COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL January 13, 2016
7A
COMMUNITY BRIEFS
Science Pub talks
truffl es
Rescuing a fur family
M
y husband, Charlie, and
I volunteered at an ani-
mal kill-shelter,” said Jo, “for
fi ve years. Back then, we were
ahead of today’s trend by tak-
ing photographs of adoptable
animals and posting them on
Petfi nder and Craigslist! It took
hours, but we saved hundreds of
lives. I also forwarded the pure
bred animals’ photos to their
respective rescue groups, who
would then foster the animals.
After I took the dogs’, cats’
and rabbits’ photos, I wrote
funny things about them, even
knowing that they were in dire
straits, with no hope of rescue.
Once I took a photo of three
caged kittens standing in a row
and titled it ‘Line dancing in the
Cat House’.
The purpose was to make po-
tential pet parents smile while
refl ecting on the animals’ plight.
People often arrived at the shel-
ter specifi cally because of an
animal’s photo and description.
These people had emotionally
adopted the animal, in their own
home, online, before even arriv-
ing at the shelter.
When we realized what was
happening to some wonderful
pets, well, we ended up adopt-
ing fi ve dogs and two cats. We
couldn’t idly stand by watching
so many animals needlessly be-
ing ‘put to sleep’ — week after
week. Their euthanization felt
like murder, especially when
we ‘knew’ the animals and how
special they were. Their demise
was a toxic combination of lack
of neutering and spaying, pro-
ducing many unwanted but in-
Courtesy Photo
When Charlie and Jo lined up their camera-shy dogs,
Abby and Amber, for their “fi ve minutes of fame” photo,
the reluctant dogs ‘fl ashed’ their eyes at the photogra-
pher! Charlie and Jo adopt their pure bred pets from
shelters and their grateful animals pay them back with
humor and love — in spades.
credibly loving pets...and a lack When googling ‘long-haired
of adoptable homes, especially gray cat’ we discovered his
in this economy.
pedigree was a rare Nebelung,
Regarding the creepy cretins from Germany, similar to Rus-
who run puppy/kitten mills: sian Blue cats.
they throw away animals if they
The fi rst time I saw Cosmo
have to shell out for veterinar- in the cat room his personal-
ian charges. This adds to our pet ity stood out, but he was sickly.
overpopulation burden. Charlie The last time I saw him he was
jokes, ‘You have to spay the coughing, looked awful and was
people!’
on the loading dock ready to go
It was startling witnessing in the oven! I took him home to
all breeds of beautiful pure- foster, but he stole our hearts, so
breds enter our pet shelter. We he has a permanent home here.
rescued Abby, a big black Ber-
We named him after the ac-
nese Mountain/Border Collie tor who played Cher’s father
mix; Amber, a beautiful Ger- in ‘Moonstruck’. Charlie is
man Shorthair Pointer; Cooper, obsessed with Egypt, and with
a Llewellyn English Setter and Cosmo’s ‘blue’ bloodline, so he
our comic cat, Cosmo. At the nicknamed him Pharaoh Cos-
time we had no idea that Cosmo moses after Pharaoh Thutmo-
was also a toss away purebred. ses.
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Cosmo hams it up by running
along our hallway’s baseboard
and then twanging the doorstop.
His other ‘sport’ is swatting the
dogs when they pass by him
when he’s up on a chair.
A brief history on our loving
rescues shows the fate of many
nameless pet orphans. Our dog,
Abby, was thrown off the back
of a truck. A witness took a
photo of the license plate before
taking Abby to a shelter.
Amber was found emaciated,
starving in the woods. The shel-
ter almost put her down. It took
a month for her to regain her
health.
Cooper was suffering from
heart worms. Through private
donations his treatment was
paid, so we took him home as
a foster. The minute our Golden
Retriever spotted Cooper they
were the best of buddies, they
often fell asleep with their paws
touching. We knew we could
never break their bond.
Willie, another long-haired
gray cat, had an abscessed eye
and was discovered crying, beg-
ging for help, walking down his
rescuer’s driveway.
Today, our shelter has a
plethora of purebreds: two great
Pyrenees, two Cocker Spaniels,
two Boxers, two German Shep-
herds, a Yorkie, Pomeranian,
Papillon, Shitzu etc., all looking
to be loved and give love. Sadly
some people don’t understand
that God created animals to
teach us love!
Mary Ellen, I’m glad you have
this forum to teach the plight of
animals, you’re defi nitely their
friend. We readers can’t thank
you enough for all your work
helping animals and may I say
people too!”
TIPS
“We joined other shelter vol-
unteers,” said Jo, “and stood out-
side pet and food stores for food
and money donations for our
shelter. In the end, we had three
vans full of food for the animals
plus some donations. Proving
that one person can make a dif-
ference in a pet’s life!”
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If you have the skills, check
whether your humane society
needs photography and inter-
net help listing rescues online,
if they need foster homes, or
old blankets and towels etc.
Of course they always can use
money to help with medical
bills for strays like Willy.
ICE In Case of Emergency
- carry a PET HOME ALONE
alert card in your wallet noti-
fying authorities that your pets
need care. Include the names
and phone numbers of the peo-
ple to notify in case of illness
or injury. Design your own card
and if paws-ible include your
pets photos and names.
On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the
Coast Fork Willamette Water-
shed Council welcomes biolo-
gist Scot Loring Biologist, to
its Science Pub presentation.
His talk, entitled “Truffl es of
the Southern Willamette Val-
ley,” will delve into the world
of truffl es across the planet. It is
scheduled to take place from 5-
7 p.m. at the Axe & Fiddle Pub.
In a recent news release, the
Watershed Council called truf-
fl es an “extremely under-ex-
plored” subject worldwide.
“We frequently walk right
over them and almost never see
these subterranean treasures.
Even in Oregon, which is global
epicenter of past and present
truffl e experts, new species are
commonly encountered,” the
release said, adding that a new
genus (a group of species) that
was recently discovered locally
near Dorena Lake and endemic
to the Coast Fork Willamette
River watershed is found no-
where else on Earth.
The Watershed Council hosts
a free monthly public meeting
series called the Coast Fork Sci-
ence Pub on the fourth Tuesday
of each month at the Axe & Fid-
dle, 657 E. Main Street in Cot-
tage Grove. The event begins
with informal socializing, trivia,
prizes and updates about the wa-
tershed and watershed council
during the fi rst hour. The formal
science pub presentation begins
at 6 p.m.
912 Project
Brian Whiteside of VDOS
Global will discuss UVAs
(drones) at the next meeting of
the Cottage Grove 912 Project
on Monday, Jan.18 at 6:30 p.m.
at Stacy’s Covered Bridge Res-
taurant, 401 E. Main Street, and
is open to the public.
SLSD Budget
Committee
The South Lane School Dis-
trict Board of Directors is seek-
ing a community member to
serve on the District’s Budget
Committee to represent posi-
tions fi ve and six. Both posi-
tions serve three-year terms.
To be eligible for appoint-
ment, a candidate must not be
an offi cer, employee or agent of
the District and must be a quali-
fi ed voter within the District.
Interested citizens are asked
to obtain an application from
the District service center at
455 Adams Ave. and return it
to Superintendent Krista Parent
or Board Secretary Mary Dubbs
at PO Box 218, Cottage Grove,
OR 97424. The deadline for ap-
plications is Jan. 31.
‘Nerd’ auditions
Auditions for a comedy en-
titled “The Nerd,” to be directed
by Shelly Davey Dax at the Opal
Center in downtown Cottage
Grove, will take place Monday
Full Day Care
6:30am-6pm
(preschool included)
and Tuesday, Feb. 8-9 at 6:30
p.m. Needed are three men ages
25-60, two women ages 25-50
and one boy age eight. Those
seeking more information may
email: shellydax@gmail.com.
Cowboy/Gospel
music
Howard Steele, a longtime lo-
cal resident who is well-known
for his cowboy and gospel mu-
sic, will be performing for free
at the Old Time Gospel Fellow-
ship, 103 S. 5th St., on Saturday,
Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. Steele will
have CDs available for sale.
Coffee and
conversation
Coffee and Conversation with
Rev. Bobby” will be held Mon-
day, Jan. 18 at the Backstage
Bakery from 10-11:30 a.m. The
bakery is located at the corner of
7th and Main Street. The topic
will be “We See All People, Be-
ings and Life As Expressions of
God.” There is no charge, and
everyone is welcome. Those
seeking more information can
call Rev. Bobby Lee at (907)
230-5070 or check the Center’s
Facebook page at “CSLCottage-
Grove”.
Librarians sought
The Cottage Grove Histori-
cal Society is seeking mem-
bers to be future volunteer
librarians. Those who can
commit to one week of train-
ing and at least two days a
month could be useful to the
Society as a research librarian.
Current coverage needs will be-
gin in spring and are needed for
Friday and Saturday shifts from
1-4 p.m. No library experience is
required and friends are encour-
aged to sign up together. Train-
ing will take place in March and
April for spring library re-open-
ing. Those interested can email
cghistoricalsoc@gmail.com and
their name will be put on a list.
LCC holiday
closure,
presentation
Lane Community College will
be closed to the public for the
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday
on Monday, Jan. 18. No classes
will be held and no services will
be available, unless otherwise
announced by a department or
program.
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, Lane
student groups and president’s
offi ce are cosponsoring the
2016 Eugene Community Cel-
ebration of Martin Luther King
Jr., at 7 p.m. at the University of
Oregon, Columbia Hall, Room
150, 1585 E 13th Ave. The event
will feature keynote speaker
April Ryan, noted journalist and
veteran member of the White
House press corps. Her presen-
tation is free and open to the
public. For event information
contact Greg Evans at evansg@
lanecc.edu or (541) 463-5340.
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