Henny Penny Farmette

I always learn a lot from my regular visits to the Contra Costa County Animal Shelter. I was surprised to learn that the shelter doesn’t take in just dogs and cats but also chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other animals.

Moose isn’t a shelter animal but a very pampered pet belonging to my daughter’s family–some dogs in Contra Costa County are not so fortunate

But most alarming for me was learning that some people in our current economy are having trouble paying for their pets’ required shots or annual license renewal. Others, for a variety of reasons, may need food for their pets. In tough times, pets can suffer, too.

Thanks to generous donations within Contra Costa County, the shelter is happy to share (when available) the pet food that is donated. That said, the shelter urges all pet owners to have backup plans in case the shelter’s donated supplies are running low.

This little cutie is one at the shelter I fell in love with; I picked out a name, returned to adopt, and someone had already claimed him

If you are a pet owner needing assistance with getting pet food and your Plan A didn’t work out, you might consider the following Plan-B, Plan-C, and Plan-D.

Plan-B:  Contra Costa Humane Society Ani-meals Program

Phone: (925) 676-7543 or 1 (800) 870-3663

Plan-C: Tony LaRussa’s ARF Food Relief Program

Phone (925) 256-1273, ext. 463; website: http://www.arf.net/animal-programs/foodshare

The ARF program also helps people in their program with spay and neuter services.

Plan-D: Furry Friends Food Relief Program: 

Phone (925) 240-3178; website: http://www.furryfriendsfoodre.wix.com/fffr

If you love animals and would like to help families and their pets who might be struggling, consider donating money, pet food, or your time to your local animal shelter. Shelter staff members and volunteers give phenomenal care to the creatures who cannot fend for themselves.

The shelter will hold the animals for a while or relocate them with rescue organizations or find them temporary foster homes. The best outcome is adoption into a forever family home. In Contra Costa County, people with questions about food distribution programs can call the Humane Education Department at (925)-335-8340.

Ripening corn needs water

My corn is drooping, the ears are shriveling, the lush green leaves are beginning to look like oven-roasted kale chips. No question that the early summer heat is taking a toll on my garden.

July is usually a hot month. But here on the farmette this first week of July, temperatures over the last few days have reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Five minutes away up on the ridges of Clayton, I have been watering my daughter’s garden, too. Yesterday, over the top of a towering bone-dry hill opposite her house, I caught sight of smoke and local cattle moving down off the hills toward the neighborhood homes.

That grass fire, roughly two miles away from her home, mushroomed into a cloud of smoke. The main artery over those hills, Kirker Pass Road, was closed while firefighters fought the blaze yesterday afternoon. The fire was near the Concord Navel Weapons Station. The winds blow off the Carquinez Strait up through the East Bay valleys in late afternoon each day, and yesterday was no exception. Wind increases the risk that the fire can spread.

As I watered the citrus, I saw helicopters (Cal Fire sent four planes) carrying water overhead to douse the fire. A helicopter passed over about every fifteen minutes. In just a few hours, the blaze charred 492 acres, burned a trio of structures, and threatened some homes. It’s worrisome to local homeowners that because of dwindling resources, Contra Costa County recently closed the fire department in Clayton, closest to that grass fire.

So, we all count ourselves fortunate that  local fire fighters and their hard work over the next five hours resulted in a dousing of that fire.