Center Spread
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Teachers’ Pets
Center Spread
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Story by Justin Huang Design by Ian Ong Photos courtesy of their respective teachers
The Spoke takes a look into the lives of teachers and their pets. Richard Short
William Dewees
Penny (Chihuahua mix)
Zuzu (schnauzer)
Every morning, she has a job to go wake up our son, and she loves it. She goes and runs and jumps on his bed, and starts licking his face and his feet. The feeling that she gives us when we come home from school — she’s always really happy to see us and that makes us happy. Nothing but positive vibes.
I decided that I wanted a dog and wanted to rescue one rather than get one from the pet store. The process was a lot harder and more involved than I thought it would be. There’s quite a waiting process and they’re very finicky about who they release animals to. When we met her for the first time, it was love at first sight. Funny story: She thinks she’s tough. When we’re on walks, she’ll be defensive about me toward much larger dogs, even pitbulls or German shepherds. She doesn’t seem to realize she’s 18 pounds.
Jill Yeager
Nelson (American bulldog)
My sister had a heart transplant at Penn (Medicine) in October. We were down in the Intensive Care Unit after her transplant and she turns around and says to me, “Well, Jill, the least you could do is get a dog after everything I’ve been through.” So my husband, my daughter and I picked out this dog, Nelson, online. We went to the SPCA and we saw him there and ended up bringing him home that day.
Jessica Bicker Toby and Molly (cats)
They actually get along really well. They’ll sleep next to each other, and they’ll get feisty with each other, kind of like how siblings would. I kind of think of them sometimes like dogs trapped in cats’ bodies. They’re not the typical cats that go and hide and don’t socialize. They’re with us anytime we’re home and they cuddle — they’re very friendly.
In total:
Funny story: I don’t really know how they learned to (play fetch). When we just got (Toby), we would throw toys and he would just keep bringing them back to us. I don’t know if Molly picked up on it from watching him or does it on her own, but now she actually plays it more than him. We’ll throw a toy and she’ll go get it, bring it back to us and keeps doing it five or six times in a row. It’s pretty cool for cats.
11 5Cats Parakeets 2
14 The Spoke
Dogs
Justin Giles
Watson and Maggie (beagles)
Maggie was rescued from a hospital. She had a cancerous tumor that they had to remove, and they couldn’t find a home for her, so we took her in. My other dog, Watson, was rescued from a kill shelter. He was about to be put down and euthanized. The rescue that I worked with rescued him an hour before. Funny story: One time, we got a baby carriage and hooked it up to my bike and put them in the back. It was fun watching the people’s faces when we rode by on the trail, thinking that they’ll see a baby’s face in the carriage. Instead, it was two furry dogs staring at them. They’re a lot of bark and no bite. People probably roll their eyes when we talk about them, but right now, they’re like my children. My wife and I enjoy them that way.
Gina Brienza
Funny story: He will eat anything at all. He’s eaten a sock, and other numerous objects, like my cell phone. Anyway, we took him out to an ice cream shop near my house called Nelson’s, and I got him some ice cream in one of those styrofoam bowls like we have in the cafeteria. He first started out licking the ice cream, and the next thing I know, he engulfed the entire styrofoam bowl and it was kind of stuck in his mouth. I had to stick my hand in his throat so he wouldn’t choke on the bowl.
Isabella (cat), Luke Dogwalker (Australian Kelpie)
I used to always be a cat person, without a doubt, until recently. I grew up with a dog, but the cats have always been my pet. Now we have both, I hang out with Luke, and Josh hangs out with Izzie, so I might be a dog person, but that’s a really recent thing. About a year ago I would’ve said that I was a cat person. Funny story: She thinks she’s tough. When we’re on walks, she’ll be defensive about me towards much larger dogs, even pit bulls or German shepherds. She doesn’t seem to realize she’s 18 pounds.
Danielle Sculley-Ellet
Max, Ruby (poodles) and Krimpet (shih tzu), Evie and Reesey (cats), Ruffles and Ranedrop (parakeets)
Oakley and Zullie (pit bulls)
They love all of us unconditionally, and it’s a love that’s based off of loyalty and it’s endearing. They’re a big part of our family, and just having them makes us more complete.
Funny story: My pets make me laugh every day. We have a German shepherd that lives across the street from us. She will actually come and knock on the door to play with our dogs, and they know when she’s coming up and they get really, really excited until we let them out and they can play together.
Funny story: Every summer, we go to Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks and we take Max and Ruby with us. Max actually smiles when he’s running on the beach, it’s absolutely beautiful to see, he’s so excited. He also really loves my husband— he’ll scratch at my husband’s face to pet him.
Lauren Nordsiek
My husband and I are both passionate about discrimination against pit bulls. Unfortunately, it’s something very prevalent. A lot of people who don’t have a lot of information are really afraid of pit bulls because in the media, they’ve heard about dogfighting, and there’s a lot of misinformation that they’re a more aggressive breed.
The Spoke 15