Oregon: Man's best friend gets a hand

Jane Huth plays with Grover, walking on board, and Bubba.

Jane Huth doesn't have a childhood photograph of herself without a dog in the picture.

"They just love you unconditionally," the Oregon resident said. "Whether you're having a good day or a bad day, they just want to be with you as a companion."

Ms. Huth has dedicated years to helping man's best friend and will be soon going a step further in her efforts to rescue and rehabilitate abandoned or stray dogs.

She went before the Oregon Planning Commission last week seeking permission to build a small kennel on her Blandin Street property. It turned out that under city laws, no action was necessary, but some members of the commission took the opportunity to praise her for the idea.

"I have to applaud what she is doing because I am a dog owner," said planning commission member William Ehrsam.

Ms. Huth created You Lucky Dog Inc., a nonprofit rescue and sanctuary for dogs. She intends to build the kennel with about three runs and house three to six dogs at a time. As other rescue organizations do, Ms. Huth plans to put the animals' pictures and details on a Web page to help find them caring homes.

"I've done rescue work before, and I bring the dog into my house to help re-acclimate them to home life," Ms. Huth said. "Some shelters gas these dogs, and they don't have to do that."

Last week Ms. Huth and her husband traveled to the Carroll County Dog Pound south of Canton, Ohio, to help rescue 14 dogs.

"They were going to gas 30

dogs, and we went down there and took 14 of them," she said. "I took one for myself, and the rest were adopted."

City officials don't oppose the kennel because it will be difficult for neighbors to see and Ms. Huth doesn't intend to have public access.

"It's in a fairly isolated area back on a pretty good size lot," said Ken Filipiak, Oregon city administrator.

Contact Ignazio Messina at:

imessina@theblade.com

or 419-724-6088.