ago while I was at the shelter a woman called. She sounded in distress. "My pet is dying and I need the ACO (Animal Control Officer)to come over and help me!" she told me.
The ACO wasn't in the office, he was perhaps out trapping strays.
"Can't you take him to a vet?" I asked.
"The vet won't take him because the pet needs to be tranquilized."
"I'm sorry, but he isn't here. You are going to have to call the police department and they will dispatch him."
The woman was not pleased. "What am I supposed to do? Take my dog out into the desert and shoot him?"
What did she expect the ACO to do? He doesn't carry drugs or tranquilizers on him as he is not a veterinarian licensed to do so; all he has is a pistol. It sounded like the woman just didn't want to be a responsible
petowner. The woman hung up before I could get the police number.

People drop their unwanted animals at the Safeway in town. We are always getting calls from that area of loose animals running around scared. A few weeks ago two beagle pups were trapped there and brought to the shelter. Both were adopted out but a few days ago two more very similar beagle pups were brought in. They look like they are from the same litter. They are tan and white and bark incessantly. Both are in need of some training.

We also have two vicious pitbulls that were brought in this week. They killed a dog that had gotten into their yard and now the owner of that dead dog wants to sue the owners of the pitbulls. The owner is trying to build a case despite there being a city ordinance about unleashed or unlicensed dogs running loose. The pitbulls will stay at the kennel until this case is resolved. This could take weeks, months. One dog was at the shelter for ten months while his owner was in prison. The dog is now back with the owner, tethered to a shed.

So these are just some of the issues. We have had much luck finding homes for most of the cats and dogs. Ferals are altered and then released nearby. I am fostering three kittens right now that started their life as strays somewhere. I think two of them will make it to loving, affectionate cats.

Another volunteer at the shelter has been there a year and stops by most days to tend to the cats. She is a passionate cat person and is very devoted to them. She is an angel for these animals. Yet she's already burned out from all that she has seen and heard at that shelter. I don't know how long I'll be there, but the friendships I have fostered there have encouraged me to stay on. I was recently asked if I were interested in taking over the job as photographer for the website. I agreed to do that.

We now have eight dogs and six cats at the shelter. We have room for more cats but the dog kennels are getting pretty crowded and loud.

Another trip up Ash Canyon

The original plan was to hike up Carr Peak today, but the road to the upper trailhead is closed. So my alternative plan was to take all the dogs for the much shorter hike up Nipple Peak and see Ash Canyon from the upper trail. This was a hike that I had originally planned for yesterday afternoon, but was held back by a short but intense shower in the upper foothills.

It was in the upper 70s and breezy, but mild with mostly a clear sky.

We got to the trailhead and started the hike at 12:05pm. Sara quickly tired 25 minutes later so we stopped for 20 minutes before tackling the rest of the trail.

The trail wasn't as bad as expected. The bales of hay that the Forest Service had dropped in the upper canyon in July had collected in many crevices, creating a thick, soft mulch layer that retained some rain water. Sara liked that. But I didn't want to sit much and pushed everyone to hike to the ridge, which we made in just over an hour. Despite no serious hike in almost two months, I felt fine. (My big hike is this Saturday with Ellen up Mt Timball, and that is a dogless hike.)

It's been four months since the fire swept through the mountains. Damage to the upper canyon was bad, but there is already so much regrowth. The emory oaks that are standing scorched along the trail are all growing new shoots from the rootbase. Even some manzanita that looked burned is growing a few green branches. It's so odd how life can renew itself.

And thanks to the seeds that the FS also dropped with the hay, there's more grass growing ON the trail now than before. In fact, there was an eerie orange-brown hue in the hills, with black lines caused by the oaks that stood blackened along the way. My photos did the scenery no justice.

We were back home by 3pm. Sadie was still ready to hike some more, but the two older dogs collapsed in the hallway, still breathing hard.

I enjoy this little hike. Once I found my rock of solitude, I sat in the sun while the three dogs rested in the shade of a tall shrub. I looked around me. The vantage point I had didn't show that much damage on the ridge. The fire kept north of Nipple Peak and rushed down Ash Canyon. There were few burned trees on the peak's southern slopes. The trail itself is still very passable although many of the manzanitas are now scorched.

There's even new trash that the Mexicans have been leaving. I found two backpacks full of clothes and empty plastic bottles. A group of 12 Mexicans were rescued from that area a week ago; I wonder if that was their trash?

We never saw a soul. I liked that today. I'm going to start doing more afternoon hikes on days I don't work. I need the mountains like others need a church, and I need to concentrate on getting back into shape.

Ash Creek in Ash Canyon

I didn't work today and decided I needed to get out with the dogs for a quick jaunt up the nearby canyons. I wanted to check out Ash Creek, a lovely three-mile out-and-back hike to the springs and back.

This jaunt would give the dogs and me some exercise as well as let me see some flood damage from the recent rains.

All three dogs were clearly ready for a decent walk again. They hadn't had their exercise lately and Sadie was getting cabin fever.

There weren't the downed trees as there were in Miller Canyon. Instead, the creekbed has been ripped open to three times its width. Most of the wash was easy to walk through since sand has covered all the loose rocks from before. It was actually quite pleasant, although the old trail alongside the creek is now completely gone. The old gold panning area is completely washed away as well as the old mining trail to that site. The open green meadow is also no longer. One good thing is that target shooters are back shooting up their trash and then leaving it behind for the floods to wash it all downstream. There's already a small heap of plastice, brass shell casings and blown-up old hoursehold appliances thrown in the creekbed.

New shoots are coming up from many of the sycamores. Grasses are coming up. It's not as bad as I had expected, however, the flood season hasn't ended yet. We are due our first "winter storm" late Wednesday across the state and we may get rain. Temperatures will drop 20 degrees. So at least I got to walk the old canyon creek I always enjoyed taking the dogs up.

The creekbed will probably not be restored in this area. Further downhill, where the homes are, is more construction to regulate a creekbed that's threatening to erode property. That area is obviously a more important area to reenforce for right now.

We were only gone about two hours. If I am not working Wednesday I will attempt the upper region to the overlook. Clouds were looking menacing and it began to thunder shortly after we got home at 1:50pm.