Our Best Friends closing up shop

Photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. After being open for 21 years, Our Best Friends pet store, on Kalifornsky Beach Road, will soon be closing its doors, but the dog wash next door will remain open, although the owners said its future is not certain.

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

When he was a kid, Jody Hoskins became enamored with animals starting with a pair of pet cockatiels. His interest took flight all the way into adulthood.

His affinity for animals and caring for them grew until it was not longer just something he wanted to pursue as a pastime. He wanted it to be full time, to pay for itself and maybe even then some. With seed money he had saved up, he looked around the central Kenai Peninsula until he found a place he could afford and opened Our Best Friends pet shop.

“That was back in ’92, across the street where the small engine repair business is now. It was only a 600-square-foot place, and even though it was mostly just birds and fish at the start, the place was packed. If someone came in a wheelchair, I had to wait on them at the front door,” Hoskins said.

Over the years, the business grew steadily. In 1994 it relocated across Kalifornsky Beach Road to its current location, but even there the business grew to where the building was expanded. It finally reached the point where Hoskins had a new building built right next door, and in 2006 he turned the previous pet shop building into a self pet-wash business.

However, while all of this seemed liked a boon at the time, it may be the very thing that has now caused a bust, as Our Best Friends is preparing to close.

Jody Hoskins, the pet store owner, said he made the difficult decision to close his shop, which has been open for two decades now.

“I think my mistake might have been growing my business too big. It required so many employees, working so many hours to take care of all the animals properly. I thought with enough inventory I could survive anything, but maybe I should have had a little less and paid more to my mortgage and bills,” he said.

And there were a lot of animals. It is one of the things that separated his store from other small pet shops. Not only did Hoskins stock more than just dog and cat supplies, he also carried birds, reptiles, amphibians, rodents and insects.

Packed pound — Pups face euthanasia amid Kenai Animal Shelter overcrowding

Photos by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. A pitbull pup looks from inside a hold pen at the Kenai Animal Shelter while waiting for either adoption or euthanasia. The shelter is currently experiencing an overflow of dogs, so it was unclear which would come first for the pup.

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

For puppies, life is a party filled with play. They can go for hours, until literally playing themselves to sleep. But for a tiny, chubby pitbull puppy at the Kenai Animal Shelter last week, there was nothing to celebrate and no play to be had.

Nearly all white, the exception of a brown blotch over one eye made the pup look like Petey from “The Little Rascals” shorts. Its skin drooped, still loose from not having grown all the way into it.

It didn’t understand the gravity of its situation, couldn’t fathom that it might not live long enough to feel the warmth of a summer day, and didn’t know it might never run again, not even for its life. It idly sat in a sterile pen nearly all day. Its boredom might soon be over, but not in a way that the pup, or its caregivers, want.

“We’re maxed out at 12 dogs and we’ve currently got 16 with two more on the way in right now,” said Brett Reid, chief animal control officer at the Kenai facility, explaining the overflow conditions the shelter has been experiencing for more than a week. “And, when we run out of room, that’s when the tough decisions have to be made.”

Ellen Sheehan, of Nikiski, and Amanda Motonaga, of Soldotna, both volunteers with the Peninsula Spay and Neuter Fund, take pictures of dogs at the Kenai shelter last week to spread the images on the Internet and around town in the hope of more animals being adopted.

Tough decision is shelter speak for euthanasia, which itself is a polite way of referring to the killing of dogs, often young and healthy, such as the pitbull puppy. It is a reality that not all dogs are adopted and the shelter can’t afford to house and feed them indefinitely.

In 2012 alone, of the 1,631 handled animals — dogs, cats and others — 436 of them were euthanized. In 2011, of the 1,673 animals handled, 730 were euthanized. Not even a quarter of the way into 2013, the shelter is already inundated with dogs of all sizes, colors and breeds — from 10-pound Chihuahuas, Shih-tzus and a Pomeranian surrendered by its owners, up to an older, more than 100-pound Mastiff in need of a retirement home.

“I don’t know why we’re seeing so many dogs right now,” Reid said. “It’s a bit like a salmon run — you never really know when you going to get some in or how many will come. All I know is, we’re very full.”

Tiny pup makes healthy impact — Service dogs come in all shapes, sizes

Photos courtesy of Don Duncan. Dolly visits her owner, Don Duncan, in the ICU while he was in the hospital for his various health problems. She is trained to bark an alert when she notices an irregularity in his heartbeat.

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

A wagging tail when you get home from work, a soft tongue licking your cheek, the feel of fur tickling your fingertips — there is a lot to like about living with a dog. But for Kalifornsky Beach Road resident Donald Duncan, having a canine companion means more than owning a pet. His service dog in training may one day save his life.

“She’s not Lassie yet. She still has a way to go, but that’s the hope,” Duncan said, referring to his service dog, a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix named Dolly.

Compared to more typical larger service dogs — such as German shepherds, Labradors or golden retrievers — it’s hard to imagine how this tiny, tricolored, kin-to-a-terrier pooch that weighs less than 10 pounds could save a man’s life. That is until Duncan’s medical past and present are fully understood.

Not only does 60-year-old Duncan live alone, but back in 2010 he had a stroke, leaving him paralyzed across the left half of his body.

“It was rather severe,” he said. “It took me a long time just to learn to walk and talk again.”

Pet project purrs along — Spay-neuter fund off to good start

By Joseph Robertia

Photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Judy Fandrei plays with two kittens at the Kenai Animal Shelter last spring. Her time spent at the shelter drove Fandrei to start the Peninsula Spay and Neuter Fund, which helps educate people to the pros of spaying and neutering pets, and can help offset the cost of surgeries for those in need of financial assistance.

Redoubt Reporter

Whatever circumstances surround their appearance at animal shelters, even when well intentioned, the sad reality is that not all animals will be adopted. Those that don’t find homes are euthanized. It’s a cycle that plays out across borough, state and country, year after year.

Judy Fandrei is no stranger to this reality. After years working as a veterinary technician and volunteering at local animal shelters, she realized that while some pets are surrendered to shelters by people who are no longer interested in being responsible for  them, there also are big-hearted people who do still care about their companion animals but don’t have the means in their lifestyle or financial situation to provide for them.

In November 2011, Fandrei established the Peninsula Spay and Neuter Fund with the hope of generating enough funds to perhaps pay to fix one or two pets a month, in an effort to curb the number of unwanted animals being brought in and destroyed at shelters. To her surprise, support for the organization and the need within the community to offset sterilization service costs have been overwhelming.

“It’s going unbelievably well,” Fandrei said. “It was around mid-February that I got my first coupon out and we’ve done 158 spays and neuters in the 10 months since then.”

The fund works by financially assisting those who cannot afford to have a pet spayed or neutered. After being referred by a veterinary clinic or animal shelter, Fandrei has pet owners fill out an assistance request form to understand what their needs are. If she has money in the fund, she provides pet owners with a voucher for a discounted spay or neuter procedure that is accepted by all local veterinary clinics.

Since the cost of procedures can vary from clinic to clinic, as well as varying depending on the size and age of the animal, Fandrei said that the vouchers will only cover up to $100 for a canine spay and up to $75 for a canine neuter or cat spay.

“I knew the only way for it to work was for the community to help support it, and people have been very generous,” she said.

Old Duck Hunter: Care to spare — Appreciate hunting dogs? Prepare to have home expand to ensure enough pups to go around

By Steve Meyer, for the Redoubt Reporter

Photo courtesy of Steve Meyer. Red, an Irish setter, has fit in easily with the rest of his new hunting and home pack, after being adopted from the Kenai Animal Shelter.

There are several reasons one might want to have a spare dog. Of course, if you just really like dogs, then you don’t really need more than that as a good reason to have spares. But in the world of hunting dogs, where oftentimes their performance in the field is the only reason their two-legged hunting partner has any success, it is a bit different.

Someone once said, “They cannot think, they cannot reason, but they can suffer,” when talking about hunting dogs. I remain unconvinced that they cannot, at least in a very primeval way, reason. I’ve seen it too many times in hunting dogs working out problems and seemingly “reasoning” for themselves. I suppose one could argue that until hell freezes over, or at least until we’ve solved the brown bear explosion on the Kenai Peninsula. There is no arguing that dogs suffer, that oftentimes they will not obviously show it and that as their “thinking” partners, we need to pay attention.

After hunting my first English setter, Winchester, in the rugged shale country pursuing Whitetail ptarmigan, it became clear that it wasn’t a matter of if he injured himself, it was a matter of when. These big running dogs attack the country they hunt with intensity that I’ve not seen matched in another domestic living animal. Their prey drive, to find the game centuries of breeding has told them is their mission in life, is astonishing. This desire is seen in many hunting dog breeds. Good Chesapeake retrievers and Labs (and a multitude of others that would get too lengthy to list) are virtually unstoppable on retrieves. Freezing water, breaking ice, swift currents — pick the circumstance and they will go to the point of near death to complete the task at hand.

Back before the setters, my hunting partner and I each had a chocolate Labrador retriever, Jack and Gunner. Jack is one of those dogs who operated on the edge of nowhere. His heart, it turned out, was much bigger and much stronger than his body could take. One day Jack bailed off a high rock cliff in the high country and injured himself. During his recovery it was discovered he had a bone spur, an injury that had a very small chance of success to correct with surgery, and a high probability of leaving him more severely crippled than he already was. With medication and (he loves this) regular back massages, he is happy and gets around home pretty well. But he was never going to hunt again.

New leash on life — Rescue program places military dog with Kenai Peninsula family

By Joseph Robertia

Photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Nick, a German shepherd recently retired from bomb-detecting work for the Transportation Security Administration, now greets gym members at the Peninsula Athletic Club with his new owner, Becky Marino, the gym’s manager. He was adopted from a program which seeks homes for retired military dogs out of Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.

Redoubt Reporter

Stepping into the Peninsula Athletic Club, gym members are greeted daily from behind the counter by the smiling face of a retired military veteran named Nick, and a few who get too close even get their faces licked.

“He really likes coming to work and greeting people,” said Becky Marino, the gym manager who, since February, has owned Nick, a large, fit, 8-year-old, black-and-tan German shepherd.

Marino’s canine companion wasn’t always an athletic club ambassador, though. Nick recently retired from serving his country for the past five years by using his nose to find explosives while working as a bomb-detecting dog for the Transportation Security Administration.

“Due to security issues they don’t tell you a lot, but they said the dogs indicate when they’ve had enough and Nick was showing signs he wasn’t interested anymore,” Marino said.

Nick was sent back to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, where he was initially trained at the Department of Defense’s Military Working Dog School. There he used his still-sharp skills to help train up-and-coming pups to follow in his paw steps, but once done with that task he was ready for retirement.

“He was still young and healthy, so he was put up for adoption, as happens with many dogs there when done with the service,” Marino said.

Adopting a mission — Spay, neuter fund to help with unwanted pets

By Joseph Robertia

Photos by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Judy Fandrei plays with two kittens at the Kenai Animal Shelter on Friday. Her time spent at the shelter drove Fandrei to start the Peninsula Spay and Neuter Fund, which helps educate people to the pros of spaying and neutering pets, and can help offset the cost of surgeries for those in need of financial assistance.

Redoubt Reporter

Walking through the narrow corridor between the cage cubicles that temporarily house dogs at the Kenai Animal Shelter is far from a quiet experience. Excited to see a newcomer, many burst into an unbridled display that includes much howling and barking. This noise of canine enthusiasm can be an overwhelming cacophony to some visitors, but it is a sound that speaks to Judy Fandrei.

A longtime veterinary technician by trade, her love of animals drew her to begin volunteering at the shelter, but the experience was more than she bargained for. She was already aware that not all who take in a dog or cat are responsible, lifelong owners, but helping at the shelter, she was exposed daily to how many pets are abandoned or surrendered. Worse yet, she couldn’t avoid the knowledge of what happens to those animals when no one comes forward to adopt them.

“I got to see how bad the problem was and what a recurring cycle it was. People would bring in litter after litter of kittens from the same cat without ever getting it spayed. I’d hear about litters of puppies or kittens on Tradio or see people with them out front of Fred Meyer,” she said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I couldn’t sleep at night. It was very painful for me.”

Lucky pup saved from cruel treatment

By Joseph Robertia

Photo courtesy of Donna Cotman. Donna Cotman, of Soldotna, shows off her newest pet, Lucky, which she nursed back to health after the dog was found with its throat cut, abandoned in a snowbank.

Redoubt Reporter

Donna Cotman is no stranger to taking in dogs. She’s got a big black Labrador that came to her from her daughter, another equally large black Lab that she took in from a co-worker who couldn’t keep the dog anymore, and not long ago her son brought home a 2-month-old golden retriever from the Kenai Animal Shelter.

But of all the dogs she has welcomed into her home, none have come by way of such horrible circumstances as the small, scruffy, gray-and-white terrier-looking pup she took in late last month.

“‘Lucky’ is what we’re calling him, despite what happened, because it was lucky he was found by anyone at all,” Cotman said.

The situation presented itself roughly two weeks ago when Cotman was out walking one of her dogs near her home off of Sport Lake. She saw another neighbor also walking his dog, and he seemed to be in distress.

“He was walking his dog when he noticed a blood trail, so he followed it and found a dog in bad shape,” she said. “Knowing I was a school nurse, he called me over to help.”

The blood trail led down to the end of a houseless cul-de-sac, and there, in a snowbank, lying in an even larger pool of blood, was a cold little dog.

“It appeared his throat had been slit,” Cotman said. “The cut was long and clean like it had been done with a knife, and there was a lot of blood, so much blood. You could see the trachea, but it didn’t go through it. I think that’s how he was able to survive.”

Cotman scooped up the dog and took it quickly home to warm the pup up and dress its wounds as best she could until she could get it to a veterinarian. The vet agreed it had been a deliberately inflicted wound, rather than an injury from the dog pulling against a collar, cable tether or something of the sort.

Following the call to the veterinarian, Cotman also called the Alaska State Troopers to inform them of the case of animal cruelty, and informed them of what little she could piece together from talking to her neighbor who first found the dog.

Unhappy New Year from neighbors’ fireworks

By Joseph Robertia

Redoubt Reporter

While many looked to the sky with excitement during New Year’s fireworks celebrations, Sterling resident Phil Hoekman didn’t think the thunderous booms and exploding burst of light in the sky were anything to be happy about.

Hoekman and his wife are sprint mushers, who, until New Year’s Day, maintained a 19-dog kennel. As the calendar flipped to 2012 they found themselves with two dogs less as a result of the end-of-the-year light show.

“In the morning we found one dog dead and one missing,” he said.

Hoekman said the fireworks annually frighten his dogs, but the size and duration of this year’s show was apparently more than they could handle.

“I had neighbors on three out of four sides shooting them off. They lit them off from about 10:30 p.m. to 12:10 a.m. It was an abnormally large show by all of them. It seemed to go on and on,” he said.

Hoekman could tell the dogs were getting shook up, and he said he tried to settle their nerves.

“They were all freaked out,” he said. “Even our little house dog was hiding behind the toilet. Outside, the dogs were all hiding in their houses, which is usually what they do, but Toby — the one who died — was really freaked out. I couldn’t get him to settle down. When I went out in the morning he was dead from what I think was a heart attack.”

Grisly search for a good cause — Dogs learn to find remains in cadaver training workshop

By Joseph Robertia

Photos courtesy of Dale Lawyer. Handler Dale Lawyer works with Ares, his search and rescue dog, in an exercise to train dogs to search out human remains or cadavers at the end of October.

Redoubt Reporter

Like his living ancestor the wolf, Ares — a 3-year-old German shepherd — put his dark-colored muzzle to the ground as he tracked his target. His wet nose flared as he pulled in subtle scent details to point him in the right directions. His black and tan legs moved swiftly underneath him following almost automatically, as if they had given up complete control to whatever his nose dictated. As he zeroed in on a tiny jar containing placental material, he alerted his handler, Dale Lawyer, to his find.

“You start without making it too hard. You leave it out and teach them how to do a search pattern to find it. As the dog gets better, you start hiding it, making it more challenging for them to find,” Lawyer said.

The purpose of the exercise is to teach the dog how to locate decomposing human flesh, body parts, or even a complete cadaver. Not a pleasant thought, but the skill is one that can help law enforcement agencies tremendously, according to Lawyer.

Search dogs can find the remains of those who have gone missing and are believed to be dead. They can help discover bodies to aid in criminal cases, such as murders, particularly in cases when murderers may have revealed details that they buried a body in a particular location, but can’t recall the exact spot.

“The job of cadaver dogs is vital to the families of victims to give them closure,” Lawyer said.

Old Duck Hunter: Snap into action — Don’t be caught unprepared with dogs in trapping season

By Steve Meyer, for the Redoubt Reporter

The Garmin Astro GPS screen showed the setter on point in the willow-choked brush of the Alaska Peninsula, where ptarmigan abound. As the hunter followed the display to the dog’s location he saw her sitting, which is not what setters do on point. As he moved in he observed a wire by her and picked it up, which immediately caused it to tighten around his beautiful little setter’s neck.

My friend and fellow setter owner’s setter had inadvertently ran into the snare. Thanks to her intellect, she evidently immediately knew it was not something she could fight and just sat down and waited for her hunting partner to show up and help her out.

This happened about a month ago, a time when one would not expect wolf snares to be out. Perhaps it was an old one or the area was open early for predator-control issues.

In any event, in this case, it all worked out, he had tools to release the snare and the little setter was not hurt. But it could have easily not been OK, hence the reminder that trapping season is nearly upon us and it is time to be extra vigilant and prepared when hunting with dogs or just out in the wilds with your canine companion.

Pet project planning — Borough committee preparing for pets in disaster situations

By Joseph Robertia

Photo courtesy of Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Dogs wait in crates for transport by their owners. In case of an emergency on the Kenai Peninsula, owners need to make plans for caring for pets, which might not be allowed in shelters.

Redoubt Reporter

Catastrophic earthquakes, devastating tsunami, massive wild-land fires, highways and roads washed out by floods or buried by avalanches in winter — these are just a few of the possible crises that could plague the Kenai Peninsula. In worst-case scenarios it won’t just be people, but also their pets, that may need assistance.

“It’s something that was learned after (Hurricane) Katrina,” said Eric Mohrmann, director of the Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management.

There was no evacuation or shelter plan in place for animals, and many pet owners attempted to stay home during the emergency rather than seek safety in shelters where pets were not allowed. They resisted evacuating without their pets once danger was upon them. For the pets left behind, there was no one to care for them. By the time pets began being rescued, many were never reconnected with their owners.

Under Borough Mayor Dave Carey’s request, and to comply with the 1996 Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standard Act, a 10-person working group has formed and will meet monthly to address this issue in the event of a local or state disaster. It is made up of emergency response personnel from the borough OEM department, representatives from animal shelters in Kenai, Soldotna and Homer, as well as Alaska’s Extended-Life Animal Sanctuary in Nikiski and the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward.