More Beau

Posted on January 10, 2015January 10, 2015 by Dusty Roads

For those of you who have not followed Beau on the Facebook page. Here is the latest update. Good news!

TEAM BEAU: Legal Update

WE HAVE HEARINGS!!

Bryan Mauldin has updated us for the legal team. Most importantly- we have hearing dates and are moving forward.

There are two hearings set up with motions pending in both City Court (with Judge Dedmon) and Circuit Court (with Judge Moore).

The City Court hearing is first on TUESDAY JANUARY 27th at 4:00 p.m. This hearing is asking Judge Dedmon to set aside and vacate his trial court order, declare the ordinance void and FREE BEAU. This motion goes straight to the main issue in the case and took awhile for the legal team to have proper jurisdiction and basis to file.

The Circuit Court pleading is the response to a motion filed by the city for a CASH BOND of $7,500 to secure the costs of Beau’s boarding ($12 a day) during the appeal we were granted. Legal feels that the motions was simply intended to prolong the litigation and hopefully bleed us dry so we would lose or quit. That is the purpose of the second Go Fund Me just in case this ridiculously high bond had to be posted.

However, legal is happy they filed it because it opened the door to simultaneous jurisdiction in the Circuit Court and the reasons they are not entitled to bond goes to the heart of the case. NO bond because Beau is being held unlawfully because the Ordinance is void. This allowed legal to file a response that argues the central issue in the case and puts the ordinance in front of this court. The CIRCUIT COURT date is THREE days after the CITY COURT date on JANUARY 30th at 9:00 a.m.

This is finally an important move forward. We are sincerely hoping that the city court will overturn their ruling and allow Beau to go free.

We ask you continue sharing our information, as we are in a critical time frame now.

Please share the original petition and sign it if you didn’t at:

https://www.change.org/p/save-beau-the-dog-s-life

There is a second petition at:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/…/save-life-innoc…/qmf1WGKb

Our website is: www.pleasehelpbeau.org

We need to remain BEAU STRONG now more than ever. Your voices count and we are moving forward in the court system finally!!

We hope this is Beau’s time and that the city and courts will agree to righting this horrible wrong!! Without your support, we would not have gotten this far!!!

Stay strong and thank you all!!

Beau Update

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I may have more links. I couldn’t find this one when I wrote the original post. I believe you can find the facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Please-Help-Beau/765019283535997?fref=nf

Here is the most recent post from my facebook feed.

Please Help Beau

2 hrs ·

Team Beau:

Good morning. This is a thank you for remaining BEAU STRONG!

Since this all started, the admins on this page have been dedicated to saving Beau’s life and we remain that way. Beau is still incarcerated but is remaining strong and so are we.

You, as supporters, are Beau’s most vital asset. The legal process can grind slowly and it becomes even more frustrating when city officials send mixed messages. There are two lines of attack, one is working on continuing to spread Beau’s situation and message. You can do that by inviting friends to like this page. Numbers do count, and each and every one of you supporting this cause make a difference.

You can share the original petition, or ask friends and co-workers if they have seen it.

https://www.change.org/p/save-beau-the-dog-s-life.

On a second front, there is a further movement on billboards and ads that people have asked for. As that formulates, you will be kept updated.

Please remember that without you, the city would have already euthanized Beau and walked away. It is only the public outcry and with your help that Beau has a chance to survive.

As soon as there is any update whatsoever, we will pass it along to you. We all continue to strive for Beau’s release.

Because of you all, your sharing and support, we remain BEAU STRONG! Thank you again for your support. It takes a community to save the animals, and you are a great community of voices and supporters!

Save Beau the dog’s life!

Beau is a 2 and 1/2 year old Golden Retriever/White German Shepard mix with no history of aggression or biting. But after Beau allegedly killed a duck that wandered on to his own property, he was seized by animal control and the city of…

CHANGE.ORG

Beau’s Plight

Posted on January 7, 2015January 7, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I’m usually a cat person. Those are the posts you see here. My little cat family takes center stage but I like dogs too. I just don’t have the lifestyle to accommodate a dog. But I really love any animal and sometimes my Facebook feed is overflowing with animal stories. Some are heartwarming while some hare heartbreaking. Usually I try not to linger too long on the sad stories because there is nothing I can do. But Beau’s story is different.

https://www.change.org/p/save-beau-the-dog-s-life

Beau was supposed to be euthanized on November 20 but thanks to the power of social media he is still alive as of this writing. The city continues to hold him on doggy death row and is charging his owner for his upkeep.

I am stumbling over my thoughts here. So much is just WRONG with this picture. The city has removed the dog, refuses to return it and is charging the owner for his care!? And this is all because he killed a duck? That trespassed into his yard? Unless I am missing something this is really a case of “officials gone bad.”

Please support Beau. There’s a link to his story above.

A petition to save him was started but the link doesn’t seem to work. I only seem to be able to reach the petition from the Facebook feed. It does not copy and paste over so the only way to help Beau is by sharing the post.

Please help Beau by spreading awareness. It’s all that is saving him right now.

Thank you!

The Mystery of Cats

Posted on January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Or maybe I should say the mystery of one cat, Buddy.

I’ve lived with a long line of cats from childhood to my current advanced age. I really don’t recall being catless for any length of time.

My friends think of me as something of a cat whisperer, I may not be in the same league as Jackson Galaxy, but I come close. I watch his show all the time. I love trying to figure out how he is going to solve the behavior problems.

Little Joe, my rescued Persian cat gave me my biggest challenge. He had the number one reason cats get surrendered, litter box issues. One day I’ll have to write about the trials and travails of that cat adventure. But when I tell you I tried all of Jackson’s solutions and even some he hasn’t suggested it would be an understatement. It finally ended well but it took years of trial and error.

But Buddy is something else. Sometime I think he is schizophrenic. Sometimes I think he has a physical problem. You can be petting him, he’ll be purring and relaxed and then suddenly he’ll let out a yowl like he is in pain and go into vicious kitty mode.

He doesn’t like to jump. Rocky will jump anywhere,

the higher the better but Buddy will search and test until he finds a way to climb to where he wants to go. Minimal jumping required.

When he sharpens his claws he lies down to do it. Yup, I have never seen such a thing. Same with playing. He might do a little running around but mostly he flops down on the floor and only plays with what he can reach from his central position.

The vet said he’s just fat so he may be developing some arthritis.

I am feeding him about 1/2 the recommended amount of cat food and feeding Rocky on the counter so Buddy can’t steal food but it doesn’t seem to be working. ( I fully sympathize)

He can go from mellow sweet kitty to crazy, fixated kitty in 0 – 60 in a blink. I have many scratches and bites to prove it but I have noticed that his pupils get wide and he seems to become fixated when that happens. I’m not sure he’s even still in there!

I used to get out of Dodge until he calmed down but I recently took a fuzzy glove (made for cats to kick and bite) and to my surprise instead of attacking he calms down immediately! He lets me sit and pet him with that silly glove and all the wildness goes right out of him.

I don’t know his history and other than his weight problem I feel we are making progress. He bites less often than when I first got him . And he’s started giving affection more often. I love it when he comes for a cuddle at night when I go to bed or climbs up on my computer when I’m working and gives me kitty kisses.

There is clearly a sweet kitty trapped in that warped little kitty brain and somehow, someway I am going to find the key.

The Snowy Owls of Duxbury Beach

Posted on January 3, 2015January 3, 2015 by Dusty Roads

I’ve been hearing stories of snowy owls on Duxbury beach for years. I’ve seen photos from my fellow photographers to prove it. I’ve even tried to find them myself.

The Snowy Owls of Duxbury Beach are only seasonal visitors so you need to know where and when to look. Something I have only the vaguest notion of but let me start from the top.

The regal Snowy Owl is one of the few birds that can get even non-birders to come out for a look. This largest (by weight) North American owl shows up irregularly in winter to hunt in windswept fields or dunes, a pale shape with catlike yellow eyes. They spend summers far north of the Arctic Circle hunting lemmings, ptarmigan, and other prey in 24-hour daylight. In years of lemming population booms they can raise double or triple the usual number of young.

According to a Nat Geo program the birds that migrate south are usually the first year youngsters. Fully mature birds stay in the arctic all year long.

Mass Audubon is working to protect snowy owls. Norman Smith, Director of Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum, has been studying them since 1981. As part of his research, he attaches bands and transmitters to snowy owls at Logan Airport, and then tracks their travels. He releases these trapped and banded owls at Duxbury Beach. So we end up with 2 populations in the winter, the ones that come down to visit on their own and the released owls from the airport.

Why stop at an airport with all it’s noise and activity? As snowy owls migrate north and south, they look for stopping places that resemble their home, the Arctic tundra. To them, the land around Logan Airport fits the bill. It’s low and flat, with short scruffy plants and grasses, and there’s an abundance of small mammals and birds to eat.

Logan airport has the largest known concentration of snowy owls in the Northeast.

The airport owls help by scaring away other birds that might endanger aircraft. Unfortunately, they are large enough to pose a threat themselves. To protect both birds and jets, Smith safely captures and relocates snowy owls each year.

This year I have outfitted myself with uber -warm clothing and a new camera and lenses. Today I booked a day trip with the Audubon Society. Sadly it is a bird watcher’s trip so I was told there won’t be time or spaces for lots of camera gear. I should plan to “Shoot” from the van.

With that in mind I’ll leave the tripod behind this trip and hope I’ll learn the best ways of locating these beautiful birds so I can round up some friends that are photographers and make a return visit with that much more knowledge.