Petfinder Links: Poodles, Etc.

This week's Petfinder theme is poodles. Though silhouettes of elaborately groomed poodles were a popular decorative motif in the mid-twentieth century, curly-haired dogs aren't born elaborately groomed. When found in alleys, surrendered in shelters, etc., their coats are often long, shaggy, and messy. Grooming them to get little puffs of fur on some parts of the dog and smooth, crew-cut coats on other parts is the fun of keeping them for some humans. Luckily, the dogs can survive without fancy haircuts; they just don't have the look of something that would have been appliqued onto a skirt in the 1950s.

Poodles are a fairly functional breed, but hair in their eyes can be as much of a problem for dogs as it would be for humans. The Petfinder poodle pages show a high incidence of dogs who are blind on one side or both. Dogs with two healthy brown eyes obviously win the cute-picture contest so, if you like these dog pictures, please consider adopting a poodle and keeping the hair clipped away from its eyes.

1. Zipcode 10101, New York: Goldfinch from Brooklyn 

Calling this grey dog "Goldfinch" was somebody's idea of a joke. She's said to be healthy and up-to-date on vaccinations. She's a fairly old dog so, if you want her not to have to spend her last days in a downtown shelter, paste or click: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/goldfinch-49843240/ny/brooklyn/hearts-bones-rescue-ny-ny1463/

2. Zipcode 20202, Washington: Nay Nay from Richmond 

Poodles have been bred to different size ranges. Weighing in at just eight pounds, little Nay Nay is smaller than some cats and, though thought to be at least ten years old already, she might live another five years or more. She has outlived her human and is described as shy and quiet. And the poor little thing is stuck in a shelter that demands that people fill out online application forms just to meet her, so there's a real possibility that she'll spend all of her remaining years there. If you're determined to rescue Nay Nay, click or paste: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/nay-nay-49538901/va/richmond/for-the-love-of-poodles-rescue-richmond-va-va706/ .

3. Zipcode 30303, Atlanta: Snickerdoodle 

No. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend that anybody go through the rigmarole demanded by the HSUS control freaks currently clutching this cute dog. However, there are not a lot of adoptable poodles in the zipcode 30303, and Snickerdoodle does look desperate. So what I recommend is, you click or paste this: https://www.petfinder.com/dog/snicker-doodle-49881821/ga/mcdonough/henry-county-humane-society-ga08/ . Copy the raving-and-frothing below the dog's picture, especially the part about "an excellent verifiable vet history." Show it to your elected officials. Demand legislation about this kind of abomination. If you're HSUS and you're going to gas the dog unless it's adopted, even after all the expensive veterinary care they claim Snickerdoodle has received, the maximum adoption fee is $10, and anyone asking a prospective adopter's name  should be required to fill out a form listing every place where person has ever spent the night, plus the names of six neighbors who may have opinions about what person was up to. The nerve of anyone pretending to demand the absolutely perfect home so that nobody can rescue an animal they plan to kill!

Bonus: Roscoe from Blountville, Tennessee 

Obviously he's not a poodle. He's a Black & Tan Hound, one of the smartest, toughest, and healthiest kinds of dog on Earth--at least, he's more that than anything else. His coat may need flea-combing but will never need clipping. He is here serving as the spokesmutt for a whole shelter full of dogs who've been thrown into danger. Somewhere in Sullivan County a private Dog Sanctuary of some size got out of the owner's control, and the owner turned over three or four dozen sickly dogs, all at once, to the county shelter. Roscoe's good luck--so far--is that those dogs are still in quarantine and he's not about to be put down so that a new arrival can have his cell. If you are in Tennessee, drive out to Blountville and adopt some of those dogs, please. Sullivan County is (temporarily) a place where a lot of dogs really are homeless and in need of shelter, so I'll be greatly surprised if anyone reports any nonsense about online background investigations or three-figure "adoption fees." Not, at least, for Roscoe.