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‘Oz’ look-alikes: There’s no place like home for pets
By Denise Dick
Photo
Proponents of pet adoption staged a Halloween event Monday, dressed as the cast of “The Wizard of Oz,” looking for a missing Toto. They found him at the Mahoning County Dog Pound. Participants were, from left, Nicole Ramson of Packer Thomas as a flying monkey, Carol Bukovac of Animal Charity as the Wicked Witch of the West, Diane Less of Angels for Animals as Glinda the Good Witch, Gary Pilcher of Animal Charity as Dorothy, Mahoning County Dog Warden Matt Ditchey, Tyneisha Phillips as the Scarecrow, Kate McDermott of Angels as the Cowardly Lion and Christine Popovich of the Daily Legal News as the Tin Man.
Youngstown
Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Wicked Witch and her flying monkey and Glinda the Good Witch embarked on a quest.
But instead of searching for Kansas, a heart, a brain, courage and the ruby-red slippers, they were hunting for Dorothy’s beloved dog Toto, who had wandered off.
They started Monday morning at Angels for Animals in Beaver Township, then at Animal Charity in Boardman before finding the pooch at the Mahoning County Dog Pound.
“It’s to promote adoption,” said Gary Pilcher, chairman of Animal Charity, who dressed as Dorothy.
Diane Less, founder of Angels, donned a Glinda costume while Angels’ general manager Kate McDermott was the Cowardly Lion. Nicole Ramson of Packer Thomas was a flying monkey; Christine Popovich of the Daily Legal News dressed as the Tin Man, and Carol Bukovac and Tyneisha Phillips, both from Animal Charity, portrayed the Wicked Witch and Scarecrow, respectively.
“We want people to adopt pets from a shelter or the dog pound,” Less said. “Like they say, ‘Don’t breed or buy while homeless animals die.’”
Angels was one of 50 shelters nationwide that competed in the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals event. The shelters tried to save at least 300 more animals — during the months of August, September and October 2011 — than they did in the same period in 2010. The shelter with the biggest increase in animals saved will win a $100,000 grant.
Angels opened from 4 p.m. Monday to midnight to try to bolster the total. Final numbers weren’t available Monday.
When the Wizard of Oz crew arrived at the pound, Matt Ditchey, Mahoning County dog warden, handed Pilcher a black Scottish terrier to fill the Toto role.
The dog, Maggie, was brought to the pound by its owner, who asked that her name not be used. The woman adopted another Scottish terrier, Finn, from the pound a couple of weeks ago.