Justice for a Shiba Inu

Last April, Boulder police responded to a neighbors' complaint of a domestic dispute. They were aghast to find a small dog duct-taped upside down to the door of the home's refrigerator. Not only was the dog taped, it had multiple elastic hair bands placed around its' tail, ears, nose, and paws, and its' muzzle had been tied to its collar - it was completely immobilized. Abby Toll admitted that she did this to Rex, her boyfriend's dog, to "get back at him" because he paid more attention to the young dog, and because the dog had bitten her in the past. A jury of Ms. Toll's peers found her guilty of felony animal cruelty yesterday. She sat in stunned disbelief, began to cry, and then shouted that it was all her ex-boyfriends' fault. Her sentencing is due on May 28; she faces up to 18 months in federal prison. She deserves every minute of her incarceration. (Rex has since had a name change, and now has a new, loving family, including other Shiba Inus.)

Barns

Replica of George Washington's innovative round barn built at Mount Vernon, Virginia



Built in 1827, this northeastern Indiana barn has carved wooden hex signs on the outside. This was usually found in Pennsylvania Dutch communities to protect the family's livestock from evil over-looking (or "the evil eye").



Two old stone barns on the edge of moorland in Staffordshire,England

Two Super Mares

On Friday, April 9th, Zenyatta kept her winning streak unsullied, staying behind her four rivals for most of the race, and then roaring up on the outside to pull ahead and win, under a hand ride by Mike Smith. On the same day, Personal Ensign, the undefeated mare who won the 1988 Breeders Cup Distaff in the mud and muck of Churchill Downs, passed away. Zenyatta is now undefeated in 16 starts, while Personal Ensignwas retired after 13. Both are, and were, super girls. And over the weekend, two longshots won the Blue Grass Stakes and the Arkansas Derby; Super Saver won the Derby at Oaklawn - and I love his pedigree (Maria's Mon out of an AP Indy mare); and Stately Victor, a California-based shipper, paid out $83.60 on a $2-to-win ticket in the Blue Grass. It made for an interesting weekend of racing. (And I enjoyed Phil Mickelson's win at the Masters, even though I was rooting for Tiger.)
I discovered a football-sized hornets/wasps/yellow-jackets nest on the ceiling of my patio yesterday; and for the second time in two years, wrote out a maintenance request. It's probably been there since last summer, but I don't want to take any chances with myself, Lovey and/or neighbors. Lovey continues to look for Banichi, and whenever she hears a noise from the direction of the hallway door, she goes on alert. I could have sworn I heard him meowing, and dragging his shoestring over the tile floor a couple of times this morning.... I'll be off shortly to take Rosie and Remy out for their daily walk; and I dug out my floppy sun hat last night, as I've gotten a light sunburn since Thursday.

Banichi

Lovey and I...

Lovey and I spent the day cleaning the apartment in a very disjointed fashion, and I finally set up the new hard drive, so that I'm actually blogging from my desk in my home. Lovey is lying across my bosom. I could not find the get-up-and-go to walk the Irish kids this morning, but I did walk them yesterday, and I will tomorrow, too. Friends, family, and clients have been absolutely wonderful toward Lovey and me. Thank you.

Taken From Me...

Banichi Leofric (Loverich) Devine was my male cat. He died in my arms last night, having been poisoned with some type of rodent blood-thinner. He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to die bleeding out. I was helpless. I did not protect him as I should have.
He was six-and-a-half to seven years old, according to the vets. His previous owners had abandoned him in what became my apartment; he managed to survive for ten days without food or water. Yesterday he went out to play, and ate or licked something in the back yard of the apartment building, and he is now dead. It doesn't seem real. He was half of my soul.

Critters Again

Lindy, a young Toller (Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever)



Northern Dancer, before stud retirement. Almost 50% of today's Thoroughbreds are descended from this small Canadian-bred super horse, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.



I'm adorable...