It's always the lizard...

When I left for the shelter this morning, I wasn't sure if I'd be transporting just 3 adult dogs or a 4th plus her 5 puppies. Turned out to be just 3, a good thing since I drive a Subaru and the day could have ended with a news story about an accident on the freeway caused by a writer and a clown car full of dogs who all thought they could drive.

While at the shelter, I overheard an employee mention that they had a lizard which needed to go to the West Valley shelter. Since I was heading that way, I offered to take it along, just because I could have added a lizard photo to this blog. While waiting for the paperwork, I once again had to witness people turning in their animals.

There was sort of a sale this weekend, what the city is calling an Adopt-A-Thon, but given the alarming rate at which people dispose of their pets, it may as well have been a Dump-A-Thon. I watched one man come in with a sweet Pit Bull who'd obviously had puppies recently. He brought his son along with him, the kid was maybe 2-3 years old, to watch him give her away, using the excuse, "We're moving." It's anyone's guess where her puppies might be.

A man standing nearby (not sure if he was another volunteer or an adopter) said to me, "We'll be euthanizing him in a minute." Alarmed, I said, "What? The dog?" "No," he assured me, "the owner."

Don't know if the guy was also getting rid of his kid since my dogs were ready and we needed to leave. The paperwork for the lizard won't be available until tomorrow so someone else will have to drive him. Sure, it's always the lizard who keeps you waiting.

Even with just 3 dogs in my car, it was tricky. No one stayed in their assigned seat except this girl in a crate:

This guy moved up from the hatchback/trunk area to the back seat...

... and my back seat passenger insisted on riding shotgun. While he did try to steer and shift gears, all he managed to do was adjust my left side-view mirror a couple of times.

And everybody shed.

Meanwhile, the vision-impaired Chihuahua I found last week is free from the shelter. Despite ads online and signs posted where I found her, no owner came for her. Just as well. The meds at the shelter helped her eyes somewhat and three different people were interested in adopting her and providing additional medical care: a rescuer named Lynn who lives in NY, my friend named Lynn who lives in Berkeley, CA and a woman not named Lynn in Sante Fe, NM.

Ultimately, she went to Santa Fe, to live in a small sancutary for senior and disabled dogs, a lap dog living in the lap of luxury. So, in the end, she'll be living a better life than her former owner.

The next Mobile Pet Adoption is tomorrow, but I'll be there for just a couple of hours as my brother and I have been invited by our cousins in Manhattan Beach to attend a concert in the park by someone who pretends to be Neil Diamond.