Mowgli, left, greets Steve Burger, Rainbow Bicycle’s newest employee. Mowgli is on the store’s website, while Burger has yet to achieve such honor. Burger says there are no hard feelings between the two. (Andree Kehn/Sun journal) Mowgli, right, reminds Rainbow Bicycle owner John Grenier it is nearly time for lunch. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal) LEWISTON — […]
Animal Tales
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Animal Tales: From Auburn K-9 to family pet, retirement suits Inka
BRUNSWICK — When she was a police dog, Inka was all about work. Tall and muscular, with a deep bark, the German shepherd protected anything she considered hers, including her handler and their vehicle. On patrol, she found drug stashes. She found missing children. She once tracked a burglary suspect a mile and a half […]
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Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Animal Tales: Have horse, will travel
When Candace Platz traveled to Portugal earlier this month, she planned to look at dressage horses. Ride a few, maybe. She did not expect to actually buy one. But then there was Enrique, with his majesty and power tempered by gentleness. And Platz fell in love. “I didn’t want to want him,” she said. “He […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Animal Tales: Durham family picks chickens for tick fix
DURHAM — Sarah Siegel had been dealing with Lyme disease for a while. But when she found the disease’s telltale bull’s-eye rash on her then-3-year-old daughter, she decided the ticks had to go. “It was terrifying. I just felt so helpless and hopeless. It just felt so out of control,” Siegel said. “You do so […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Animal Tales: Traumatized dog helps traumatized women
LEWISTON — Locked in a cage for six years, used for breeding, rescued from a puppy mill, Sophie gets anxious. The 9-year-old fluffy white poodle trembles when strangers approach. She flinches and runs for the corner at sudden, loud metallic sounds — like keys dropped on the floor — probably because puppy mill owners like […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills
Animal Tales: Oxford family makes mission of protecting police dogs
OXFORD — When Jen Robichaud needed to create a senior project to benefit others, it was not hard for her to come up with an idea. She loved animals. She was part of her high school’s law-enforcement program. How ’bout raising money to buy bulletproof vests for Maine police dogs? “It just kind of fell […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Animal Tales: At Whiting Farm, a tale of two kitties
AUBURN — It took a year of mourning before Whiting Farm was ready for another cat. Rufus, the fluffy, friendly Maine coon, had been the furry face of the farm for more than a dozen years — in fact, was such a fixture there that his permanent care was written into the contract when Elmer […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Animal Tales: Nonprofit matches veterans, pets in need
POWNAL — For years, veteran Steve Boccanfuso wanted a dog, but it couldn’t be just any dog. Both of Boccanfuso’s Achilles tendons had ruptured during his 10 years in the Army, making walking painful and long walks with a dog impossible. He had three young children and was very worried about them getting bitten, so […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Animal Tales: Volunteers hop to it for rescue bunnies
Sarah Levine watches her daughter’s bunny, Hobbs, as Sammy, one of her many cats, wanders through their living room in Auburn recently. (Andree Kehn/Sun Journal) AUBURN — Sarah Levine used to be all-in on rats. Then rabbits caught her eye, again. It was a couple of years ago and she was running the Mainely Rat […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Animal Tales: Coming in from the cold
Dr. Jeff Mayerson plays with his 8-year-old Lab-shepherd mix Crikey as his yellow Lab Fidget, 5, chews on a shoe while playing in the basement of their Lewiston home on a recent cold afternoon. Over the past couple of weeks, Mayerson has instituted what he calls “nope” mornings for Fidget and Crikey, as in “Nope, you’re […]