We Once Again Need Your Help
ByTodd De HavenAs was the case a month or so ago, I am again appealing to you wonderful folks to once more help us out with four dogs whose owner died. But before I get into the dogs, let me tell you about the owner. Ron Calkin was an animal lover, dedicated cop and a wonderful teacher Following a tour of duty in the Coast Guard, Ron became a New York City Transit Police Officer. A division of the NYPD, the New York Transit Cop works mostly underground, literally. His beat is often to ride the subways and patrol not only the stations, but the dark and damp areas surrounding them where a deadly encounter with one of what I call “the denizens of the caverns” can occur in pitch blackness. It’s a very dangerous and thankless job but do it Ron Caulkin did and by all accounts, he did it well.Upon his retirement, Ron attended New York University with the intent upon earning a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. After receiving his degree, he moved to Florida where he became a High School teacher. While in Florida he was heavily involved in the St. Francis Animal Rescue organization as well as a founder of the Florida Public Service Association. When he retired in Florida, Ron and his animals moved to Greene County.Sadly, Ron recently died and his son Bruce came down from his home in New York to handle the arrangements. He was, of course, confronted with trying to find homes for his father
’s five dogs, two of which are elderly and came with him from Florida. Ron provided the only home these two wonderful dogs Big Lady (a 12 year old female Doberman) and Devin (an 11 year old male Chow Mix) ever knew. Not being aware of us, he discovered Casey Hyatt whom he said went above and beyond the call in order to assist him. The dogs were posted on Pet Finders.com but nothing was immediately forthcoming. Having taken a three week leave of absence from his job, Bruce had to soon return home and being so devoted himself to the welfare of these animals, he was becoming frantic. He then discovered your Humane Society. Of the five dogs, Bruce had decided (even though he already has one dog and his wife is allergic to dogs) to take one of them home. We took the other four.Our fantastic Manager Amy Bowman describes Big Lady and Devin as true gentle giants if ever there were any. They are absolutely precious as are Rocky, a three year old male terrier mix and Sweetheart, a 3 year old female Beagle mix. Now, there is a significantly reduced adoption fee for the two older dogs who must be adopted together. While we’re especially concerned with adopting out Big Lady and Devin because of their age combined with the trauma of losing their “father,” we also want to quickly find wonderful homes for Rocky and Sweetheart for much the same reason, if to a lesser degree. All four of these wonderful dogs have enjoyed unparalled veterinary care throughout their lives, are housebroken and would make absolutely wonderful additions to any family.Some Special Thank-you’s.First of all a huge thank you to David Albert. David is the wonderful guy who brings us those beautiful blue tarps you see on top of our outdoor pens to provide shade for our dogs. Not only does he provide the tarps but he even puts them on for us! Thank you David; our animals are so indebted to you for helping make their stay with us so pleasant.Thank you to Brylee Jones who celebrated her 8th birthday by bringing lots and lots of food, toys, treats and even money to our animals. We also thank Eastview 2nd graders as well as Mrs. Seaton’s Pre-K class at McDonald School for their magnificent contributions also of food, toys, treats and money! A huge WOOF-MEOW to all of the above!