Saturday, 31 of July of 2010
The website for WASA
Bear, a 3-year-old maltese-teacup poodle mix came into our lives in January of 2010. The timing is significant in that this was a little guy that definitely was looking for and deserving of a new life in a new year. Officer Peter D’Amico of Westport Animal Control was contacted by a resident of Norwalk looking to surrender Bear because he wasn’t “working out for their family”. Bear started his life in a series of cages (puppy mill/pet store) and then bounced to 2 families that found the best way to deal with an active dog that spent most of his time alone in house was to lock him away in a cage. A WASA volunteer and dog behaviorialist went to do an evaluation of Bear along with another WASA volunteer and potential foster for him. They found Bear to be a loving little guy that responded well to calm and loving attention that loved to go on walks. He needed to reconnect what it was to be a dog outside the confines of a cage. He entered the WASA foster system with a wonderful volunteer and her two little rescues and joined the Winslow Park/Compo Beach circuit. He found his doggie joy under her care (and home-cooked meals). He romped in the snow, greeted visitors with joyful barks and toy offerings and delighted everyone that met him. Now we needed to find him his forever home – not a good home but a great home with people that would not put him back in a cage but continue the excellent care he was receiving from his foster mom. Another WASA volunteer, because of her small breed rescue contacts, found just the home. A man and woman, after the loss of their elderly maltese-poodle mix, were looking to adopt again. A home visit and reference check revealed that Bear had found his forever home and is now the center of their universe. Luckily the tradition of home-cooked meals continues and he is a loved and cherished every single minute of every day. There is no cage to be found in their home although he does have a stylish carrier that is employed when he travels with his mom and dad on airplanes under their seat but word on the street is that he is usually riding in their laps with no objections from the surrounding passengers.
Blog at: www.pamelaeinarsenphotography.com
photography that celebrates life
WASA would like to thank the Coleytown Middle School cast and family members involved with this year’s tremendously successful production of Annie for their generous donation. This contribution will be used for the outdoor run project at Westport Animal Control set to commence in the spring of 2010. On behalf of all of our potential stage stars and just plain wonderful family pets, thank you!
Good news! The 2010 WASA calendar featuring the faces of our Westport’s Top Dog contest winners was a big success with a complete sell out of calendars ordered. WASA would like to
thank Earth Animal, Millie Rae’s, Effi’s Salon, Strawberry Hill Veterinary Center and Sylvan’s Cleaners for helping to sell our calendars and all those good people that purchased one. Hopefully those wonderful WASA dog faces will help make it a great 2010 for you.
There is one best place to bury a dog.
If you bury him in this spot, he will
Come to you when you call – come to you
Over the grim, dim frontier of death,
And down the well-remembered path,
And to your side again.
And though you call a dozen living
Dogs to heel, they shall not growl at
Him, nor resent his coming,
For he belongs there.
People may scoff at you, who see
No lightest blade of grass bent by his
Footfall, who hear no whimper, people
Who may never really have had a dog.
Smile at them, for you shall know
Something that is hidden from them,
And which is well worth the knowing.
The one best place to bury a good
Dog is in the heart of his master.
(author unknown)
WASA is proud to announce that its 2010 fundraising calendars will be available for purchase beginning the week of December 14. This high-quality color calendar features top finalists from the WASA-sponsored Westport Top Dog Contest held in September. The cost of the calendar is $20.00 and may be purchased by sending a check to WASA, 606 Post Road East, Suite 610, Westport, CT 06880 (If you are not a Westport resident, please include $5 for shipping. Westport residents’ calendars will be delivered to their home addresses). Calendars may be purchased at local retail establishments such as: Effie’s Salon, Westport Nails, Earth Animal and Millie Rae’s. All proceeds from the sale of the calendar will benefit Westport Animal Control. For additional information about WASA or to take a look at these must-have calendars, please visit www.westportwasa.org.
Hello Friends. I heard that you are raising funds to fix up my old home, the Westport Animal Control shelter; so I asked my family to send you something to help the cause. While my time at WAC was pretty good, especially compared to my prior experiences, the shelter can definitely stand improvement. I hope our contribution can be of some help.
When I stayed in Westport, Officer D’Amico called me Roddy, and I hear I was listed on Westport Now and other places as Pooh Bear. Both names are fine but I have chosen to be called Handsome. One cannot fight destiny, it seems…
In any case, I have attached pictures of me for your reference. I am still learning to be a dog; it’s a long process, and I have so much catching up to do. While I am still leery of strangers, I have finally learned to trust my family and sometimes just walk up to them and give them a nudge to say hi. They seem to like it a lot. And I love running in the water at the beach (in the off-season only, I know), and have only warm memories of living at Westport Animal Control.
Without the patience, hard work and love – there, I said it – of Officers D’Amico and Saponare, not to mention all the shelter volunteers, I might not be here today. I cannot thank you all enough for everything you have done for me.
Love,
Handsome Mozier
Westport Animal Shelter Advocates would like to thank all the wonderful Westport residents that nominated their dog for Westport’s Top Dog. Your entry fee donation will go a long way to ensure that Westport Animal Control remains a no kill, independent, compassionate and responsive facility for the lost and homeless dogs in Westport.
Congratulations to the winners. Featured here are the top finalists. In addition, the following dogs will be included in our WASA fundraising calendar which will be available soon: Ringo Hickson, Cody Haberstroh, Lillie Rosenkrantz, Floyd Daffan, Lucy Bergmann, Molly Ashman, Chloe Longacre, Sandy Griffin, Sandy Reitano and Bernie and Joba Marden.
For those dogs that didn’t make the calendar this year, your family knows that no contest will ever determine their Top Dog. It’s you!
Our rescue dog Otis is intelligent and handsome. On our daily walks through the streets of Westport many comment he is gorgeous and gentle. An eighty pound dog with big, sweet, brown eyes. Otis very similar to the famous “Balto”; striking, majestic and a lifesaver. In our home for only two days, our non barking dog barked like crazy toward the backyard. An investigation by the fire department declared an electrical fire outside which nearly ignited the gas line nearby. We are grateful Otis is good looking, smart and a helpful dog. Otis is the man! – submitted by Sam Hammer
Our dogs nominate the dogs in the Westport Animal Control as “Top Dogs of Westport”. Put their pictures in the newspaper and calendar to give them a better chance to get adopted. 
They are brave animals. Without the love, warmth and certainty of a home, life is different. Our dogs rest comfortably knowing their bowl is full and they are loved, despite health issues. Home is everything. Shelter and stray dogs have uncertainty. They live on hope. They just want one chance to be adopted. All the dogs in the Westport Animal Control are truly the “Top Dogs of Westport”.
-submitted by Erika L. Martin
The day after Thanksgiving 2004, a Pet Adoption bus is parked in the Pet Smart parking lot. We decide to take a look. Families are checking out the many cages with 
dogs-a-barking. Except for one..in the bottom right. Our eyes fall upon a mellow beagle just minding his own business. We immediately fall in love. After the adoption papers are signed and we’ve bought enough doggie products from Pet Smart to properly welcome this new fella into our home, we are on our way. A heart murmer, skin cancer, midnight emergency room trips for what turned out to be “reverse sneezing” (a common beagle affliction), a few ultrasounds, hundreds of miles walked and sniffed and lastly, so much love later, Jack is snoring loudly at my feet as I write this. A refined gentleman who looks like he should have a martini and a cigar, he has brought so much love and happiness to me in 5 short years. I beg all who read this to consider adopting/rescuing a dog in need. Jack came from the streets of South Carolina to our home in Westport. Hope he thinks it is worth the long journey.
-submitted by Caitlin F. O’Malley
She prances like a filly about to take on the Kentucky Derby and parades like a princess ready to assume her throne. Mocha’s brindle beauty, the Perle Mesta of Winslow Park, greeting all visitors, canine and human alike, with welcoming kisses. She’ll play “chase” with anyone! Any hint of showdog past, however, is belied by her winsome underbite and her unceasing search for playmates. She’s actually a rescue boxer who was confined to a crate for her entire first year of life. Adopted by the Hageman family, she’s now definitely their Top Dog and Westport is her Top Place.
-submitted by Al and Hope Hageman
To boast of Haley without bragging
Might be a task beyond my reach.
Her head held high, her tail a-wagging
at Winslow Park or Compo Beach,
many remark: “What grace! What poise!
That jet black dog with white-tipped paws!
What breed is she? A lab? A hound?
But I can’t say; she’s from the pound
where, admidst the yapping fray she sat,
head tipped, she silently spoke to me:
“I’m top dog, take me home, you’ll see!”
Nine years it’s been, our routine down pat:
For walks, or food, or to go to bed
She simply sits, and tilts her head.
-submitted by Kerith Harding
