Greyhound Paced Weekend!!

Whew!!! This past weekend really flew by! Casey and I went out with Jennie and Jason on Saturday night for dinner. Before we knew it, it was nearly 10 p.m.! We all have so much in common. It was really nice to have the time to sit and visit. On Sunday, Casey and I managed to get out of the house and did a little bit of shopping (READ as...Casey and I went and spent our hard earned money to buy food for all the critters!) I actually don't mind. I always enjoy an outing to PetSmart. Yesterday was kennel day for me. I learned all about how to pair different dogs to let them into the pens and play-yards. It was a lot of fun, albeit some pretty wet work. We had pouring rain for most of the day yesterday, along with VERY cold air and snow coming in late last night and early this morning. We all woke up to a white, wintry world. Casey and I are going to take care of the kennel weekend after next, while Jennie attends a seminar, so Casey spent the afternoon at the kennel as well learning the ropes. Speaking of working with animals, Casey has taken a part time job working at our shelter for a few hours every day. I guess you could literally say that we have BOTH gone straight to the dogs!

Today has been a pretty typical day. Hopefully, I'll get myself to Curves tonight. I skipped last night because of I had worked all day and then had a humane association meeting last night. We have started planning the spring fundraiser. It's going to be like Dogs Days in the Park. We are calling it Celebration Pet Day. We put the Celebration in there, because the Celebration grounds are letting us use their HUGE, covered pavillion. Our event will get to go on rain or shine that way. We had lots of little details to cover. I'm in charge of getting vendors to commit to set up booths. No small task. Everyone keep their fingers crossed that I have my sanity come May 15th. I'm going to start contacting potentials tomorrow morning. I was pretty beat by the time I finally got home. It's just about time to head for home. I'm posting a local dog story of interest. It was posted on a local newstation's site. Seems this guy got his justice!

Man accused of defrauding people who lost pets March 1, 2005, 10:43 AM CST

ATLANTA -- Police have arrested a man they say ran a scam that took advantage of people searching for missing pets.

Andre Gould conned as many as 17 people in six states, including Tennessee, to wire him $85 for a pet carrier to fly their dogs back to them, plus any extra money they wanted to send, police said. But the owners never got their pets.

Gould's victims paid him a total of $3,000 since December, police detective Paul Cooper said. A woman in Beaufort, N.C., sent him as much as $500.

Police arrested Gould at a motel in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood on Friday. He has been charged with wire fraud and racketeering.

Gould, 37, used the Internet to find people who had posted classified ads seeking lost dogs. He focused on ads that said the animal had been implanted with a microchip that had identifying information. He also only targeted people who lived far outside the Atlanta area.

Gould would then find addresses for the phone numbers in the ads. Using mapping software, he would identify cross streets or landmarks to add credibility to his claim that he had found their dog beside the road.

Using skills he developed as a telemarketer, Gould would pose as a truck driver who had found and nursed the lost pet and offer to fly the animal home.

"He's the scum of Earth," Ann Rittenberry of Antioch, Tenn ., said of Gould, who told her his name was Ron Barton when he called claiming he found Peanut, her son's beagle. "It's the lowest of low, preying on people who are desperate to get their animals back."

Rittenberry and Justin, her then-8-year-old son, waited in vain Dec. 22 at the airport in Nashville for their dog.

"I had to tell him Peanut wasn't coming home after all," Rittenberry said.

Gould, who had been released from a federal prison halfway house just a few weeks ago, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, Cooper said.

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