General

Animal hospital gives back to the community by Nancy Brown Ptl. Funari with K-9 Cash View Image Gallery Vince, Timmy and Cash – the current Westlake Police K-9 Officer Unit – have been receiving their routine medical care from Dr. Greg Cunningham and staff at Detroit Dover Animal Hospital for approximately four years. They are a Dutch German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois purebreds. The duties of a canine law enforcement officer include searching for drugs, explosives, search and rescue, finding crime science evidence, and attacking people targeted by the handler. The most commonly used breeds are the German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd. Police dogs must remember multiple hand and verbal commands. Their training is intense and is never completed until they retire. According to Westlake Police Officer Denny Funari, who has been with the K-9 unit for 22 years, the average working span of a K-9 officer is 6-8 years. Most recruited are males with high prey drives. Andrea, Detroit Dover Animal Hospital's lead customer service representative, dedicates time to fundraising, events and grant research to assist with offsetting expenses for the purchase of the dogs. Many times these dogs are purchased from select international breeders. Andrea's effort [...]

Welcome, pups, to Westlake, U.S.A. by Nancy Brown Shiloh, left, rescued from a meat market in China, is thriving with her new family in Westlake. View Image Gallery "From the moment we saw DaYi on YouTube arriving at the JFK Airport, we knew he was our dog," said Westlake residents Gary and Marie Blatter. "We named him Shiloh, which means tranquil, and that is his personality. The happiness he shows with his smiling face and the fun he has playing with our other dogs makes us so happy he came into our lives.” Gary and Marie adopted Shiloh after he and other mistreated dogs were rescued from a Chinese meat market by Golden Treasures Rescue in Bath, Ohio, in partnership with a nonprofit organization called China Rescue Dogs. "All of us have heard something about puppy mills," said a volunteer with Golden Treasures Rescue. "More and more rescues are taking in dogs from these horrid conditions and we are no exception! Puppy mill survivors are unique in so many ways and now is the time to share the reasoning behind our expectations for the homes they need. A securely fenced yard is extremely important, as a loose mill dog will most [...]

Bay resident and her partner, Cowboy, wrangle geese by susan murnane Cowboy and his human partner, Janet Kelley, wrangle bothersome Canada Geese. View Image Gallery Bay Village resident Janet Kelley is a Canada Goose wrangler for Ohio Geese Control, a company that has been humanely managing goose populations in public parks, beaches and marinas since 2004. Janet works with her partner, Cowboy, a 10-year-old border collie. They have been working together for several years. Janet started with Ohio Geese Control after retiring from a career directing a chronic condition management program that staffed and managed on-site clinics for large corporate clients. Janet has a Master of Science in Nursing degree. Janet and Cowboy police a route that takes about five hours to complete. Cowboy’s job is to worry the geese, and bother them until they give up and go someplace else. Cowboy never hurts the geese – it is humane goose management. Janet’s job is to take Cowboy where he needs to go. Cowboy used to work five days a week – the key to controlling geese is consistent harassment. Cowboy is semi-retired now, and he and Janet only work every other weekend. Other dogs cover the route during the work-week and [...]

Animal hospital gives back to the community by Nancy Brown Ptl. Funari with K-9 Cash View Image Gallery Vince, Timmy and Cash – the current Westlake Police K-9 Officer Unit – have been receiving their routine medical care from Dr. Greg Cunningham and staff at Detroit Dover Animal Hospital for approximately four years. They are a Dutch German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois purebreds. The duties of a canine law enforcement officer include searching for drugs, explosives, search and rescue, finding crime science evidence, and attacking people targeted by the handler. The most commonly used breeds are the German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd. Police dogs must remember multiple hand and verbal commands. Their training is intense and is never completed until they retire. According to Westlake Police Officer Denny Funari, who has been with the K-9 unit for 22 years, the average working span of a K-9 officer is 6-8 years. Most recruited are males with high prey drives. Andrea, Detroit Dover Animal Hospital's lead customer service representative, dedicates time to fundraising, events and grant research to assist with offsetting expenses for the purchase of the dogs. Many times these dogs are purchased from select international breeders. Andrea's effort [...]

http://www.westlakebayvillageobserver.com/read/2021/02/16/local-canine-cancer-survivor-thrives-with-alternative-treatment Local canine cancer survivor thrives with alternative treatment by Nancy Brown Meet Turbo, an adult male golden retriever who is owned by Ed and Jackie Noonan of Bay Village. Turbo is an 8-year-old rescue dog that was adopted at the age of a year-and-a-half from Love-A-Stray Dog Division in Avon Lake. The popular and beloved golden retriever was originally bred in Scotland. They were originally bred to retrieve for hunting purposes. The breed is one of the most popular family dogs in the world. They have been trained in multiple capacities such as search and rescue, disability dogs, hunting dogs, detection and show dogs. Goldens love water and are easy to train. Their long coats do require regular grooming. Four years ago Turbo was diagnosed with a malignant mast cell tumor on the upper right side of his nose. This is a common location for this type of aggressive malignant tumor. Golden retrievers have a very high risk of developing mast cell tumors, suggesting there is a genetic background for this disease. This tumor also fluctuates up and down in size. Mast cell tumors in dogs are very common, accounting for 20% of all skin tumors in dogs, according [...]

http://www.westlakebayvillageobserver.com/read/2021/02/16/donations-pour-in-to-help-rescued-dogs Donations pour in to help rescued dogs by Nancy Brown View Image Gallery The Friends of the Bay Village Kennel would like to send a huge thank you to all of the people who donated to the collection of pet-related items and financial donations to The Friendship APL in Elyria. Also to the Bay Village safety forces for donating and promoting the cause. A big shout-out goes to the Bay Village Police Department for allowing the front of the station to be a drop-off location. A car load of items was taken almost each day. In addition to the donated items, Dennis Driscoll and Susan Murnane presented a check from the Friends of the Bay Village Kennel in the amount of $500 to Greg Willey, executive director of Friendship APL. Please visit the Facebook page of either organization for updates.   Sent from my iPhone

http://www.westlakebayvillageobserver.com/read/2021/02/02/meet-ernie-a-bay-village-celebrity Meet Ernie: A Bay Village Celebrity by Nancy Brown View Image Gallery Almost each day at the Village Project headquarters in Bay Village, you can be certain to be met by Ernie! Ernie has served as the non-profit organization's mascot for the last eight years. Barb Harrell, Executive Director and owner/mom to Ernie, stressed she absolutely loves rescue dogs but it was important to have a hypo-allergenic dog because most clients are immune compromised. Ernie is a an 8-year-old Mini Goldendoodle, a cross between a Golden Retriever and a miniature poodle, who has been trained as a service dog and involved in promotions and events along with greeting everyone that has visited the Village Project office and Project Shoppe located on West Oviatt Road. He even was falsely arrested by Sgt. Mark Gillespie of the Bay Village Police Department as part of a fundraising effort. Ernie's bail was met and the BVPD donated the funds along with helping promote a T-shirt sale leading up to the big event to the Village Project. The Village Project serves families struggling with the devastating effects of cancer who live in Bay Village, Westlake, Avon, Avon Lake and Rocky River. Their mission is [...]

Jackie’s Journey by Nancy Brown Jackie, a rescued golden retriever. Photo by Nancy Brown. View Image Gallery Allow me the privilege of introducing you to my new friend, Jackie. She is unable to speak. Jackie is a sweet 6-year-old golden retriever from Golden Treasures Rescue. Many others like her have shared a similar journey. When I first met Jackie her head hung very low and tight, she drooled, constantly circled and panted. Jackie was not willing to wag her tail. When introduced to others she would shy away. Extremely skittish. she clearly was a breeding mom from an Ohio Amish breeder. Jackie represents  the 1.6 million dogs that are adopted in the United States each year. Jackie is one the lucky girls that was removed from one of the American puppy mills. Numbers provided by the Puppy Mill Project estimate there are 10,000 (licensed and unlicensed) puppy mills that exist  in our country. Over 2 million puppies are bred in mills each year. An estimated 1.2  million are euthanized in shelters each year. This slogan circulates the internet and has even appeared on advertising boards, especially in Ohio: "Adopt, don't shop" for your next pet. Now with some pet owners [...]

When it comes to kittens, mom knows best by susan murnane Very young kittens should not be removed from their mothers unless they are visibly ill or injured. With spring turning to summer, outdoor kittens will be coming out to play, and well-meaning people may think the kittens need rescuing. Most of the time Momcat is around, and the best thing you can do is to leave the kittens to her tender care in their outdoor home. Kittens have their best chance at survival in their mother’s care. Very young kittens are completely dependent on their mothers. They nurse very frequently and cannot even eliminate waste on their own for several weeks. Young kittens may not survive even in the care of an experienced kitten foster, and very few rescue organizations have enough experienced volunteers to foster very young kittens. There is a real danger that un-weaned kittens will be euthanized if taken to a shelter – even a “no kill” shelter – because they cannot be properly cared for. Therefore, it is best to not interfere with young kittens unless they or their mother are visibly injured or ill, and there is no realistic alternative. You can effectively help [...]

http://www.westlakebayvillageobserver.com/read/2021/02/02/meet-ernie-a-bay-village-celebrity Meet Ernie: A Bay Village Celebrity by Nancy Brown View Image Gallery Almost each day at the Village Project headquarters in Bay Village, you can be certain to be met by Ernie! Ernie has served as the non-profit organization's mascot for the last eight years. Barb Harrell, Executive Director and owner/mom to Ernie, stressed she absolutely loves rescue dogs but it was important to have a hypo-allergenic dog because most clients are immune compromised. Ernie is a an 8-year-old Mini Goldendoodle, a cross between a Golden Retriever and a miniature poodle, who has been trained as a service dog and involved in promotions and events along with greeting everyone that has visited the Village Project office and Project Shoppe located on West Oviatt Road. He even was falsely arrested by Sgt. Mark Gillespie of the Bay Village Police Department as part of a fundraising effort. Ernie's bail was met and the BVPD donated the funds along with helping promote a T-shirt sale leading up to the big event to the Village Project. The Village Project serves families struggling with the devastating effects of cancer who live in Bay Village, Westlake, Avon, Avon Lake and Rocky River. Their mission is [...]