brick house break

Today I began a Facebook group, to gather like-minded rural people who want to make the point that it is not right for strangers to drop their animals in the country.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56448797905

Sadly the stray dogs that were guests at Alderburn Farm for a night, and who are now incarcerated at the local animal shelter, will not be staying here. There are too many unknowns about the animals' histories and real behaviour. The budget for one dog will not easily expand to accomodate two medium-sized dog and one large and hungry fella.

A point of view that I heard today is "Having an animal is for life. Raise them, keep them, bury them." Well that is the bottom line with pets. They do not choose their masters and are subject to the masters' whims and the winds of fate. They give what they have and expect little and become fully dependant upon their home circumstances. They cannot be expected to simply jump from a car, run into the forest, and kills something to eat. They don't know how. And so the delinquent master who decides to make his or her formerly-loved pet into a problem puts distance between the pet and the home and drops "the problem" onto someone elses' yard. So the comment about having animals becomes "Raise them, keep them, discard them, let them be killed."

The pet owner may believe that the country house or the farm will naturally have the resources to take care of another animal. In some cases this may be true, but more than likely the abandoned pet will roam in wilderness and become harmed by accident or will become prey to the wild beasts. Should the animal find its way to a building or a barn, there may be welcoming voices and a place to stay, or they may find terror and pain or simply misery in their new circumstances. The pet in unknown territory may be harmed by another animal that is carrying disease and will then carry it and eventually go mad, get into trouble with humans, and will be shot. Or, after a short while, when the stranger animal succumbs to hunger and illness, it dies in the cold.

The nearest shelter will take the animals. They have facilities to take care of the stranded pet and to provide the basic necessities of life until, by very good fortune, a new master is found. Or, they will be left in the facility for a long time until regulations demand its euthenasia. The animal will not suffer, however, starving and frightened: it may find a home: or it dies peacefully.

Roxey was snuffling around the house and watching the back door. I opened it to find two big labradors, one black and one ginger, laying on winter coats there. The black male is about two or three years old and the ginger is a little older. Both very healthy and wagging their tails, approached me and I petted them cautiously. Black with old leather collar, and ginger without collar: neither carried tags nor are there tattoos. Ice and snow on their bellies when they arrived. They may have come from across the river and up through the fields.

I took them outside, with slippers and flashlight and attempted to find dog tracks or vehicle tracks. In the light snow that was falling, there were no longer any tracks. No trace then of the events of arriving. So we went into the house and they were so glad: soon all the dogs were in the house and eating and drinking from big metal bowls. They wandered with me around the main floor and upstairs. Definitely enjoy the house and are trained with at least the basic commands. Shiny fur and bright eyes with friendly temperaments. The three dogs happily played together in the living room with the tennis balls and then settled in for napping in three corners of the house,

Now the two big dogs have been let out, by request, and are contented to be sleeping out there in the back kitchen and the warm and calm night. The cats have made wide space for them. In the morning it will be necessary to call around and find out where they came from, however, I have a suspicion that I have been seen taking Roxey around the fields and someone has decided to provide their dogs with a good foster home, for whatever reason in these strange times. I hope they will stay. May have to give up DVD rentals for bags of field trial (7 cups a day!) and that is ok.

The highway sign suddenly lights yellow in the highbeams. Deer Crossing - Night Danger. There are no deer out here. They are at in their forests under snowy pine boughs. There is danger tonight however.

Through the long cold day there have been relentles driving snows. Roads of grey and white. The farm over there is simply standing grey and silver and white. Tonight the highway 60 is a narrow grey path through a cream white corridor of snow banks. Approaching in the other lane are blinking blue lights above a slow truck clearing snow with its broad blade. Ahead is a pickup truck plowing in a long driveway. There arethe wide tracks and a tractor is pushing the deep snow to the road where we drivers wait at the long light. Pull away slow and steady: there's a semi truck behind and cautious small sedan ahead. Just a grey curved mass it is in the blowing snow. When I drop back the truck drops back. And so we follow in a solemn parade from Highway 17 to Haley Station where the snow is deep still. Over the train tracks and down the hill to the intersection at the road and fields and the turn to Alderburn Farm. The headlights shine on the big red barn and the driveway where I am safe and sound. No harm done on a slippery white and striped grey highway night.

Outside the office at the the back of the house, the icicles are very wet and pouring drops onto the snow. Soon they will fall and perhaps today in plus zero centigrade temperatures and with steady rain expected. There is no wind moving the far trees or naked near branches. The house is entirely still but for the sound of the fan in the computer and the occasional quick shudder of the refrigerator motor in the kitchen. In the basement, the gas jets are igniting and fan is starting in the furnace. So very quiet, and apparently nothing is going on here.

However, the chubby cats are laying in wait outside the back door, where they pine for their meal. The birds are beginning to find their way to the small feeder under the maple tree in front of the kitchen window: I was glad to see a handsome bluejay eating from it. Tell your friends! Today there are broad patches of brown grass appearing under the snow and the ice of the last several days is soft under foot. Vehicles are passing the farm at the ordinary speed of about 90 kph after months of cautious slippery driving. They cruise by nearly silently on the snow.
The dull day for me is life and fervour for millions of creatures that are now emerging from their sleep as the weeks slope gently from thick grey days into the bright and fragrant Spring.

(Notes from sunny warm last week)

Today I was walking in the south fields when after a long while and with much snow in the scenery, I saw a wedge of soil appearing in a bank of barely melting snow. 0 degrees and touched by an afternoon of strong sun, the snow was shining everywhere. Then there was the aroma of warm dry hay from inside the nearby wrapped hay. Quite a few more animal tracks than the usual day traffic.

The house seemed warm when I entered, yet a few hours later the burning candles brought the comfort of fire into the cool rooms.