Pet of the Week: Betty the Great Dane

True-Blue-Animal-Rescue-2015-Pet-of-the-week-Betty-Great-DaneBetty is Great Dane, Black Mouth Cur Up-to-date with routine shots Spayed/Neutered. She was in a shelter and soon to be euthanized when a kind person offered to save her life and be her foster home. Betty is now living with a family and their three dogs. She’s getting along well and loves to run and play.

T-BAR is a no-kill rescue. Not only do we like having our animals adopted out, we also are in dire need of foster homes. That way we can help more animals out there, who are in perilous times alone on the streets. Please save a life by adopting a pet, instead of buying a pet and please have all your pets spayed and neutered. It is the right thing to do. If you are interested on where you can help or to look at all that is available to either adopt or foster, please go towww.t-bar.org and see all the animals that deserve a second chance and fulfilled life full of love, email [email protected] or call (936)878-2349 and one of our volunteers will get back to you as soon as possible. Adoption Fee: Please email [email protected] for adoption fee! Adoption fee includes neuter or spay, up to date vaccinations, heartworm tested if old enough or started on heartworm prevention as a puppy, deworming and a one year TBAR membership.

TBAR Fluff: Olaf!

True-Blue-Animal-Rescue-Friday-Fluff-OlafTBAR’s Olaf may not have ever built a snowman, but he loves any other game that his foster home will play with him! He is patiently waiting for his forever home. Would you like to learn more? Contact us!

If you’d like to share your cute pet photos, email them to [email protected] or post them online with #TBARFluff!

 

Throwback Thursday: Lucia

PicMonkey Collage LuluLucia, or “Lulu” is a fun Throwback Thursday! She was adopted in 2007 after being fostered by Teresa, one of our Officers and Board members. Eight years later, Lulu’s adoptive family have become a big part of TBAR. Olivia (now a TBAR Officer) and Jason take beautiful pictures of our TBAR animals to help us find them forever homes! You can see Lucia’s photos, the one with the background was her original listing photo (when she was called “Palla”), then the other puppy photo from her foster mom “Can you believe it? Her first picture with us and she blinked!” and then a more recent one: “​Here is one of Lucia, our little angel. One of the few times she did a sitting for me. I was photographing Jack and she decided to play too. I wish she would sit for me more often, she is a beautiful creature.”

We’d love to share your TBAR adoption story with our supporters! Please email [email protected] no matter if you adopted 10 days or 10 years ago. These updates warm our hearts!

Success Story: Albert and Jasper

True-Blue-Animal-Rescue-Texas-Success-Donkey-Albert-and-JasperAlbert and Jasper were adopted into a donkey dream home! They now have acres of room to wander, plenty of grass to eat, and lots places to explore. Not only that, but they also have a great new adoptive Mom who is going to work with them on haltering, leading and brushing. They’ll be eating out of her pocket in no time!!

Congrats on your new forever home!

 

 

 

In Memory of Herman E. Detering III

True-Blue-Animal-Rescue-In-Memory-of-Herman-DeteringHerman was dedicated to helping rescue horses and has a long legacy of work promoting animal welfare. In his time helping TBAR he made an impact on everyone who met him. His methods of teaching helped bring around many of our rescued horses, and helped connect our sponsors to their animals.

His wife, Mimi Crossley Detering, tells us that he loved doing demos for T-Bar, and it was his desire for people in his name to our rescue. We could not be more honored to have such an amazing man feel so strongly for our organization. It is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our dear friend.

Herman Eberhard Detering III, 76, died peacefully at home in Houston on March 21, following a long battle with cancer.

He leaves behind his devoted wife and best friend of 40 years Mimi Crossley Detering, loving relatives, close friends and a legacy of work promoting animal welfare.

His parents, H. E. Detering Jr. and Inez Sherar Detering, are deceased.

Herman was educated at St. John’s School in Houston, received a B.A. from Washington and Lee University and a J.D. degree from Columbia University.

Herman and TBAR

Herman with TBAR volunteers and TBAR horses

As a young man, he was ranked nationally in tennis, and was an accomplished equestrian.

Returning to graduate school, he was awarded an M.A. in intellectual history from New York University, and studied for a PhD with Frank E. Manuel.

Herman taught and lectured extensively in history and the humanities, including at Rice University, St. Thomas University and the University of Houston.

As an historian and rare book collector, he founded the Detering Book Gallery, which became the premier rare bookstore in the South.

His FotoFest exhibition of books and photographs showing the parallel development of psychiatry and photography broke new ground in the study of clinical uses of imagery.

As a rancher, Herman became involved with studies of animal psychology and methods of natural, non-coercive horsemanship. Adapting these methods to cattle, he pioneered low stress handling for ranchers, regularly writing articles for major publications including The Cattleman and The American Brahman Review. His video, “Natural Persuasion,” was a first in the field of low-stress herd management and remains a classic.

Herman’s extensive life, career and thoughts about animal handling can be found on his website, www.hermandetering.com.

Herman also served on several non-profit boards, notably FotoFest, the Houston Center for Photography and the Texas Committee on the Humanities.

In addition to his wife Mimi, Herman leaves a sister, Deborah Detering, and nieces Shelley Pannill Stein and husband Matt Stein; Katherine Pannill Center and husband Gordon Center; and Lizzie Pannill Fletcher and husband Scott Fletcher.

A memorial service will be held at The Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon St. on Thursday, April 9 at 11 a.m.  

In lieu of flowers, please donate to True Blue Animal Rescue, P.O. Box 1107 Brenham, Tx. 77834

Pet of the Week: Jasper

JasperPet of the Week: Jasper is a large Catahoula Leopard who is sweet and lovable and completely up to date with routine vaccinations. Jasper takes a little time to warm up to people, but once he does he’s all yours. He’d be a great companion for anyone!

T-BAR is a no-kill rescue. Not only are we looking for permanent adoptive homes for our rescued animals, but we are also in dire need of new foster homes to help us take in animals in need.

Please save a life by adopting a pet, instead of buying a pet and please have all your pets spayed and neutered. It is the right thing to do.

If you are interested on where you can help or to look at all that is available to either adopt or foster, please go to www.t-bar.org and see all the animals that deserve a second chance and fulfilled life full of love, email [email protected] or call (936)878-2349 and one of our volunteers will get back to you as soon as possible. Adoption Fee: Please email [email protected] for adoption fee! Adoption fee includes neuter or spay, up to date vaccinations, heartworm tested if old enough or started on heartworm prevention as a puppy, deworming and a one year TBAR membership

Foster Feature: Winston Update #2

True-Blue-Animal-Rescue-Texas-Winston-Update-2We are pleased to share with you the latest update on Winston!

It’s been three weeks since Winston went into foster care with Kim and he’s doing very well. His wounds are healing and so is his heart. He is such a well behaved boy that his foster Mom feels sure he must have been someone’s beloved pet before he ended up on the streets and in the hands of people who were not so nice. What does that mean for Winston? It means he has some trust issues with people and other dogs but it also means he remembers the people who treated him well and he wants to trust again. Little by little he’s warming up and feeling safer and more secure. He’s learning to love life again and enjoys lying around, riding in the car and playing with toys again. He’s housebroken and crate trained and walks on a leash too! He’s never offered to hurt anyone or any other animals but his foster Mom monitors him with them all the time for now. Physically his wounds a closing and he’s even putting some pressure on his injured leg now. If you’ve been following Winston’s story keep praying for him to heal. He’ll be going to the vet soon for an update and some vaccinations. He wasn’t healthy enough for those three weeks ago but thanks to a wonderful foster Mom, he is now. Watch for updates after his vet visit giving us a go ahead to put him up for adoption!

TBAR at Texas Humane Lobby Day 2015

True-Blue-Animal-Rescue-Texas-Texas-Humane-Legislation-Network-2015Four members of True Blue Animal Rescue went to Austin for Texas Humane Lobby Day on March 20, 2015. This event was hosted by The Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA and Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN).  Melanie and Dale DeAeth, Janna Alsobrook and Gisele Flanigan attended the morning seminar giving them advocacy tips and an overview of the bills we were targeting that day. There were nearly 100 activists from all over the state of Texas preparing to speak to their district representatives.  Our four True Blue Animal Rescue members met with District 13 Representative Leighton Schubert’s Chief of Staff Manny Salazar at 1pm and then with Senator Kolkhorst or District 18’s policy analyst Zach Maxwell at 2pm. We each explained the importance of the four bills we were targeting in hopes that they will offer their support and vote in favor of them.

The first bill we discussed was Dangerous Wild Animal Registry – HB 3952. This bill requires people and organizations who keep dangerous wild animals in Texas for more than 30 days to register their animals with a state agency – namely the Texas Department of State Health Services. This law will offer a means of informing the public of were animals such as lions, tigers, cougars, leopards and primates are living. These animals are wild and they can be dangerous so the public is entitled to know where they as a safety measure.

The second bill we discussed is the Humane Tethering Bill – HB 2562. This bill does not prohibit tethering but it sets forth clear and specific requirements for the humane tethering of a dog and provides law enforcement and animal control officers the authority to enforce those requirements.  Texas law enforcement officers receive daily calls from citizens concerned about a dog being tethered by cruel and inhumane means. This bill is a rewrite of the current tethering law and replaces it with this straight forward, enforceable understandable law outlining specific requirements for tethering a dog as follows:

  • The tethering device must allow the dog access to a shelter of adequate size to allow the dog to stand, turn around, sit and lie down in a comfortable and normal position and it must be constructed in such a manner as to keep the dog dry and protected from exposure and extreme temperatures.
  • The tethering device must also allow the dog access to potable drinking water and shade from direct sunlight.
  • The tethering device must be attached to a collar or harness constructed of nylon, leather or similar material properly fitted to the dog and must have swivels on both ends to prevent the dog from becoming entangled.
  • The length of the tethering device must be at least five times the length of the dog as measured from the tip of the dog’s nose to the base of the dog’s tail or ten feet, whichever is greater.
  • The tethering device cannot be made of metal chain links more than a quarter inch thick or have any weights attached to it.

The current law allows for inhumane tethering except during the hours of 10pm to 6am, in a location within 500 feet of a school, weather below 32 degrees or during a heat advisory or storm warning. The biggest fault to the current law is that law enforcement has to give the owner 24 hours to correct the problem. In this way it’s corrected and then in several days generally goes back to the same inhumane situation. To our knowledge, a citation under this current law has never been issued and / or heard by a court.  Under the new law the offence will be punishable as a Class C misdemeanor for the first offence and a Class B misdemeanor for subsequent offences. In this way law enforcement will be able to do their job and offenders will stop this inhumane treatment of dogs in Texas bringing us closer to the minimum standard as set by many other states in our country.

The third bill we were discussing is the Peace Officer Canine Encounter Training – HB 593/SB 1637. As we know dogs are an integral part of American Society and law enforcement routinely encounters dogs in the line of duty.  In fact, one of three calls to law enforcement involves an interaction with a dog. Despite this statistic the vast majority of law enforcement officers have no training on canine encounters before entering the field. This lack of training creates a critical void in traditional law enforcement training and safety for the officer, the dog and the public. This lack of training is the primary reason why so many dogs are killed by law enforcement officers. On a weekly basis the media headlines horrific details of a canine family member being killed by law enforcement. There were 200 fatal dog shootings by law enforcement in 2014 that were reported and  many more that went unreported. This bill requires a one-time training course for law enforcement officers to prepare them for a safe, non-confrontational outcome when encountering a dog. This will allow officers hands on training and information on how to protect themselves, the residents and the dogs they encounter. This bill does not prohibit officers from using deadly force against dogs to protect themselves or others; it only requires training so that shooting a dog would be the last resort.

The final bill we reviewed and discussed was Eliminating the Shark Fin Trade in Texas – HB 1579. This bill will prohibit the sale, trade, purchase and transport of shark fins in Texas. The fins from up to 73 million sharks are used to supply the global shark fin trade each year. Shark finning is when a shark is brought on board, the fins are cut off, often while the animal is still alive and the living shark is thrown back into the ocean. With their fins cut off, sharks cannot swim and can die from shock, blood loss, starvation or predation by other fish. The demand for shark fin soup drives this market. Shark meat is considered low value and therefore not worth transporting the whole fish body to market. Shark fins are removed from sharks regardless of age, size or species. Shark finning is devastating the shark population around the world. Experts estimate that within a decade, most species of sharks will be lost due to shark finning. Under the bill, fishermen can still sell entire shark carcasses, with their fins still attached, to the dealers and processors. For more information on Shark finning visit Sharkwater.com.

Law making happens every other year on odd years in Texas. Take this opportunity to be heard and help change laws to protect animals. Please contact your district representatives and let them know that you are a voting constituent and you would like them to vote to pass these bills. To find out your district representatives go to “Who Represents Me” and search by address, zip code, city or county to find out who you should contact.

You can also join the Facebook Page for the Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN) to stay updated on these bills and future ones.