Many Splendid Cats

Last week there was an article in the View Newspapers about Many Splendid Cats, a new organization dedicated to cats and getting them adopted. Jed Barish, whom I happen to know apart from the article, is the founder and chief driving force behind Many Splendid Cats. Jed has twenty or so cats living with him in good circumstances, but I'm sure he'd like nothing more than for good, loving owners to stop by and pick out a new furry companion.

Visit the Many Splendid Cats web site by clicking the title to this post, or by clicking here.

Buffy the Basset Hound

As a way of introducing the sort of anecdotes we hope to include here, I am going to introduce you to our first Basset, Buffy. Buffy was named after Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which, if you were a fan of the series, explains her companions Spike and Dawn. She was the first, however, and the most memorable. If you click the title to this post, you'll be taken to a post about Buffy that I put up shortly after we adopted her. If you've never had a young Basset, though, here is an excerpt from another article that I posted. It was a part of what was for a time a regular series, that I called "What My Dog Destroyed This Week." I enjoyed writing it, if nothing else. It consists of one page that I added to regularly for a time. Here is the introductory section from the page:



This Hound that Satan is afraid to invite in has made a career out of destruction of my property. Here's a sample of what she destroyed just yesterday, January 21st, 2002:

• A P-trap
  
  
• A shrink-wrapped package of hooks
  
  
• A package of frozen broccoli

No one can say why she does these things. As you can see, she's really rather cute, and lovable, too. But, we can't let those "good" qualities dissuade us from our quest to expose her for the evil alien force that she is! I'll be keeping a running tally of her evil deeds right on this page. Check back each week when I update this site. You'll never know just what you'll find out about this frightening destructive force!



Buffy is still with us in 2009. Just this morning she got a giant Milk-Bone(tm) shaped container of dog treats down and spilled it on the floor. I found her gorging herself happily in the kitchen while Spike cleaned up the periphery. Dawn didn't even try. It's tough being dog #3, I guess. Buffy is sleeping it off as I write.


The photo, by Tami Cowden, is the original illustration from the page.