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REAL ANIMALS, REAL PEOPLE Their future rests in these hands...with our young... |
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TEACH THEM TO LOVE, to VALUE ... |
| ALL CREATURES... Especially the "leftovers," those who aren't cute, cuddly, young. The animals who, through no fault of their own, are doomed as disposable in today's harsh world. Oscar M. Weiner Dog, guarding my bike from hated humans...& nervous around other than close family. His whole world has shrunk to a tiny island of foolish humanity...me. How horrible. And yet, somehow, no animals drown in the aftermath of that terrible killer tsunami. Elephants, dogs, birds, wildlife--even zoo animals were all found on high ground, safe, protected, cherished by Heavenly Love. None perished. Are they really the disposables...or are we? |
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WILD DOG OSCAR's Story A woman on my street rescued "Shorty" from across the Tijuana border. She couldn't keep this beagle-daushie feral mix due to her lease. I already had 2 dogs--(my lease limit)--but I still remember her begging, "Please, strays south of the border don't have a chance." I promised I'd temporarily board him, & take this wary, fierce fighter to the vet. That's as far as Oscar travelled. Eight years later as we slept, someone tried to break into my daughter's 2nd story room via our upstairs landing. Oscar alerted us. I mumbled, "shut up," a few times. Oscar barked even louder, alerting the rest of our dogs downstairs. The intruder escaped via a tree into the darkness of a wooded ravine. The branch broke, he bled over it. He took the large hardwood limb to avoid DNA identification. Neither he nor the branch were ever found. 14 years later, he is still with us, and holds the distinction of the only dog we've rewarded by letting him sleep in our bed--permanently. |
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Harlequin SuperRomance / May 1995 release ISBN 0-373-70644-8 (c95 Harelquin) Where TWO families become ONE -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep her memory alive in the happy stories she wrote! See Pam's photo: http://www.explorehistoricalif.com/cerro_main.html +++++++++++++ |
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ST. FRANCIS of ASSISI Practiced his sermons to his "feathered brethren" before preaching to the two-legged "flocks." The name of my family's church for the past 25 years? St. Francis of Assisi, of course! |
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My son, 4, showing God's beauty to his sister Our family dogs have been our guardian angels. Yes, canines provide physical, mental, & emotional support. But service animals aren't just "seeing eye dogs" anymore. Capuchian primates (helper monkeys) can assist the disabled. Miniature horses--"helping hooves"-- (guidehorse.org) are breaking new ground as service animals for the blind! Yes, it's legal and what fantastic news! Other pets are now used for "hidden" disabilites, from emotional distress to chronic mental illness. Therapy dogs aren't "just" for nursing homes or children's wards any more--they're full-time partners for two-legged disabled--and just as legal. In addition, disabled are legally able to train their own animals. Waiting lists can be years and YEARS in major metro areas. I know. I trained my present partner--& the dog before him. Canines can PULL wheelchairs, SEE for the blind, and HEAR for hearing impaired. But they also SMELL cancer, SMELL diabetic sugar levels, & DETECT epiletic seizures in ADVANCE. They also provide MOBILITY for semi-ambulatory, or "walking disabled" such as myself. First Striker, now Sheba, cancels out my neuro-muscular-skeletal disabilities by providing balance, impetus [getting started], stability, and speed. I can stand unassisted on good days. But I can't walk much, nor do I have feeling in the sole of one foot. Even barefoot, I'm walking on a leg that's pins & needles, permanently "fallen asleep." It's like eating with a mouth full of novacaine. Try it with kids in diapers... Or on college campus with 31,000 people... Or at the World Series... Before my helper dogs, [Baron was my first] I fell a lot. I even broke my "good" leg falling because of my "bad" leg. Wheelchairs don't help in cities where living space in older buildings is at a premium--and elevators are non-existant. Nor was a chair world "low enough" for a mother with babies on the floor. I preferred to stand when at all possible. My dogs don't "lead" me as much as tow me. I do the directing while Sheba props me up. If I start to lean toward her, she braces against my weight. If I lean away from her, she pulls me back upright. Sheba now constantly adjusts her position & weight to keep me balanced & perpendicular at ALL times. If I do trip or stumble, I'm not paying attention to my partner. Then she wraps her strong, 95 pd. furry body around me in a "U" shape. She's never let me "hit the dirt" yet. My dogs keep me safe--without my canes & crutches & chair...despite 7 orthopedic surgeries of the leg & six concerning the spine. When Renegade Striker turned ten years, he began his retirement--one he didn't want--but one which he had earned many times over, and died a year later. I feel lost without him, now that he's gone. But I don't wish him back, unless he were young and healthy again. As for my orginal orthopedic accdient, I wouldn't go back in time even if I could. My accident resulted in marriage to a Navy corpsman (nurse). We have two beautiful adult children & two new grandchildren. Dogs are truly God's gifts to the disabled and healthy alike. If only they could stay at our sides forever... |
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ILLEGAL SIGNAGE (above) ADA "Disabled Access" Violation -- Public Government Building. (Note window reflection from camera to document.) Federal / state PENAL CODES provide for MISDEMEANOR &/or FELONY CHARGES with FINES &/or JAIL TIME for discrimination against the handicapped. LEFT - Author enlisting in USNavy, 1977, Denver. Her disability is service-connected, as is her husband's. |
