Who would try to castrate Cody the dog?

Someone tried to castrate Cody, and he is lucky to be alive today.

The black Labrador-mix was found by a Mound House woman on Tuesday as he wandered the neighborhood. She named him Cody.

"He was trucking through my yard as my daughter and I were putting windshield wipers on her car," said the woman, who asked not to be identified.

"I grabbed a bucket of food and a bucket of water," she said. "He came up and took a drink and then started eating, then I coaxed him into the house with dinner."

I'm not going to print the woman's name in the newspaper because she is in fear that whoever attempted to castrate Cody might try and finish the job.

Tom Blsmquist of the Silver Springs Spay-Neuter Project said it looked like Cody had been castrated with a knife or a pair of sheep shears.

Tom brought the dog to Yerington veterinarian Lisa Hayden who sewed him up.

"The interesting thing about this dog is that his hair and skin texture is that of someone whose owner could afford good food," Tom said. "We want to find out where this dog came from. He is in such good shape, we wonder if he wasn't tortured by a husband mad at his ex-wife or something like that."

In the meantime, Cody is in a good home and being taken care of.

"The woman who found him has fallen in love with him," Tom said.

Former Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Ron Jaworski and his two daughters were at the Carson City Quiznos on Wednesday where he signed autographs for the sandwich makers.

Ron was quarterback in that famous 1981 game where Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett came off the sidelines to lead Oakland to a come-from-behind victory over the Eagles.

He is in town for the Celebrity Golf Tournament.

I've heard from Stagecoach residents that their July 12 microburst was a heck of a lot bigger than reported.

Susan Anderson says the lights went out in Stagecoach at 2:55 p.m. last week and Susan said she called the power company immediately and the guy on the phone told her to go outside and check the breaker.

Since the wind was blowing up a dust storm reminiscent to those that plagued Egypt, Susan was reluctant to go outside for that or anything else for that matter.

"I looked out the front bedroom window and I couldn't see anything but sand and it was dark," she said.

Carson Valley rancher Clarence Burr is looking for some tall whitetop in Carson City so we can take a picture.

I mentioned to him that cousin Annie Hollister was in town last week and he told me they dated briefly when they both went to Douglas High School.

When I mentioned Clarence to Annie, she said she didn't think he would even remember her.

"He was so handsome in high school," she said.

Had things been a little different, Clarence and I could have been related.

Carson City Toyota salesman Robert Schmid sent his coworkers a postcard from Disneyland.

"Emily's in tears because she's too short to go on most rides," Robert wrote. "Andrew's (upset) because the lines are too damn long. Trudy's upset because kids aren't happy. Then there's me, $1,500 later. But who can put a price on charming memories like these?"

Appeal reporter Teri Vance is the only person I've ever met who had to sign a liability release to go to her family reunion.

She had to get it notarized on Wednesday so she was legal to go to Bonita Park in New Mexico for the Vance gathering.

Besides the usual running and jumping and having fun clauses, there is also one saying it is possible that participants may suffer mental anguish or trauma.

That's a family reunion.

I should know better than to put a family item in the column the same day as a major gathering. Young Molly Finnegan pointed out that Sam the dog is a he not a she, duh.

Apparently something got lost in the translation between me and the people putting the paper together.

Best wishes for Gil Ayarbe who is in the hospital in North Dakota. Gil is the maintenance guy for the C Hill flag and is having some trouble with his legs. That's understandable, since he's made dozens of trips up the mountain to check on the flag over the past year.

Kurt Hildebrand is managing editor at the Nevada Appeal. Reach him at 881-1215 or hildebrand@nevadaappeal.com