It's the weekend update! The weekend update!
The New York Times has an online-only feature called “Home Fires” that periodically prints letters and essays from U.S. military war veterans. Being a (peace time only) veteran myself, it’s always been high on my reading list. But on Sunday I found the letter from regular contributor Michael Jernigan especially fascinating. Mike lost his sight in Iraq and he has written some very poignant and touching entries about his struggles. This week he wrote about how important his guide dog, Brittani has been to him.
Last Wednesday, in the shadow of the Haiti disaster, what was the most read article on the BBC’s website? A dog that only understood Polish. The NY Times “Idea of the Day” discussed this briefly on Monday. There’s a link to the original blog post that pointed out the phenomenon, some very interesting discussion in the comments — and of course video about the dog.
They say the secret to getting web traffic is a good headline. I saw this, said “No, duh!” to myself and clicked. I guess it worked.
And last but not least, Daryn Kagan brings us an oldie but a goodie.
Have a good weekend. That’s an order.
Letter From A Rescue: Annie
Annie needs a home
Annie is an (estimated) eight year old shepherd mix. Her owner was killed in a motorcycle accident. After the accident, in the confusion at her home, Annie panicked and ran away. She lived outdoors on her own in the area for a year before she was finally trapped: emaciated and in poor shape. All along she had been visiting her home, looking for her human.
When she was finally captured she landed in a shelter, where she lived for a year without finding a home. She was on the euthanasia list when Pets Alive rescued her. Annie takes a while to warm up to people (who could blame her?) but once she does she is a complete sweetheart. She would do best in a home where she is the only dog.
If you can’t take Annie in you can help Annie and Pets Alive with a sponsorship. The work a sanctuary like Pets Alive does is not cheap – they are essentially taking in the cases that many shelters would give up on because they don’t have the resources. Cases like Annie.