Update: My buddy Soche has a good take on the event.
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So, we did it. And it really is Two Days of Heartbreak which is Lori's very apt description.
We raised some money. I guess about 100,000 people pass through.
The Scuttlebutt, which is just hearsay:
Somebody stopped by to let us know that Guelph is discussing adding German Shepherd Dogs to their list of banned breeds. Needless to say, I was thrilled because it might help us to raise money, awareness and support.
Somebody else said that THS is adopting out known biters who are being returned and re-adopted, sometimes repeatedly. Worse, they are being sent to other jurisdictions. This was from a longtime (former) volunteer who isn't too happy about their MO.
As I say, hearsay, so don't flame me. Try a blue-flamer instead if you are determined to stage an incendiary sound-and-light show but don't wear polyester the way Harry did while playing to the gallery on his way down the College subway steps in 1967. Heh.
Woofstock is a dog-unfriendly event. There are no trees. There is no grass (grass - singular or plural?) The festival is supposed to be for dogs but not much thought seems to go into the design or the setting of the event.
I plan to advise them (since my friends the dogs are concernd) that they should a) move it to a park setting and b) hold it in the Fall.
We're not sure if the Bulldog from Saturday made it. On Sunday, another Bulldog was in dire straits and we thought the poor ol' Kijijji special was going to peg out right in front of us. He was a white dog and he couldn't walk anymore and his skin was bright pink under the hair. Luckily our member Steph who is an RVT was able to counsel the owner about cooling, etc. In other words, she read the Riot Act to the twit who was dragging the poor dog around despite his obvious distress.
I'm told the vet tent was busy all weekend, lots of heat stroke due to our tropical weather conditions. It is not widely known that our summers are positively brutal. We sometimes get hot, humid air with no rain for weeks. Some people go to Papua New Guinea for relief.
We met some good people who sought us out and stopped by our booth. Some of them can help us to get some facts out there and let's face it, we need all the help we can get.
It was somewhat funny when one of the Attorney General's staff lawyers who is junior counsel on our case appeared. He was immediately outed and I mentioned that unfortunately the My Ontario Includes 'Pit Bulls' button that he had purchased from me at the booth in 2006 was no longer available. You should have seen his face. Or not.
When he bought that button two years ago, I was imagining them all sitting around the conference table, shades drawn, calls held, door locked, observing it and listening for ticking sounds.
We all introduced ourselves to this young pup (who isn't even on the Sunshine List) so that if he was wearing a wire our names would be available - who's afraid of the big bad pusillanimous poltroon, eh? You're playing with the Irish now, my man, and why do you think The Troubles have lasted more than 900 years?
Ban this.
So that's it for now. My dogs are stressed out too because I obviously didn't take them with me into 90+ temps with high humidity and multos de troggos. I made the mistake of boarding them at my new vet clinic and they did not have a good time - I can tell. So, I guess it's all the way up to Brucie's from now on. They like it there.
Two days of heartbreak squared, eh?
More later - pictures at eleven.
