AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM CCAS DIRECTOR BETH WARD

We come to you with a heavy heart and a plea for help that we believe only a caring community like ours can answer. Our shelter is facing a critical situation – we are at full capacity, with more animals coming in each day, and space is running out faster than we can create it.

Today, our animal care and medical staff have advised me that due to the high volume of dogs currently in our care and the number of new animals coming in each day outpacing those being adopted, rescued and returned to their families, we’re now faced with the impossible dilemma of having to make euthanasia decisions based on time and space. Sadly, this means that there is a potential that healthy/treatable animals may be euthanized to help make space for the other animals in our community needing help.

We have been messaging over the last year that our shelter is experiencing overcrowding due to our adoption rate not being able to keep up with the incredible flow of animals needing help coming into our shelter. We also know that the animal rescues in our region are experiencing similar challenges – they’re filled to the brim and their resources are being stretched. For months, we've navigated through the challenges of overcrowding, strained resources, and tirelessly dedicated staff who have given their all to care for these innocent lives. But today, we stand at a crossroads, faced with an unimaginable decision: unless we act quickly, we might have to make the heartbreaking choice to euthanize some of the dogs and cats in our care.

Our hearts ache at the mere thought of having to make such decisions. We firmly believe that each of these pets deserves the chance to find a loving home, to experience warmth, comfort, and the joy of companionship. We know you believe that too.

To that end, we need your help to get 50 large breed dogs out of the shelter through adoption, foster, and transfer immediately.

This is our heartfelt call to action. We're urging our community to step up and make a difference. We're asking you to open your hearts and your homes to the pets in our shelter. Adoption, fostering, volunteering – every gesture counts. If you've been thinking about adopting, or possibly fostering - permanently or temporarily - now is the time.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

You can access all of these services at www.ccasd.org

• Adopt – pets available for adoption can be viewed on our website. Our Martinez shelter is open Tuesday-Saturday 10AM-5PM (10AM-7PM on Wednesday). All pets are currently free to adopt.

• Foster – sign up to become a foster home for one of our shelter pets.

• Volunteer – sign up to volunteer and help socialize and care for the pets in our shelter.

• Help Reunite Lost Dogs – If you find a healthy friendly dog, try to hold onto that dog and help to search for their family. If you’re able to hold onto a lost dog while you look for the owner, you increase the possibility of that dog being reunited with their family. File a FOUND REPORT on our website and notify the lost animal social media sites, like Fido Alert, and post a notice on your NextDoor page. You can also place flyers in your neighborhood. By helping the dog find their family you will also help CCAS provide support for the sick, injured, or in danger dogs that are coming to us every day.

• Spread the Word - Share this message far and wide. You never know who might be looking for a new furry family member or thinking about fostering.

Contra Costa Animal Services must be able to help the animals in our county that are sick, injured or in danger, and to help care for lost pets while we work to reunite them with their families. The team at CCAS is focused on life saving and supporting our community needs. The needs in our community right now are overwhelming and the resources for families to spay/neuter their pets and obtain basic veterinary care are becoming less accessible and financially out of reach for many, which is contributing to more pets coming into the shelter.

We acknowledge that our shelter, like many across California, has been facing a relentless challenge. But we believe in the power of community, in the kindness and empathy that can turn the tides. We're all in this together, and together, we can make sure that no animal is left behind.

via: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/wordless-outtake-mack-nr-logging-truck-misdelivery/

Translated from Dutch in Google Chrome. Go to linked article for pictures.

American Brabant Mack history

A beautiful Mack NR, a beautiful load of trees on a beautiful trailer, and a beautiful story. We came across it all at the Truckstar Festival.

In principle, of course, the past is behind us. But not at the Truckstar Festival, where we encounter the beautiful yellow Mack NR Lanova Diesel of a very enthusiastic Willy Gaffert from Veghel between the classics and the Americans.

Willy would like to tell you something about the truck and everything around it. In earlier years, the company – then still in the hands of Willy's father Theo – also had such a Mack. “The truck here is a restoration project,” says Willy. “But the great thing is that our driver Ties, who used to drive the original Mack, is here with us. We also named this Mack after him”, says Willy, who calls Ties to take a photo.

[Picture text but picture is missing] Willy Gaffert (right) and driver Ties (left) after whom the truck is named: Tieske.

Load poplars

“At the age of seventeen, Ties was already driving the Mack,” continues Willy. “Initially as a co-driver, to load poplars in Brabant for the clog makers. Canadian poplars grow fast, the wood is very suitable for making clogs and it is now also widely used for the production of one-way pallets,” explains Willy, confirmed by Ties himself, who is a little less talkative with a nod and a big smile. looks like Willy.

“But Ties also regularly drove the truck to Luxembourg to load pine trees there,” says Willy. “Those were long journeys of twelve hours. To bring that history back to life, we bought this Mack NR some time ago and have been slowly refurbishing it. But it is a long-term project,” laughs Willy.

[Picture text] The red FTF in the background pulls the tree trailer home after the festival.

Anyway, the Mack looks great, and runs smoothly with some nice old-fashioned blue smoke. “Did you know that this is the first diesel engine that Mack developed himself?” Will asks. “It is a six-cylinder in-line engine. It delivers 131 horsepower. At least, that's what he delivered when it was new. It works with Lanova low-pressure injection and has a five-speed gearbox with high and low yaw. But you can't really use his five-layer. It can reach a top speed of 62 to 63 kilometers per hour.”

So the truck wouldn't quite keep up with today's traffic, especially loaded with such a respectable load of logs. “Here at the festival, the Mack is under the tree trailer, but we drive that tree dolly back home with that red FTF, and the Mack is on a low loader belonging to one of the guys here,” explains Willy.

[Picture text] The trailer dates from the sixties and was built in-house.

Tree trunk back on the trailer

"But stand still for a moment, then we hoist that log back onto the trailer, you can take a nice picture of it." That is certainly possible and we are happy to do that. But with the engine running at idle, the force with which the poplar trunk is winched upwards is not that great. Ties joins in, sends Willy into the cabin to give it a little throttle, and then operates the winch handle himself. As the log rounds the top of the two stanchions, it lands on top of the other logs with a thud and a small cloud of dust. The gentlemen then put a few chains around the cargo and the trees and the trailer are ready for the trip from Drenthe back to Brabant.

[Picture text] Accompanied by cozy old-fashioned blue smoke, the trunk slowly rolls up the outside of the stanchions via the ingenious cable system.

[Picture text] Ties comes from Dinther, near Veghel, and first worked in steel construction. However, he was soon hired by Willy's father Theo to start his car business.

A nice story, and with a bit of luck we will see Willy, Ties and Tieske again on the Mackdag on Sunday 12 October in Amsterdam . Incidentally, for those who may have doubts whether the Gaffert family business is keeping up with the times; click here to see which truck has recently been added to the fleet .