I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat): The Name Of This Blog Is I Wanna Be Your Dog (Or Cat)

Hair Balls was glad to learn that one of our musical heroes, David Byrne, is taking on The Man; namely, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, for using the Talking Heads song "Road to Nowhere" in his U.S. Senate campaign without permission. (Crist is running as an independent, but historically has belonged to the Republican party, which has a weird habit of using songs by liberal musicians without their permission, often to comical effect, i.e., Reagan and "Born in the USA"). Crist used the song in a slam against opponent Maco Rubio, apparently after advisers suggested that calling Rubio a "Psycho Killer" was slightly less subtle. 

The whole exercise prompted us to use Talking Heads titles for this week's column, in the hopes that Mr. Byrne will not sue the bejeesus out of us as well. After all, this week's adoptable critters at the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care told us they were huge TH fans, something we're sure Byrne could appreciate. So, without further ado, here is this week's column about buildings and food:

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SHAKER  A102218

This neutered, 3-year-old German shepherd/rottie mix loves to give high-fives over and over.  A stray, he is heartworm-positive, but this is completely treatable. Shaker's one of the coolest dogs we've ever seen. Home is where he wants to be....Your house must be the place:

If someone asks, this is where I'll be

Whoa-oh, we drift in and out, whoa-oh, sing into my mouth

Out of all those kinds of people, you got a face with a view

I'm just an animal looking for a home

Share the same space for a minute or two

And you love me til my heart stops

Love me til I'm dead

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BRAZIL  A1023741

What do you get when an owner surrenders a kick-ass three-year-old neutered black lab because the owner has "no time"? Why, you get a douchebag without a dog, of course!

Brazil is better off, because now he can belong to you. Having been abandoned once already, Brazil just had this Talking Heads line to say: "I hate people when they're not polite."

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TOY  A0948803

This lovely, 2-year-old spayed border collie/cocker spaniel mix, is especially smart and poetic.

Which is why we have no idea what she meant when she told us: "When my love stands next to your love,  I can't compare love, when it's not love.....Which is my face, which is a building, which is on fire."

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SHAWNIE   A1020936

We have to wonder where Shawnie's former owner got her lobotomy, because it apparently was not a BBB-approved clinic: this adorable neutered 2-year-old Australian shepherd was returned because -- get this -- he "jumps up." (Apparently, the former owner thought this dog's legs were merely ornamental appendages). We wonder what life must've been like in that household. Why, it must have been something like, uh, life during wartime or something.

This ain't no party

This ain't no disco

This ain't no foolin' around

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TEDDY   A1022484

Step right up and get this lovely 2-year-old stray brown lab mix, folks. This dude was so glad to see us, all he said was, "Why am I going out of my head whenever you're around? The answer is obvious: love has come to town."

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PICKLES   A1012911

According to the paperwork, this 5-month old spayed Australian shepherd/catahoula mix was returned because the owner had "too many." Note that this was a "return" -- it's not like the owner apparently found himself overwhelmed with ten thousand puppies; the owner apparently adopted this dog, took her home, and then -- lo and behold -- suddenly realized that he just had too many dang dogs already! (Unsurprisingly, the owner was not similarly burdened by an overpopulation of brain cells).

We feel this may have left poor Pickles with some blurry, nagging memories that need to be replaced, post-haste:

Everything is very quiet

Everyone has gone to sleep

I'm wide awake on memories

These memories can't wait

Thanks as always to Robyn Arouty, whose photos are so freaking amazing they often inexplicably make us ask ourselves, "Where is that large automobile?"