Summer break

Stella: So, the pound's going to be shutting down for a few weeks while the CNE is on.

Rocky: What's the CNE? What's the CNE?

Stella: The CNE is this thing where a bunch of people get together, eat food, go on rides and barf.

Rocky: Oh, I'd like to go to that. Can I go?

Stella: What're you smokin'? Of course not.

Rocky: Buh ... but why?

Stella: Buh ... buh ... because.

Rocky: Are you going?

Stella: Maybe.

Rocky: How come you can go but I can't?

Stella: Well, first of all because I'm a Great Dane and you're just a ... a ... what are you again?

Rocky: A Doberman.

Stella: Oh yes, right. One of those.

Rocky: So?

Stella: Well, you're too small obviously. You can't go in because you're too small.

Rocky: Am not too small.

Stella: Yes, too small. Oh and you don't have a tail. Can't go in without a tail.

Rocky: But someone cut my tail off.

Stella: Not my problem, Stumpy. Those are the rules.

Rocky: Rules suck.

Stella: Tell me about it. See that roast chicken on the table. Rules say that I can't go over there and just grab it and gobble it down.

Rocky: Hmm...

Stella: Hmm indeed ... But never mind about all that. The important thing is that our delinquent owner will be spending more time with us now and no time with those mongrels at the pound.

Rocky: Hey, I'm from the pound.

Stella: Case in point. I say we make sure he lavishes us with the attention we've been lacking these past few months by constantly sticking our noses into his crotch.

Rocky: Good idea.

Stella: Ok, that thinking was hard work. Time for a snooze.

Rocky: Zzzzzzz.

Toronto Animal Services South is situated on the same grounds as the Canadian National Exhibition so during the two and a half weeks the CNE is on, TAS South dog adoption will be closed. That's mainly because the dogs would get too freaked out by the hundreds of people who would end up touring through, banging on their kennel doors, poking fingers at them, throwing cotton candy at them and yelling and laughing at them. The one time TAS dog adoptions stayed open for the Ex, many of the dogs were throwing up from stress by early afternoon.

If there are any remaining adoptable dogs at TAS South by this evening, they will be transfered to another TAS location. All unclaimed strays will be transfered as well. This will give the staff a bit of a break even though they will still be going into work (there will still be cats and other animals there).

This means no volunteering for the rest of the month.

Then, in September, for the first two weeks, I'll be doing some hiking in Austria. If I see any packs of feral mountain dogs there, I'll be sure to report back to the blog via e-mail post or some such thing but I understand that the well-ordered Austrians have tamed all their wild dogs by teaching them calculus, chess, and the do re mi's so it's unlikely there'll be much excitement on that front.

So, for the next month and a bit, blog entries may be cut back to three or four times a week. These will include posts of my favorite dog photos from the past two and a half years. These photos are often the ones that don't make it onto the TAS adoption site because they're not clearly descriptive enough. By that I mean, they may be more interesting visually but they don't show a potential adopter a clean picture of what exactly they're getting. All the photos will be of dogs who have been adopted.

I hope to be back to a more regular schedule in late September.

Shyla, one of those pound mongrels, at the Ex checking out the set up