Sam Carter; Pet-Sitting Troubles

I am upset.  Sam Carter, the ex-Boulder policeman who killed the Mapleton neighborhood elk, got off lightly.  He pled "Not Guilty"  to all charges stemming from his murder of a trophy elk that regularly wintered in a small neighborhood in Boulder.  On 1 January 2013, the on-duty policeman approached the elk and shot it in the chest with his service shotgun.  He did not report discharging his weapon within city limits to the police department, and he had previously prepared an "injured wildlife" kill tag.  This past June, after a week-long trial, Carter was convicted on the following charges: (1) attempting to influence a public official, a Class 4 felony; (2) one count of forgery, a Class 5 felony; (3 & 4) two counts of tampering with evidence, both Class 6 felonies; (5) first degree official misconduct; (6) illegal possession of a trophy elk with a Samson Law surcharge; (7) conspiracy to commit illegal possession of wildlife; (8) unlawful taking of a big game animal out of season; and (9) unlawful use of an electronic communication device to unlawfully take wildlife. Yesterday, Sam Carter heard his sentence - four years of probation, 200 hours of community service, 30 days service on a work crew, and a fine of $10,200.00.
  I am upset because this man, hired to protect and defend the residents of the City of Boulder, used his service weapon in a residential neighborhood and lied about it to his superiors, in order to gain a trophy head of a relatively tame animal.  He planned in advance to kill the elk, and to have a friend, also in the police department, to slaughter and mount the elk.  It's disgusting.  I know that Sam Carter would have a tough time in jail or prison due to his previous employment - but he shot and killed a defenseless animal, in a residential neighborhood, for his own pleasure.  He deserves more than a light slap on the wrist by authorities.
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  Taking care of pets/animals/critters/"kids" of other people is sometimes difficult.  At Tessa's, I'm taking care of a dog, two cats, six koi, two hives of honeybees, an organic garden, and multiple flowering plants.  Tessa, the dog, is still suffering from dermatitis - her neck is finally healing, but now she is chewing on her left hind hock and her right flank.  The owner insists that it's a reaction to her rabies vaccination, which was 9 weeks ago.  All I know is that poor Tessa is wearing a blue Elizabethan collar to keep her from eating herself alive.  Tessa gets fed a specific frozen food - Northwest Naturals Chicken Dinner Bar - which is defrosted prior to each meal.  Yesterday morning, when there was no more food in the kitchen freezer, I walked out to the garage freezer and opened the door, expecting to see 3 to 5 cases of frozen dog food.  Other than a couple of bags of frozen berries, the freezer was empty.
   This happened on top of discovering that Lyra, the brown tabby, has a urinary tract infection.  Lyra's owner has moved to New York City, and taken 90% of her possessions; but Lyra was left at home.  Lyra had peed on my bed earlier Thursday morning, and I thought it was a case of pique, because she had been left behind.  Thursday night, she leapt onto the foot of the bed and immediately squatted - I thumped her head with my forefinger, but she had already started to relieve herself.  I grabbed a handful of tissue and mopped it up....  realizing, as I did so, that her urine was the color of raspberry lemonade.  So, as soon as the veterinarian's office opened on Friday morning, I called and made an appointment to take Lyra in.  Once I got her there, of course, they needed a urine sample and I had to leave her.
  So I called the home-owner in New York City, with her daughter, and left a voice message.  "Lyra has a UTI and is at the vet's being evaluated.  There's no food for Tessa in the garage, which was a surprise.  Do you have some on order at PC's Pantry?  Call me and let me know."  I didn't get a return call from her.
  At 4:45, I picked Lyra up from the vet's, full of antibiotics, and with Clavamox pills to administer for the next 7 days.  I was also instructed to stop at The Natural Pet shop and get a bottle of Animals' Apawthecary "Tinkle Tonic", an herbal additive to help clear up Lyra's infection.  I grabbed Lyra, had the owner billed, purchased the Tinkle Tonic, and then stopped at PC's Pantry to see if they had a order from Lynn on hold.  The wonderful ladies at PC's Pantry didn't have anything on order, but they had some extra inventory, so I was able to pick up three cases of food for Tessa and have them bill the owner...
   Thank goodness Boulder is a laid-back town that is totally crazy about their four-footed companions!