Pooches, Pumpkins, and Poison

by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

  Bandit barked. He loved coming to the shelter, probably because he knew he wouldn’t stay long, but he could visit and play with his buddies. “Here,” I handed the controller for their collars to Sara. “Give this to them, tell them not to play with it, and have them take Allie and Bandit back to the covered turf area. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Sara.”

  Max smiled as he watched her leave. “They really like what you’re doing here, don’t they?”

  I gathered up a stack of collars and controllers for the other dogs and told him to follow me. “I think so, or at least I hope so. We’ve had great success with the dogs, and our adoption rates are through the roof. One day last month we were actually at capacity, so that’s a good thing.”

  “To be at capacity is good?”

  I held the door to the dog area open for him as we received a welcome barking chorus fit for royalty. “Max, we’re usually well past our capacity, and desperately begging for fosters. It was a big thing, believe me. The dogs are adoptable for many reasons, but the training makes a huge difference, and the fact that these people take the time to invest in the free training for them to learn how to work with their adopted dogs is huge. It means they’re committed, and when they’re committed, they don’t return dogs to shelters.”

  He nodded and spoke loudly over the dog chorus. “I knew we had a problem, but I didn’t realize how big. I’m glad you’re doing what you’re doing. Can you show me how you train them?”

  “We’re heading there now.” I pushed open the door for the turf area and greeted the volunteers. One of my regular trainers was there, and she went and got three more dogs so each dog had a handler.

  “It takes time to work with them all, and some aren’t ready yet. They’re either too sick, haven’t been evaluated, pregnant, or we’re not sure how they’ll behave with the group yet. It’s a long process, but it’s the best we’ve got.” I handed him a controller from the small table in the area. “This button is for the dog, you click it on the command, after you’ve taught the dog what to do of course.” I showed him the three different options for training; shock, light, and vibration. “A lot of people disapproval of the shock version, but many aren’t aware of what it does or how it works.”

  “What do you mean? It shocks them, right?”

  “Approved shock collars like these are designed to get a reaction from the animal, and they do. Now here,” I showed him the knob to control the level of shock. “If someone cranked that up to one hundred, the dog is going to notice of course, but that’s not how you do it, not really. When I trained Bandit, he wrongly assumed he was the alpha, and for him to listen to me, he needed to know his place in the pack, and more importantly, that I’m the alpha. I had to use shock at first at about twenty-five, but by the end of the first thirty-minute training, he followed commands without any shock, light, or vibration. I tried to start with vibration, but he wouldn’t listen. I placed a collar on the table in his hand. “Here hold this and tell me what it feels like.”

  “Wait.” He tossed the collar back onto the table. “You’re going to shock me, aren’t you?”

  I laughed. “You spoil all my fun.”

  He cringed. “I’m not sure I’m sorry about that, either.”

  “The training is more successful than treat training. Treat training teaches a dog to expect a reward of a treat every time they provide a desired behavior, but what if you’re walking your dog at the park and a deer crosses the path. Do you think a treat is going to stop some dogs from charging the deer?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Exactly. This training teaches them to react a certain way without receiving an award. It teaches them that specific behaviors, like sitting, heeling, not jumping on people, those kinds of things, are expected when asked. And this training is quicker, too. It can take a few days or a few hours, and the dog knows how to respond. The best thing about it is that once they’re trained, you really don’t need to use the shock, you can use the light or the vibration, or simply put the collar on and the dog understands, and eventually, you won’t need it in the house at all. I do recommend it be kept on when outside or around people, not for the people’s safety as much as for the dog’s safety, but that’s an entirely different conversation.”

  He nodded. “You’re doing a lot for these dogs. I had no idea.”

  “Max, we have a dog population problem, and fixing dogs so they don’t have puppies isn’t the only solution. We need to find homes for the dogs we’ve got, and ensuring a dog is trained opens doors to homes that wouldn’t be opened otherwise. Some people may not approve of the collar training, but it’s helping adopt out dogs, and we won’t give them to any family we don’t personally train ourselves and approve for adoption.

  “You can’t keep them all, either. You don’t have enough land.”

  I smiled. “Maybe someday.”

  He watched as the head volunteer, a woman who’d gone through the training course, taught the new volunteers how to work the controller, and he laughed when she made each of them feel the shock at different levels. “That’s funny in an inappropriate way.”

  “They need to understand what the dog feels to have compassion and be allowed to work with them. If they don’t meet our guidelines for training, they’re out.”

  He nodded. “I’m impressed, Missy.”

  “Thank you, and I intend to make sure it continues.” I’d said that because Rick Morring and the shelter manager had just walked out the door to the turf area.

  “Missy, Councilman Morring here would like to view the training. He’s excited about the program and what it can offer the residents here in town,” Mary said.

  I made eye contact with Morring, and I knew he was full of it. He was only there for ammunition to stop the program. “Hey,” I blew the whistle I’d worn on a lanyard around my neck. “Everyone bring it in. We’re taking a break.”

  Mary’s smiled disappeared.

  I stared directly at Rick Morring. “Mary, our councilman here isn’t interested in anything but removing the pooch parties from local events. He told me that himself, and I won’t provide him access to a program he wants to destroy. And since this isn’t a county shelter, and we don’t rely on funding from the city government which employs him, I see no reason to allow him access to the program.”

  “I uh…I can’t believe that’s true. He’s just finished telling me what a blessing it’s been to have so many dogs adopted out since you came on board with the program,” she said.

  I still hadn’t taken my eyes off Rick. “I know for a fact it is. Why don’t you tell her what you said, Mr. Morring? Perhaps she’ll have a better understanding.”

  His eyes bounced from me to Mary and then to Max before he finally said. “I came here today to learn more about the program with the hopes that I would leave feeling assured our community is safe where the dogs are present.”

  Mary twisted the cross on her thin silver necklace. “Mr. Morring, I can assure you the dogs Missy brings to town events have been well adjusted to people. I don’t believe anyone is at harm. Of course, like any animal, precautions are made, and we do our best to ensure the safety of the community and our dogs.” Her upper lip curled a bit on the right side, and I was happy to see Mary had similar feelings about the man as I.

  Max placed his hand on Rick’s shoulder and attempted to ease his concerns. “Rick, take a look around.” He pointed to the dogs running around the turf park. “They’re having a great time, and they aren’t a threat to us at all. I’m confident Missy and her team take precautions when the dogs are out and about. In fact, I’ve seen it myself, and I’m pretty sure you have, too.”

  “It only takes one incident for the city to be held liable.”

  Mary pushed her shoulders back and stood tall. “We have permission and the necessary permits for every event we’ve participated in, Mr. Morring. We also have the insurance necessary to accommodate the
requirements for such events, and should anything happen, which is unlikely, we are prepared to handle it.”

  Rick nodded. “Very well. Let’s see how this next event goes. I’ll be on hand to evaluate, and we’ll go from there.”

  I fixed my eyes on him. “Lovely. I’m looking forward to spending time with you at the festival, Mr. Morring.” I’d strained my neck so much while trying to keep my cool, I’d practically spit out his name, and if it was obvious, I didn’t care one bit.

  Since I had no other choice but to work with the volunteers and dogs in Rick’s presence, we did, but I limited the training to an introduction for the volunteers, mostly showing what would be achieved through Bandit’s example.

  In my business, people like Rick Morring were the enemy, and I didn’t want to share my secrets and give him ammunition to use them against me.

  It felt like hours passed until Rick left, but he’d really only been there another forty minutes tops. Time dragged when I had to spend it with people I didn’t respect, and I’d done my best to ignore him. Max stuck around, keeping himself busy speaking with other volunteers, helping clean the kennels, walking a few of the dogs, and engaging with people who’d come for adoption. As I headed back to the front office, I saw him sitting on the couch in the cat lounge with two fluffy, fat cats on his chest, one on his lap, and two others resting on each of his shoulders. I snuck in and none of them gave up their prime spots or even budged when I did. I snapped a photo for our adoption wall because it was just so adorable, seeing him lying there under a pile of cat fluff. When Max snored, I giggled and left him there, praying he didn’t have an allergy because if he did, the poor guy would be miserable in minutes.

  When the cat screeching volume rose, a few of us rushed out of the office to check, and there was poor Max, a cat on his head and one on two legs on his thighs. He held his arms up as if held a gun point, a frozen look of fright plastered on his face.

  I couldn’t help it, I laughed.

  Mary pounded her fist on the lounge’s large picture window, and the two cranky cats’ heads pivoted toward us, and then they bounded off Max and went to their respective corners with their gang mates. Max practically jumped off the couch, and as he did, cat hair flew off his nice cream colored dress shirt, leaving a cloud of hair slowly falling to the ground.

  I chuckled. The poor man. He obviously had no idea how territorial cats could be.

  He exited the cat lounge and tried to brush off the remaining hairs from his shirt. “Well, I’ve always hoped two women would fight over me, but I’d have preferred they each have two legs.”

  I pressed my lips together and raised my eyes to the ceiling. I couldn’t look at him because I didn’t want to bust out laughing.

  Mary had walked into the office and returned with a hair removal brush. She handed it to him. “We love having people hang out with the kitties, but next time you should wear something you don’t mind getting full of hair.”

  He ran the brush up and down his shirt, and when he turned around, Mary and I giggled.

  He completed the rest of a full circle to face us again. “What?”

  I held out the hand for the brush. “Here. You’ve got a little on your back, too.” A little was an understatement. Even though the volunteers cleaned the cat furniture often, with a room filled with kitties, it was impossible not to leave with Maine Coon sized amounts of hair on our bodies.

  It took me a good two minutes to get most of the hair off. He wasn’t cat hair free, but I did my best. I walked him to his car. “So, you didn’t come here just to bring me a coffee.”

  He laughed. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Well?”

  “I talked to a contact at the department, and they don’t see Rick as the killer.”

  I blinked. “So, what does that mean, they don’t have any suspects?”

  He shrugged. “The official word is they are diligently working the investigation, and the chief is planning to have a press conference with the mayor in a day or two.”

  I leaned against his car. “If they don’t have a suspect, why would they have a press conference? Wouldn’t that just make them look bad?”

  “The wolves are circling, and the mayor’s getting nervous. We’ve had the three Atlanta news networks here asking questions. He’s told the chief he’s got twenty-four hours to give him something.”

  “Or?”

  He shrugged again.

  “So, if Fielding isn’t a suspect, and Morring isn’t, they’ve got to have their eyes on someone.”

  “I was led to believe, off the record of course, they do. I just couldn’t get a name.”

  I exhaled. “Does your contact think what happened to the turf is connected?”

  “They’re investigating.”

  “Is it even legal to buy the stuff? Wouldn’t it be hard for someone to get it? It has to be the same person.”

  “No, it’s not illegal, but it is strongly controlled. My contact says they’ve got a team of investigators scouring every outlet for purchases, but South Carolina isn’t far, and since it’s available there too, they’ve got to go there as well. It’s also available online, so finding out where it came from could take weeks or months even.”

  “You can purchase cyanide on the internet? That’s ridiculous.”

  He agreed.

  “What’re the odds of two people using the same controlled poison in a matter of twenty-four hours and at the same fairgrounds?”

  “Slim to none, I’d assume.”

  “Me, too. Whoever killed Traci Fielding put those poisoned pumpkins on the turf, I’m sure of it. And they either wanted to make a point, or stop the pooch party event. My guess is they were coming after me and the dogs to stop us.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  I tapped my pointer finger on the cleft of my chin while I thought things through, and then I slowly moved it and pointed toward the shelter. “I’m going to check the volunteer records. Maybe they’ll tell me something.”

  “That’s a good start.”

  “Do you have a relationship with Gina Palencia?”

  He jerked his head back. “Gina and me? No, of course not.”

  I shook my head. “I mean like a friendship or whatever. Not a romantic one.”

  He blushed. “Oh, well, yes, I guess. We have worked together on a few things. We get along.”

  I filled him in on what happened the night before. “She hears a lot, or well, I guess she could be making it up, but I really feel like she came to see me for a reason, and it wasn’t just to give me taco soup, or chili, or whatever it was. Maybe you could check on how she’s doing with the festival, offer your help, whatever, and try to get some information from her?”

  “You didn’t eat the taco soup, did you?”

  I shook my head. “Dumped it down the sink. Everyone’s a suspect in my eyes.”

  “Even me?”

  “Not yet.”

  He nodded. “Good to know. Tell me exactly what happened when she came over.”

  So, I did.

  The pups and I headed over to the festival. I’d been in contact with the artificial turf company, and they’d graciously offered to replace the turf at no cost and scheduled the delivery for the festival instead of my house or the shelter, making my life a whole lot easier. It wasn’t too hard to put down, mostly just a hassle, and I appreciated the extra hands.

  I met the delivery truck at the pooch party set up, and the kind men helped remove the crates the police left scattered around to lay the grass down. I sprayed everything off after they left, giving it a good washing to get rid of any dust that might bother the dogs.

  As I dried off my hands, Jennifer Lee came by. “Hey, Missy, I can’t believe what happened. Do you need any help getting set up again?”

  I didn’t, but I took advantage of the chance to talk with her. “That would be wonderful Jennifer, thank you.”

  She helped move the crates back to their locations and set up the water bowls. She s
tood in front of the crates and examined them. After a moment, she aligned them in a straight even line and then smiled.

  I stood next to her. “Type A?”

  “A little,” she said, making the pinch symbol with her thumb and forefinger.

  I nodded. “Me, too.”

  “Do you know if they’ve got any idea who did this?” She faced me. “Is it related to what happened to Traci Fielding?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know much yet. I know the investigation is going into South Carolina, but that’s about it.”

  “South Carolina? Really? Whatever for?”

  “Apparently, you can purchase cyanide in stores, so they’re going there to see if any has been purchased. It’s strongly regulated from what I’ve heard.”

  She nodded. “You can buy it on the internet, too.”

  I tilted my head. “Yes, but I didn’t know that until today.”

  “Oh.” She shook her head. “Me neither. I heard Jim Decon discussing it a little while ago.”

  “Really? With whom?”

  “He was talking to one of the city council members. Rick Morring, I think.”

  “He sure seems to get around.” I wanted to discuss her arguments with both Jake and Traci Fielding, but I didn’t want to sound accusatory. I also wasn’t sure Jennifer was involved in Traci’s murder or the poisoned pumpkins in the pooch party area, but I wasn’t about to lead her to believe I thought she was.

  “As do a lot of the men in town.”

  Bingo! She’d just given me exactly the opening I needed, or at least one I could work with.

  We were wiping down the crates and I stopped to face her. “May I ask you a question?”

  She pursed her lips and then said, “Is this about me and Jake?”

  I raised my eyebrows and angled my head to the right.

  Jennifer sat on the turf. “It was stupid, and it was wrong, and I shouldn’t have fallen for his lies. I admit that now, but I believed him. I couldn’t help myself.”

  “Jennifer, people have seen you basically threaten him. If the police haven’t talked to you yet, I’m sure they will. I don’t want to sound accusatory, because that’s not my intention.”