Do what you can to help stray animals

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If Mark Twain is to be believed, stray dogs once were considered unlucky. Twain, in one chapter of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," placed his protagonist and Huckleberry Finn late one night in the vicinity of a howling stray dog. The boys recognized the canine wasn't a local animal, concluded it was a bad omen, and feared for their safety. Stray dogs still don't represent a good situation, but not for the superstitious reason Mr. Twain put forth. One or more dogs running loose is a nuisance at best and a potentially dangerous situation at worst. Stray dogs taken in by an animal hoarder and kept with dozens of other dogs is unhealthy at best and lethal at worst. We can be thankful that animal shelters offer temporary homes for stray dogs and cats, providing food, shelter and the possibility of being adopted into a loving home. This care comes at a cost, as the TAILS Humane Society in DeKalb discovered. It was TAILS that took in more than 300 animals hoarded at a rural Lee County home in October, providing care and seeking homes for the dogs, cats and birds. Since then, TAILS has taken in animals from other hoarding cases. As a result, its budget has taken a hit, as reported in a story last week. The DeKalb shelter isn't the only one that could use more help from the public. Shelters in Dixon and Sterling always are in need of donations, be they money, food, supplies or labor. Donations may be sent to Granny Rose Animal Shelter, 613 River Lane, Dixon, IL 61021; Happy Tails Humane Society, 16761 Hickory Hills Road, Sterling, IL 61081; or TAILS Humane Society, 2250 Barber Greene Road, DeKalb, IL 60115. Don't forget that volunteers who provide care for animals are the backbone of such groups. If you've got extra time and want to volunteer, contact the nearest shelter to see how you can help them help homeless pets. Local folks can do two more things to help: Adopt a pet, and be sure any pets they own are spayed or neutered. Doing one or more of these things can help the stray population. That's good for humans and animals alike. Tom and Huck survived their close encounter with a stray dog. Your close encounter might just transform a stray pet's life for the better - and yours, too.