On the morning of New Year’s Day I was out on a run with my own fur-covered ball of canine energy when I spotted these two dogs sitting near the bridge between Poplar Circle and Shadowmoor. They were leashless and collarless, but I thought that since they were so well behaved their owner must be nearby. I began to wonder, however, when I ran by again a half-hour later, and the dogs were still there. So I took my dog home and went back to investigate later.

It turned out that several neighbors had noticed them. Someone contacted DeKalb Animal Control, who came by and picked them up. But Winnona Park resident Erin Johnson and a few others were already on the case, contacting rescue organizations and trying to find a foster home for these sweet, slightly shy but very polite pups, a male (the black one) and a female.

It took some doing, but in less than a week the dogs have found salvation . . . temporarily. They have been taken out of Animal Control. The white one is going to Friends of DeKalb Animals and the son of Winnona Park resident Wardell Castles has agreed to foster the black one. The dogs still need permanent homes.

To sweeten the pot, neighborhood residents have pledged generously toward their care — funds to help with vet bills, spaying and neutering, etc. All of this was coordinated straight out of the grassroots, over the Winnona Park listserv.

Animal rescuers are angels on earth.

Can you open your home and heart to one or a couple of sweethearts? Or could you contribute to their care fund?

To inquire about adopting the white female dog, please contact Friends of DeKalb Animals ().  PLEASE NOTE: it has been reported that the white female has some aggression issues, so any home accepting her should be equipped and prepared to support a dog that will need some extra love and training.

To inquire about adopting the black male dog, please contact Wardell Castles at .

And please remember to support our wonderful local rescue organizations, such as Ruffus Rescue, PAWS, the Lifeline Animal Project, Friends of DeKalb Animals, Animal Action Rescue, and others. There is a great list of worthy, hardworking groups here!

 

In a FFAF comment, AMB let us know that construction at the old Blockbuster location in the Publix plaza on North Decatur Road is converting the space into a future Petco. Cue logo…

An intensive Google search (like there is such a thing!) by yours truly revealed that there are a crud load of part-time job openings up on the interwebs for a Petco at 2115 N Decatur Rd Decatur GA.

So that pretty much confirms it!

From a check of Google maps, this looks to be Petco’s second ITP location.  The other in-town store is located at the traffic nightmare officially known as the Edgewood Retail District.

After seeing an article in this week’s Champion newspaper detailing DeKalb County’s prep for another winter storm like last years, I asked City Manager Peggy Merriss what, if any, steps Decatur had taken to prepare for another potential 50 year winter weather event this year.  She was good enough to provide us with this detailed account.

As described in The Champion article, our public works staff have been participating with other municipalities, DeKalb County and the Georgia Department of Transportation to develop a better system of coordinated communications during extreme weather events. This will be most helpful in making sure that the roadways that are cleared connect to other roadways in other jurisdictions as well as coordinating the delivery of additional materials and supplies.

We are purchasing an interchangeable blade implement that can be attached to the City’s backhoe to be used as a snow “plow” to clean major thoroughfares. In addition, the blade can be used year round to scrape and maintain other surfaces, such as unpaved roads. It will cost about $4,000.

We have stocked our typical supply of materials such as sand and de-icer.

We have modified our call-in policy to require all of our sanitation collection staff who are able report to work, even if we are not collecting garbage, in order to have more available workers.

We plan on opening Ebster Recreation Center as a drop-in facility if schools are otherwise closed.

Overall, our response last year was consistent with the City’s weather response plan and if we have a similar convergence of the same conditions in the future, residents should be prepared to comfortably stay at home for 3-5 days. Ultimately, what remains as the most effective plan of attack for removing ice and snow are sunny and slightly windy, above 32° days.

Feel free to use this post to ask questions and make comments about local issues not discussed here over the past week.

Comments close Monday.