On my nightly walk with sugar we were jumped by a couple of dogs. They came out of the darkness (it was night and they were black). After a quick interaction they were off just as fast as they came. A couple blocks later we saw them running in the road and raising hell. Sugar and I finished our walk, with her safely at home I grabbed a couple of leashes and went back out. It didn't take long before I spotted the dogs running behind some houses. After catching them I had no idea what to do. What do you do when its after hours and nobody cares to deal with it. I contacted the police department, an officer showed up shortly. He decided the best coarse of action was to go door to door looking for the owners. This search didn't last long as the area is too big. The officer decided they were not equipped to handle this. The advice was to "cut them loose". Owning a dog myself and knowing its gonna be 11 degrees out, I opted not to do that. I let them play with Sugar in the back yard for a couple hours while I looked for some kind of help. Nobody seemed to care because it was after hours. then about 10:30 I get a phone call. It was a lady who contacted the police Dept and they directed her to me. HURRAY! the dogs are home safe and inside where its nice and warm. This is the third time I have done this and can only hope if my dog gets out someone will do the right thing and not "cut her loose".

After the meeting today in Stanton I came across a couple of ladies with a dog. The dog was very nervous, after talking with the ladies I found out they were rescuing him and taking him to Muskegon to an animal shelter. He instantly got behind my legs and didn't want to come out. For some reason he felt like I could protect him. They kept trying to encourage him to go with them but he wouldn't leave my side. This little guy, Fletch, pulled on all of my heart strings. If I could have I would have taken him right then and there. However my girlfriend Cori would have kicked my butt if I came home with another dog. I hope he goes to a good home! Fletch good luck to ya bud!

Today the board of commissioners for Montcalm County had a meeting regarding the contract with R & R Research. If you haven't heard about what is going on, ill bring you up to speed. The Montcalm County Animal Shelter has a contract with class B dealer R & R research. This contract allows R & R research access to take dogs from the shelter to be sold for research. Many people attended today's meeting, most people spoke out against this contract. Apparently, R & R research would come in and take animals pretty much at will. Without rehashing all the issues with this ill move along to the outcome of toady's events.

Today's meeting lasted several hours with a few out breaks from the community. When all the dust settled the commissioner's voted  to extend the contract for another 6 months while a "blue ribbon" panel studies the issue and makes recommendations. The panel    will consist of a local veterinarian and several other Montcalm County citizens.

All the local news stations were in attendance today (wood tv 8, fox 17, news 13). The place was packed, some people had to stand  outside of the hall for most of the meeting. I took a few pictures you can view them here.

If you want to know more or want to know how to get involved check out Concerned Citizens Coalition- Montcalm