Capt. John Davi and Program Supervisor Sgt. Brian Gardner hosted the Albany County Jail Superintendent Chris Clark, his associate Sgt. Ralph Peltier, other corrections officers, Director of the Mohawk-Hudson Humane Society Brad Shear, and two of Shear’s potential dog trainers for the soon-to-be-created Albany County program. We are so proud to be the first county jail cell program in New York state. We have hosted a number of corrections officials from in and out of state, to learn from us the best and most efficient way for them to establish a program similar to ours.
We are just over two years young, have graduated 37 dogs to date, and our momentum has not slowed. I personally swelled with pride when our handler-dog teams excelled with their knowledge and presentation. These class dogs never blinked an eye when an onslaught of program “auditors” entered the training room. We ended with a meet and greet for all of our guests, and the handlers
shared their personal comments on their participation in the program, and how far the dogs have come in such a short period of time.
Excellent job, handlers. Thank you for your love, devotion and commitment to the dogs. The performance was met with impressed and rave reviews from our guests. A special thank-you goes out to CGHS/SPCA CEO Ron Perez, whose hands-on contributions to the program are too numerous to mention. Another special thank-you to my friend and colleague Laura Manchester who has faithfully assisted me in class since the beginning of winter. Call the shelter to set up a meet and greet with one of our canine stars. This is a unique opportunity to get a dog in need with many training and management skills. The line forms to the right of our CGHS doors!
Thank you for your generosity to our food bank. We are always ready to fill our shelves with your goodness and food!
Feel free to call us with any questions at 518-828-6044, or visit our website at www.cghs.org. Stop down and see us at 125 Humane Society Road, off Route 66 (about a mile south of the intersection with Route 9H) in Hudson. Our hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed on Wednesday and Sunday. The food bank is open to any from the public in need of pet food or for those wishing to donate food anytime during business hours. All of our cats and kittens are “Furrever Free” with all expenses paid. Spay/neuter clinics for cats are $65 male or female, including a rabies vaccination and a 5-in-1 feline distemper combination vaccination. Nail clipping services are available every Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m. at the shelter, no appointment necessary, for a donation of $5 for cats and $10 for dogs.
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Charlene Marchand is the chairperson of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA Board of Directors. She may be contacted by email at cghsaaron@gmail.com.