Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

The readers of the blog just adopted their second dog this week, Albert, a handsome three-year-old chihuahua was adopted late this afternoon, according to Carol Johnson of Friends Of Homeless Animals. FOHA gets all kinds of dogs from different parts of the country, they specialize in heartworm and some hopeless dogs in great trouble.

These dogs all come with horror stories, most dogs in America are treated very well, but it is disheartening to hear the things some people will do to animals.

FOHA does the hard and dirty work most of us don’t like to think about.

I hope to highlight a different dog each week in need of a home, it’s a wonderful use of the blog and the many animal lovers who read it. I avoided doing this for years because I don’t want the blog to be limited to dog issues.

I hope we can keep our streak going.

I’m getting Bud from FOHA and I appreciate the group, their sensitivity and thoroughness.

I want my writing to range widely, but dogs are a central element of my life and writing and blog and it is foolish to help people but not vulnerable dogs. So I’ll be doing this regularly, and this week we are off to a great start.

They tell me Albert is a great dog, and I know that Jen, who a blog reader adopted earlier in the week, is also going to a great home.

This is shaping up as a great week of triumphs for the blog.

Tomorrow, I’m going to take a photo of Kelly Patrick, a certified nurse’s aide from the Mansion Assisted Care Facility. With the help of the Army Of Good, she is moving out of the tent she was living in all summer and into her double-wide trailer with her daughter and grandson.

More later.

Today, the refugees soccer team went to Ramblewild, a forest adventure park to walk among the trees. They loved it, I met them for lunch. Photos coming tonight. Tomorrow, a different group from the team is going to the Great Adventure Entertainment Park at Lake George.

Later on during summer break, they will spend time at the Powell House Youth Retreat, go bowling a couple of times, and swim and play video games at Lake George.

The Army of Good made all of these triumphs possible. To help continue all of this work, please consider making a contribution to the Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. And thanks.

I see the camera as windows into the lives of the animals. Here on the farm, the animals have their own lives, separate from ours. I love catching them unawares at these moments, I call them windows into their lives.

Fate often stands by the gate,locked onto the sheep which she loves to be around but won’t herd. Fanny loves to stand by the gate and observe the wider world. I love to stand in the yard and observe them.

My idea is to pick a dog each week from the Friends of Homeless Animals site or ask Carol Johnson which of the dogs on the site I ought to mention. She is honest and reliable and she mentioned Albert as a beautiful and loving dog available for adoption.

His story is that he was kept on a short rope in a front yard with no shelter. He escaped only to be trapped when the rope caught on a bush in the woods. He was starving when he was found, and  also tested positive for heartworm, that has been  treated.

He is Bud’s primary playmate in Arkansas, so I feel a bit guilty about taking Bud away from him. Carol says he’s a special dog. I have never been drawn to getting a chihuahua, but they are a very popular breed.

Albert weights ll lbs and is about three years old.

Carol says Albert has what she calls an “energetic” personality and she recommends a home with no small children (he is not aggressive, but sometimes play bites).  Sounds like a live wire.

The adoption fee for this dog is $650, including the cost of transportation to the Northeast. He’s ready to go. If you’re interested in Albert, you can e-mail Caro   [email protected] or apply on the FOHA/RI website.

Bud is getting snipped today, another surgical procedure for the poor guy. He is due for his second heartworm treatment at the end of this month, and assuming all goes well with the treatment, he will be shipped up to Rhode Island where we can pick him up the first week of October, the week before our Open House.

Looks like he will be there just before then, which seems fitting. I talked with Carol Johnson, a new friend from the Friends Of Homeless Animals/RI rescue group, and she says Gus is rapidly evolving into a playful, sometimes feisty and very sweet animal.

She said he was initially purchased from a puppy mill, bought by a man who didn’t want him and who left him outside in a wire mesh pen for three months. He was filthy, covered in dirt and scratches and cuts. He was also terrified of people, men in particular.

Carol has done an amazing job fostering Bud, he goes into his crate now, steals bags of jalepeno chips and loves to cuddle and play with the other foster dogs. He looks as if he likes to chase cats also, Flo will make short shrift of him if he tries anything.

I’m thinking of you today, Bud, good luck getting snipped. When you get up here, we will have lots of fun and good times, and hopefully change the narrative of your life.

Our barn cats, like so many cats, are sun worshippers. Minnie hangs out on the porch day and night, Flo has different sleeping spots and loves to prowl the meadow at night. In the morning, both of them are usually found on the back porch by the door, soaking up the morning rays.