Animal Hotline is a nonprofit community service for lost/found pets in Placitas and Bernalillo
P. O. B. 812, Placitas, NM 87043
To report a lost or found animal, Call Dave Harper at 867-6135 or e-mail placitasrealty@earthlink.net

People with pets for adoption or sale should place a Signpost classified ad or consider a $5 donation to the Animal Hotline to run the information in this column. Lost and found listings and doptions for found animals are run in the column for free.

For lost/found pets in Placitas and Bernalillo, call Dave Harper at 867-6135

FOUND:

DOG: Lab-pit-bull-mix found behind the courthouse in Bernalillo August 2. One year old. #1672

DOG: Black-and-white pit bull, female, found just west of the village of Placitas in Placitas Heights area (on Camino de las Desmontes) first week of August. White spot on head. #1673

DOG: Black hound dog found near I-25 & HIGHWAY 550 (165) August 10. Intact male. # 1677

3 DOGS: Mom and two or three pups spotted just north of the village of Placitas, east of Camino de la Buena Vista and west of Camino de las Huertas. Cream-colored dogs. Spotted in early August and again in mid- to late-August. #1674-6

DOG: White female pit bull found in Placitas Heights area (just west of the village of Placitas) on about August 10. #1678

DOG: Red-and-white pit bull or boxer cross from just east of the Overlook near the village of Placitas in early August. 1679

DOG: Small brindle Great Dane spotted in Placitas Homesteads on August 17. #1682

PARAKEET: Found in mid-August in Placitas Homesteads. #1683

DOG HIT ON HIGHWAY 165: Black collie-type dog hit (and killed) near the 5-mile marker on Highway 165 in Placitas. Had red collar with stars. Hit on about August 24. #1684

LOST:

CAT: Part Maine coon, female, lost from Camino de las Huertas (1-2 miles north of the village of Placitas) on about August 1. Tiger-striped, 4 years old. #1671 

CAT: Orange male cat lost from the village of Placitas on about August 14. 18-month-old orange male with a little white on his neck and feet. Lost from near the Presbyterian church. #1681

DOG: female American Pit Bull, white with brindle spots, about six months old, lost from Algodones on August 14. Not spayed. Had a red collar, purple harness, and yellow lead. #1685

AVAILABLE:

2 CATS: 2 very good-tempered cats available. Both male orange-and-white tabbies. One 2-1/2 years old, other 5 or 6 months old. Moving into an apartment forces the cats to be available. Call 771-0455.

Prairie dogs keep watch in the Bernalillo bosque

Rocky passed through today

—Richard “Bugman” Fagerlund

I was called today to rescue a little squirrel that was caught in a pipe. It appeared that the helpless squirrel had been in the pipe for several days and was seriously dehydrated. I pulled him out and he was breathing, but barely. A little water on his lips and he moved. I put the little angel in a box on a towel and took him home to Holly. We tried for several hours to revive the squirrel, but to no avail. He was ready to move on and explore another universe.

From the time I pulled him from the pipe, to when I introduced him to Holly, to when he moved on, we never stopped thinking about how to save him. It didn't help; Rocky wanted to move along.

I have no idea why a single squirrel out of hundreds of animals, birds, and lower forms of life that I meet every day would stick out so much in my thoughts and totally consume an afternoon. Isn't every squirrel the same? What is the difference between Rocky and the squirrel you see on the road that got hit by a car?

 Holly and I had the opportunity to look into Rocky's eyes, even as they were only half-open. We saw his little heart and glowing soul, and we caressed him, hoping to revive his will to live.

We don't know why he left, but we do know we saw a little smile in his eyes when we looked at him. We both shed a few tears over a squirrel we only knew for a few hours but who epitomized the life and loves of every squirrel, no, every animal, we have ever met or will meet in the future.

Someone once said that when a butterfly dies in the jungle, the whole world changes. I don't know, but that is probably correct. We can say that when a little soul goes to the next plateau in our living room, our world changes and changes for the better.

It boggles the mind to think that there are people on this planet that can go out and shoot, or worse yet, trap any living thing and deliberately destroy its heart and soul. Every animal, every being in the universe shares the single soul of the Creator, and if you look into the eyes of any animal, that will become perfectly clear.

We looked into Rocky's eyes while he was here, and we saw his little soul and we loved what we saw. Rocky passed through our hearts today and Holly and I are better off for it.

The Bugman is available for consulting and will visit your home or business (in New Mexico) to help you set up a nontoxic pest management program. He is also available for speaking engagements during daytime hours. He can be reached at 440-8288 or fagerlun@unm.edu.

Zoey’s TLC receives kennel club accreditation

The American Boarding Kennels Association, the international trade association for boarding kennels, has notified Rita and Larry Challenger, owners of Zoey’s TLC Bed & Breakfast for Dogs & Cats, Inc. that their kennel has been awarded the status of Accredited. This status is conferred upon facilities that successfully complete the Facilities Accreditation Program administered by the association, requiring the participating kennel to pass detailed inspections in sixteen different areas of animal care and management. It is designed to provide boarding and kennel operators with standards of excellence in all areas of pet care, and to provide pet owners with a method of identifying those kennels which meet the standards.

Zoey’s TLC, in operation in the Rio Rancho area since September 2002, is at 114 Industrial Park Place NE in Rio Rancho and offers boarding, grooming, day care, and training.