Gator’s Rant

There is an SPCA located in San Leon, so a lot of folks who have animals to get rid of, for whatever reason, drive to San Leon to discard their unwanted pets.
Upon arrival, many of these folks find that the SPCA does not allow you to just drop ‘em off and zoom away in a fog of burning rubber.
And sometimes, the SPCA is closed.
Having made the trek to San Leon, and expected to return petless, many of these people have, over the course of years, contributed to the stray animal population in tiny San Leon, where abandoned and feral pets outnumber humans now by a staggering 80:1 ratio.
Among those is reputed to be the famous “black ninja dog” of San Leon. This apparently nocturnal canine is known to have caused at least fifty auto crashes in recent years, by darting out in front of vehicles, thus causing the driver to swerve into a ditch, pole, house, car, or other natural obstruction.
Insurance and police reports are replete with descriptions of  a black dog suddenly appearing out of nowhere, causing an accident, then disappearing into the night. Most of these reported accidents occurred after 1 AM.
While the town mayor and a posse of dog-catchers have set about to stop him, the black ninja dog of San Leon has managed to evade all attempts to capture or kill him.
But that ain’t what I’m ranting about.
It’s about all of the stray animals running around in San Leon.
They’ve been downsized and outsourced. They’ve lost their health insurance and their unemployment benefits have run out.
And now, they’re homeless.
I know that if our readers could show some heart, we could solve this. If each reader could find room in their heart to adopt just one dog and eleven cats, there would be only half as many homeless pets in San Leon.
So, on Saturday, October 22nd, we are sponsoring a free rock concert in San Leon, starting at noon and going all day.
We will not ask for contributions or donations at the event, although we do recommend donating to the SPCA in San Leon.
All we are asking is that, on your way home after the concert, grab as many stray pets as you can reasonably feed and love, and take them with you.
Get ‘em shots and a dog tag. Take ‘em to the vet. Provide a good home.
It’s illegal as hell, I guess, but “the system” seems to be failing these little guys.
Come out to San Leon and grab some pets. You have to catch them yourself, but it’s so easy a blind man with a fish net could get three of them in less than a minute.
The date is Saturday, October 22 at Waynos in San Leon. Bands include Slide Effect, Circle Of Agression (COA), Jeremy Bradshaw, Texas Gunz, Guppies, GBA Band, Richard The Drifter and others.
There is no cover charge and tickets will not be sold or required.
Incidentally, I talked to a friend who works for the SPCA, and was advised that this is not such a good idea. Among the concerns is that these pets who are adopted in such a “bootleg” fashion may go to homes where they are no better off than before. Okay… And…
There is that slight chance that they may be a stray, not abandoned – that somewhere, little Mikey is staring out the window, wondering if Boo Boo will ever come home.
They also haven’t been screened to see if they are safe and healthy enough to be pets. They may also be emotionally scarred from their experiences as the yard-dog of a yuppie in Freindswood or as the couch-cat of a divorced stripper in a no-pets apartment complex in Clear Lake. Yeah. Whatever.
I don’t give a damn about all of that.
As the blues teaches us all: Somethin’s better than nothin’. If I was a cat, I’d rather live with the craziest cat-lady in Pasadena than be out on the mean streets of San Leon, foraging for fish-heads and eating cigarette butts.
So come down and enjoy the music with a bunch of nice people, and – only if you can – leave with a new friend.