West Seattle, Washington
03 Sunday
That’s Kona, a Husky/Lab who is home tonight, two weeks after she was reported lost (her photo has been on the WSB Pets page all that time). Kona’s family says an incredible outpouring of help in West Seattle this afternoon brought a joyful conclusion to their dog’s odyssey. Claire writes:
I wish everyone in the world could have been there today to see the amazing kindness of every person and dog in Westcrest Dog Park today. We got a call about 1:30 that Kona (the black husky lab female who has been missing since 9/12) was spotted in the dog park with an injured leg. We sped there from work and I think every person there, and especially a couple with an amazing Malamute, helped lead us to her in the woods.
She ran out right between my husband and I and he caught her in his arms–she was frantic and running from the voices–but when she realized who it was I think we were all crying. (Well, Kona and I were anyway!) THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for staying with her and making sure she was contained so we could get her home. We took her to the vet and she has a fractured foreleg, and will go into surgery tomorrow, but I don’t know if she could have been caught if she didn’t have the injury to slow her down.
If I could lasso the moon for all of you, I would. She means the world to my husband, 4 year old son, our other dog Ernie, and me. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to express the depth of my gratitude. Blessings on each of you, and that karma will last you a lifetime.
Got room in your heart and home for a puppy who will grow up to do great things – namely, serving as a Guide Dog? If so, you need to meet West Seattle See Dogs – one of the guide-puppy-raising group that was on hand at Petco in The Junction today in honor of National Guide Dog Month. From left, above, Ruth Oldham, McKenna Kormanik with Guiness the puppy, and Heather Gilbert. Here’s a closer look at Guiness:
You can catch up with West Seattle See Dogs on Facebook.
After the first mostly gray day in some time, the sun came out just in time for the first day of the “Dog Days of Summer” fundraiser at Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club – as explained here last week, the AH pool is closed to people for the year, so they’re opening it to dogs only, for a special session daily through Saturday, as a fundraiser for the water-polo team. Tonight’s session is on till 7; we were there in the early going, and a half-dozen or so dogs already were having a blast dogpaddling and ball-chasing around the pool.
AHSTC is at 11003 31st SW; tomorrow’s session also runs 5-7 pm.
(CityDog photo by Tabitha Headrick, used with permission)
Before we get to the next wave of serious news … a quick break for a cute pet photo. West Seattle-headquartered CityDog Magazine has just announced Matisse as the winner of the West Seattle round of its Cover Dog Model Search, which involved afternoon photo sessions at West Seattle Thriftway three weeks ago. You can see all the West Seattle contenders on the CityDog site – the photo viewer starts with Matisse, and you can click on to the others. Didn’t get to enter your dog? CityDog still has three more “model search” events, plus an online contest, and in the end, eight dogs (including Matisse) will go before CityDog readers for the final cover-choice vote.
(Photo courtesy Cori Roed)
Since our late-arriving summer shows no sign of letting up – people with dogs will want to know about this: Cori sends word that the Arbor Heights Swim and Tennis Club (11003 31st SW) is opening its pool for the second annual water-polo team fundraiser “Dog Days at the Arb.” 5-7 pm next Monday-Friday (Sept. 12-16) and noon-2 pm next Saturday (Sept. 17), you are welcome to bring your dog for a swim. No people in the pool – this comes after it’s been closed for the year – just dogs (but owners have to be there to keep an eye on them). Suggested donation $10/dog; money raised goes to buying new caps for the AH water-polo team. There are other caveats, too – all listed on the official flyer.
Haven’t received many sighting reports lately, but that doesn’t mean coyotes aren’t out there. It may actually mean people are doing a better job of encouraging them to keep their distance, by not leaving out food, or trying to spook them when spotted. Outdoor pets remain at risk, as evidenced by a sad (and slightly graphic) note just received from Clay, one of two reports ahead:Read More
West Seattle-headquartered CityDog Magazine is back at WS Thriftway right now for the annual “Cover Dog Search” photo shoot ($10, benefits Doney Memorial Clinic), and would-be cover dogs are lined up for their chance at stardom. This is one of several shoots citywide; at least two past winners have come from West Seattle (starting with Cohen). The photo shoot is scheduled to continue till 2 pm (SE corner of California/Fauntleroy) – but if you miss it, they’re taking online entries this year, too. (Note in our photo, the Humane Society’s big bright-yellow MAXMobile is in the background – there for an adoption event.)
At West Seattle Nursery, the Dog Days of Summer started with Furry Faces Foundation‘s Teri Ensley and King County’s Rebecca Cleveland-Diel tapping a donated keg of Manny’s. Till 4 pm, it’s a beerfest, with hot dogs, but it’s also a pet-adoption-fest:
That’s volunteer Kory with two dogs hoping their new forever homes might be found today – the little white one he’s holding is a “special needs” pet, with eye trouble. Or if you’re looking to add a kitty to the family, here’s one in classic nonchalant cat mode:
West Seattle Nursery is having a sale, too. Meantime, your dog (leashed) and/or cat (carrier) are welcome to join you at Lien Animal Clinic till 2 pm, for the 60th anniversary open house – we found a few visitors there this morning:
And of course, there’s anniversary cake!
Lien is on SW Alaska between 37th and 38th, in The Triangle.
First, from LT:
We’ve been hearing some very persistent howls of what I believe are coyotes. We’re at 46th Ave SW and Erskine, and it’s quite loud. Just might be a good time to remind pet owners to keep animals indoors and just keep an eye out.
And from Dave:
Another reminder to be careful about your outdoor pets.
I live on the 3700 block of SW Webster Street, and sometime (Sunday) night a raccoon or coyote killed our next-door neighbor’s cat and left the remains in our backyard. It was a horrifying way to find out that your pet had been killed.
I’m sure our proximity to the Orchard Ravine green belt makes us more likely to see this sort of activity, and raccoons are always around. We haven’t seen a coyote around here, but it was something of size, because the scene was macabre.
Reminder before night gets closer … pet experts say keeping your cats and dogs inside tonight is the humane thing to do – fireworks are not only a direct danger, the noise also scares them to the point where they might run out of home territory. Already today, after a night with hours of illegal fireworks, we’ve added five new lost/found pet listings to the WSB Pets page. It’s here if you need it, but better yet, just don’t run the risk.
A postscript from Saturday’s Morgan Junction Community Festival. While we were tabling there, we found out about a dog a few booths away, visiting with Animal Aid and Rescue Foundation (AARF):
That’s Roxie. She needs a new home. We didn’t get a chance to feature her in our stories during the festival but we have a chance right now, so here goes.
Connie tells us she found Roxie “scavenging for food by the side of the road last December. She had severe skin problems from being fed the worst human food – cereal, bread, and cold cuts as her main diet.” Connie’s vet said Roxie needed about six months to recover from that and “she is almost there.” But now Connie has a problem – her landlord won’t let her keep Roxie. “This will be extremely difficult, since I just spent 6 months bathing her, feeding her healthy clean food and loving her to pieces. So, we are looking for someone who can take her on and love her and take care of her. She loves long walks in Lincoln Park, greeting all people and all dogs. She is super sweet, very happy, very gentle, loves kids, and is completely house trained. She is a very young 9-year-old who is experiencing a lot of things for the first time. She is really, really smart! She loves to learn, thrives on praise and she will make you proud if you take her to any training class! She is very loving, affectionate, sensitive and rather lady like. She will make someone feel very loved and protected!” You can reach Connie at 206-718-0399 to ask about Roxie.
Fundraising car washes, you hear about often. Today – we have word of a fundraising dog wash. This Saturday, 3:30-6 pm at Southwest Athletic Complex, the Chief Sealth International High School Yoga Club is raising money with a dog wash. $5 minimum donation per pooch.
All together now … “awwwww.” (Or, write your own LOLcat caption.) The photo is courtesy of Kitty Harbor, which opens for the season this Saturday (June 4th) at its 3422 Harbor Avenue SW location (just north of the West Seattle Bridge). On behalf of Kitty Harbor, Anna sends word of new hours this year – noon-6 pm Saturdays, 2-6 pm Sundays – and says more than 60 kitties are already awaiting their forever homes. (See more of them here.)
Story and photos by Katie Meyer
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
You might already have met this unique fellow during his walks around West Seattle, or at public events including last Sunday’s Summer Streets party on Alki, but we wanted to find out his backstory – so, meet Jeb: He enjoys long walks in Schmitz Park, gallops through the snow, and getting his back scratched. He’s a vegetarian who loves granola and the occasional tortilla chip. He stands 38 inches tall (at the shoulder) and has been known to show a marked preference for blondes.
(“How YOU doin’?” Jeb puts Zoolander’s look to shame)
Some of Jeb’s family members, local artist Mimi Miles and her teenage daughters Celeste and Hope, met us in the big back yard of their home to give us the scoop.
“He’s definitely got attitude,” Hope quips, as Mimi scratched Jeb’s ear, then elaborated on Jeb’s idiosyncrasies: “We’ve had him for 5 1/2 years; he’s 8 years old now. He’s devious. He’s very much a boy. He’s got that thing – he can be really sweet, then he can turn around and be a total brat. Jeb likes for everything to be done the same, he likes routine. He knows I give him his vitamins at 9 o’clock; if it’s five after nine, he starts to whinny – and he knows when the girls are supposed to come home from school.”
As listed in our “West Seattle Sunday” daily preview, lots going on today in addition 
to the events on Alki; we stopped by one inbetween events at the beach. Furry Faces Foundation is in the second day of the first weekend of its annual series of fundraising plant sales at 3809 46th SW (just south of Charlestown), and today, you can also go home with Ed the dog, shown above with Rebecca from King County Animal Services. She also brought along a nameless 3-week-old stray kitten, shown at right – not to adopt (yet) but to remind everyone of the importance of volunteers who foster abandoned kittens and other pets that shelters may not be able to care for. Oops, almost forgot about the plants – there are some available for as little as 50 cents; there are veggies, flowers, natives, herbs, sun, shade, hundreds available:
Sale is on till 4 pm.
Last Friday, we published the story of a dog hit by a driver who didn’t stop, and the helpful people who did stop or in some other way help. 
Much discussion ensued in the comments, including information from the owner’s mom, who identified the Lab as Asia and later reported the dog had a dislocated hip. We don’t have a new update from Asia’s family, but we do have something that might help other pets and people in the future, courtesy of one of the people who assisted last Friday, Doug. He offered to compile a list of resources in case you need to find emergency care for an animal, so that we could link it from the WSB Lost/Found Pets page. We wanted to let you know that it’s at the top of that page now; Doug’s list includes clinics around the metro area, north to south. (If you have anything to add, we will do our best to keep it updated – e-mail the information to editor@westseattleblog.com. Thanks!)
First we heard from Tim, who saw a black Lab get hit by a car on 35th Friday evening, and wanted to make sure that was mentioned on the WSB Pets page in case someone was looking for the dog. We added a mention to the page, but now that we’ve heard from Jon, who took the dog to a clinic, seems like front-page news:
Know someone missing a black Lab?
I was coming home from work (Friday) on 35 ave in West Seattle & just a few blocks south of the Chevron close to Austin st. i saw some people helping a dog that was bleeding from the mouth and she was apparently hit by a car!
So i turned around and went to offer any help i could. it turned out that I was the only person with a car so i offered to take the dog to an emergency facility.
The Dog (Angus) had a purple collar with little metal dog prints around the buckle, and was just a complete sweetheart! If anybody may know who this dog is, please help her find her way back to her owners.
I signed the dog over to King County’s care, and if they were able to save her, and the owners don’t come forward, she then would go up for adoption through the King County Animal Shelter. If you know this dog, please help her find her proper owners! I’m sure they are missing her as much as she wants to be home and misses her owners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also want to be contacted once she finds her family so i may have closure as well! Please contact me at 206 280 0202
Thanks For Reading This & check your local neighbors who may be missing their labrador!
Jon Prince
ADDED SATURDAY 2:20 PM: Lots of new information from commenters – including the dog’s owner.
After almost 3 1/2 years of having a lost/found Pets page on WSB, we’ve noticed that often, lost dogs are reunited with their owners fairly quickly. Then sometimes, there are the elusive ones – with multiple sightings – and the community keeps an eye out, and after a team effort, there’s a reunion. Seems like that might need to happen for August the Weimaraner. Josh sent word late yesterday about August bolting in Gatewood. Since then, there have been multiple sightings, Josh says – most recently, he just e-mailed to say, “August was last seen tonight around 7:30pm around Fauntleroy ferry. Please keep an eye out. He is very scared. Thank you!” If you see August, Josh’s phone number is on the Pets page.
It wouldn’t be “Catsino” without cats, now would it? These two are part of the crowd at the Furry Faces Foundation fundraiser “Catsino,” under way at Beveridge Place Pub till 6. And F3’s Teri Ensley is ecstatic – she told WSB it’s a full house, all 85 tickets sold. And between the players and the hosts – some memorable sights:
More photos after the jump:Read More
Both of these events started with one person’s idea, magnified by help from and participation by others: The first day of Shelley Lebert‘s community garage sale for Japan relief at 3014 45th SW was already going full speed when we stopped by this morning. Shelley (holding the sign) was so excited about the team effort that had made it happen, she gathered some of the other volunteers with her when we asked to take a photo. All the while, garage-salers kept pulling up out front; if you go before the end of today, or 9 am-4 pm tomorrow, be sure to note there’s lots of stuff BEHIND the house.
In front, there’s also a fundraising bake sale:
Shelley was thrilled the sun came out this morning and the weather dried out; she told us how hard the volunteers had worked in the midst of the drippy weather yesterday, sorting donations and buying tents just in case. Again, 9 am-4 pm again tomorrow, 3014 45th SW.
Meantime, along Alki this afternoon, you might have spotted the group dog-walk to raise awareness for the plight of pets in the quake/tsunami zone:
CL shared that view across the street from the dog walk’s starting point at Anchor Park; this is the walk that Anthony from Left Coast Dog Service announced yesterday – that’s his trademark green van with a Japanese flag draped on the side. We counted dozens of dogs and people by the time they grouped up and took off; we have a video clip to add later. too:
(If you’d like to donate to those helping animals affected by the Japan disaster – here’s the link on Anthony’s banner.)
Scenes from two more West Seattle events happening this afternoon: That’s Sabra from Purrfect Pals with Chantou, a 1-year-old female who is one of three cats (the other two are 1 and 8) brought to Pet Elements in search of “forever homes” during this afternoon’s Morgan Junction Pet Adoption Stroll. You’ll find dogs at Stella Ruffington’s, 7003 California SW. The Pet Adoption Stroll (details in this WSB Forums post) continues till 4 pm. In The Junction, meantime, it’s Earth Month at CAPERS:
Lisa from CAPERS shared that photo – she explains, “CAPERS kicks off earth month with a showcase of products that are ‘Green’ for your home. (Today till 3 it’s) Meyer Wells Reclaimed Wood Furniture, Caldrea Homekeeping, Oecotextiles in the house showcasing the green aspects of design. Don’t miss the BPA-free waterbottles & red wine resistant linens too.” They’re at 4521 California SW.
The earthquake/tsunami victims and survivors of Japan include pets – and a West Seattle entrepreneur has just announced he’s leading a “mass dog-walk” at Alki tomorrow. Anthony Hardt of Left Coast Dog Services invites “all people and dogs” to join him at noon at Anchor (Luna) Park, from which they’ll head west toward the Alki business district. Hardt tells WSB they’ll accept donations if participants want to participate, but they also will “have a big banner showing a secure website with PayPal so folks can donate online” to this Japanese animal-advocacy organization.
One week ago, we published the sad story of the hit-run crash that killed Lucy, a 13-year-old Golden Retriever. First we heard from the witness who saw the whole thing, as Lucy and her owner were crossing California SW at Dakota. Then we heard directly from Matt, who was with Lucy when it happened, and almost got hit himself. While there is no word from police on any break in the case, those who told their stories have been working on the pedestrian-safety advocacy they hope might be Lucy’s legacy. We promised a followup. First, the witness e-mailed three City Council members, who, he says, got a fourth involved, which ultimately led him to Seattle City Light to make sure the street light on the southwest corner of that intersection is working. He was also pointed to SDOT to request better signage for the crosswalk.
The witness was also directly in touch with Matt (and wife Sarah), who say they have connected with SDOT’s community traffic liaison, Jim Curtin. They learned Jim, a West Seattleite, had heard about Lucy’s death via WSB, and they wrote:
Jim informed me that the wheels are turning at SDOT and they plan to do a full site visit and evaluation to determine the most appropriate options for making the California/Dakota intersection safer. He indicated that he will be back in touch with me within one to two weeks with recommendations and next steps. Additionally, we briefly discussed potential opportunities for funding if there isn’t a budget for the recommended improvements. Some alternative sources of funds could include the SDOT Neighborhood Street Fund and/or the DON Neighborhood Matching Fund in conjunction with community funding (via fundraiser).
Also, we’ve received a more detailed description of the vehicle involved in the hit-run incident from the Seattle Police Department. The vehicle is a customized dark colored El Camino with possibly aftermarket grill and rims and tinted windows. It would be great if we could ask the community to keep a look out for this vehicle and, if seen, inform the Police. The SW Precinct police officers involved have been incredibly responsive and helpful.
… Please let the community know how much we appreciate all their kind words and thoughts for our family during this difficult time and how fortunate we feel to live in such a wonderful, close-knit community.
We’ll continue to follow up.
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