Best pals put on dog -and-pony show in South Side

The relationship between the dog and pony is unbelievable, the deputy dog warden says.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — It’s unusual in the city to find a pony following a dog along Glenwood Avenue on the South Side.

But that’s what happened Friday evening when police responded to a number of calls of a small horse at Glenwood and Judson avenues.

“You never know from day to day in his job,” said David Nelson, a deputy Mahoning County dog warden.

When Detective Sgt. Michael Brian Flynn and Patrol Officers Robert Giovanni, Gregory Mullennex and Michael Bodnar arrived, they reported spotting a dog leading the pony down the Glenwood sidewalk. In their cruisers, they followed the animals east on Mistletoe Avenue, south on Firnley Avenue to Midlothian Boulevard and on through some backyards.

Bodnar got out of his cruiser and began a foot pursuit, corralling the animals in a fenced-in backyard.

“Are you sure it’s a pony and not a big dog?” Nelson said he asked the officers before he arrived.

The police, he explained, told him they were positive they had a pony.

Nelson arrived but had no way to transport the pony.

Then, Matt Ditchey of Angels for Animals arrived, but he too had no way to get the pony to his Green Township farm.

Finally, Flynn called on officers using an old K-9 cruiser with no back seat that was being used to patrol the East Side to take both pony and dog to another Green Township farm.

Nelson said the miniature pony is about 8 months old and in fairly good condition, except for dirt on its coat and worms in its stomach. It had a partial chain on it but no identification.

The black Labrador retriever is about 6 months old with no collar.

There was a report that both animals were dropped off from a pickup truck on the South Side, but Nelson said the report can’t be confirmed.

“It [the pony] just loves that dog,” Nelson said, noting that when police put the dog in the fenced-in backyard, the pony quickly followed.

And when the dog was placed in the back of the former K-9 cruiser, the pony followed right behind and sat down next to the dog.

“It was unbelievable,” Nelson said of the love the pony has for its companion.

Ditchey said Saturday the dog became agitated when briefly separated from the pony.

Nelson said that there are horses in the city, but they are confined to the upper East Side, but not so close to the inner city. He also runs into some chickens and goats.

“It worked out well. They didn’t get hit by a car or anything,” Nelson said.

Anyone with any information about the ownership should call (330) 502-5354.

yovich@vindy.com