Random Access

As Gabriela Nowakowska walked out of the back door of The Mississauga News this afternoon and into the bright spring sunshine that finally seemed to offer the promise of a summer, she sighed and said, "You know what? This would have been a wonderful day to take Rambo for a walk."
Well, Gabriela didn't get to take her dog for a walk today but it was a very good day, nonetheless. For the first time since that fateful Dec. 25 when she let him out in the backyard of her Kingsholme Dr. without checking to make sure the gate was closed, she got to see, hug and play with her pet.
It was the debut of the experimental Dog Prisoner Pound Visitation Day at the Mississauga Animal Control Centre and the 20-year-old owner of Rambo, the alleged pit bull, took full advantage.
Gabriela obviously likes playing with her dog a lot more than going to court or talking to reporters.
The shy young woman was much chattier than usual outside the control centre after her half-hour visit.
The visit was intentionally low key so staff could evaluate how things went.
The only one who didn't get the low-key message, of course, was Rambo who got understandably rambunctious after being reunited with his owner.
In a thoughtful presentation last week to City council, Selma Mulvey of the Dog Legislation Council of Canada (a regular Random Access commenter) pointed to research that suggests keeping dogs cooped up without much human contact for several weeks or months can have physiological and behavioural side effects, making dogs fearful and aggressive.
"When the owner finally does regain custody of their pet, there can be a lot of work for them to do to rebuild the relationship," Mulvey said in her deputation.
Council decided to allow today's visit to see how things went and to get an evaluation from staff before considering a visitation policy for the future. Very sensible under the circumstances, especially since there are unlikely to be a lot of other cases where a dog is held for months on end while the legal wheels grind on.
(A cynic would add: unless, of course, Gabriela wins her case.)
Think of today's visit as a little fuzzy toy thrown out to those among the public who still believe politicians are all heartless animal haters.
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"Who has learned to garden who did not, at the same time, learn to be patient?"
So said gardener and writer H.L.V. Fletcher. That was before he met my helleborus, of course.
Maybe Fletcher was lecturing my hellebores under the winter snow this year — or perhaps it's the fact that there WAS some winter snow this year, but darn if the things don't look like they've caught on after lo, these many years, of simpering. (See below for proof.)
The hellebores always put on buds in the fall and give the promise that maybe they will actually be the "Christmas rose," as advertised, but then appear wan and wizened in the spring when the snow melts and do nothing.
But not this year. This year they are sitting up pretty and showing off their dapper yellow centres.
Now, too bad the guy in charge of the garden didn't plant the white one between the two, darker maroon specimens.