Dawn Update 5

I’ve had multiple people write to me about Dawn, the feral dog living in the ghetto on Smith Street. First let me assure everybody that we haven’t given up on her. Secondly, as always, I’m flattered that so many readers care. Thank you so much.

As of this post, we still haven’t been able to catch Dawn. The problem is that she still hangs out at Martha’s house. Remember Martha – the aging woman that bases her entire existence on a whole trove of sheer humbug? Dawn is buddies with Martha’s cat Blackberry, which is why she’s spending so much time there.

Last weekend, we had a few glimmering days when Donna, ICHBA’s head honcho, convinced Martha to help us catch Dawn. The plan: Martha would put a strong sedative in Dawn’s food, close the gate on her FENCED yard, and let us trap the feral dog.

With a fenced yard we wouldn’t have to worry about her running off, which was vital because the sedative we planned to use needs an antidote administered within hours, or Dawn could die. We even had a vet a few miles away from Smith Street on stand-by that offered to give her the intramuscular shot and spay her no matter what time of night we caught her.

This all was supposed to shake out this week on Tuesday, September 23rd.  That morning Donna called Martha to confirm, and she never responded. By Wednesday Martha made it clear that she refused to help, meaning we couldn’t use her fenced yard to trap Dawn.

I have to give kudos to Donna, a seventy-year-old humanitarian who isn’t afraid to call bullshit when she sees it, yet still manages to negotiate this seesaw of puzzling human actions.

All night I’ve been wondering why Martha is so reluctant to catch Dawn and get her spayed. Does she have an attachment to Dawn? Does she want Dawn to have more puppies? Does she know what happens to homeless animals in Robertson County, TN?