Stray Puppy

I went outside my front door yesterday to be greeted by a small little dog who had taken up residence in a sheltered spot just out side the door. No more than a puppy, he seemed to be completely lost and forlorn. Perhaps some family is frantically looking for him and at this moment some child is mourning his loss. That in itself is heart breaking but what is worse is that parents will sometimes get their children a puppy for Christmas. Then when the novelty wears off, the misfortunate pup is abandoned to his or her fate. Judging by the condition of this little guy, I fear that the latter may be the case. He was certainly in need of food and shelter. Happily my neighbour Aiden and myself were able to provide the food but the shelter is a different matter. Neither of us has a place to keep him, so all we can do is continue to feed him for the next few days and hope that someone will come along to claim him. I don’t hold out much hope of this though, because I know by his appearance that the dog has been neglected and possibly abandoned. He has now taken up residence under my car and I am trying to tempt him out with a dish of dog food.

Well, he outsmarted me. While I was writing this post the dog food disappeared and so did the dog. He’s pretty fast lol. The good news is though that a kindly neighbour has agreed to take him and give him a home. Now all that remains is to catch him and I’m afraid that is going to be quite a task in itself -he is extremely nervous and shy of humans.

Anyway, we will continue to feed and in that way perhaps we will be able to gain his confidence and he will allow us to make friends with him.

Obama's Roots Traced To Ireland

The people of Co. Offaly will have reason to keep a close eye on next year's US elections after it was confirmed yesterday that one of the leading candidates for the presidency has roots in the Faithful County. Research has revealed that Barack Obama, an Illinois senator and Democrat hopeful for the 2008 presidential elections, is descended from a shoemaker in Moneygall, Co Offaly.

Moneygall is a small village just a few miles from Nenagh and excitement there is now running high with this latest discovery. Up until now, Hillary Clinton would have been favourite to become the next US President with most local people, but I'm afraid with this recent discovery, poor Hillary is now demoted and Obama (or O'Bama as the locals have renamed him) is the preferred favourite around these parts. One local man says that family records indicate he is distantly related to Obama.

Click here to read more.