February 24, 2006

Pet of the Month

Petey Fuzere, a Cadwallader elementary school student, poses with 5-year-old Angel, who seems content just licking her chops. Angel, a female black lab mix, has been a part of the family since she was just seven weeks old.

She’s quite the Angel

The Fuzere family’s 5-year-old black lab mix, Angel, brings
loving attention and a few quirks to the table

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

For the Fuzere family, pets are a way of everyday life.

Not only does the family own three cats and a bird – not to mention the chickens they once had – the family’s focal point of the “animal house” might just be Angel, a 5-year-old female black lab mix.

The Fuzere family adopted Angel, named after Angelica, a character in the cartoon Rugrats, at the tender age of just seven weeks. Since then, she’s become a big part of the family dynamic, giving and receiving loving attention from Barbara and Pete Fuzere, and their two kids, Shelby and Petey.

Despite the numerous pets in the home, Barbara said her house is a tranquil place.

“It’s actually pretty quiet here,” she said. “The cats do their own thing and Angel does her own thing. They pretty much stay away from each other. It’s kind of nice.”

Barbara noted some of Angel’s most noticeable quirks, namely her fear of the family’s oldest cat, 10-year-old Esmeralda. As a pup, a slightly smaller Angel was constantly teased by Esmeralda, who would smack her canine house companion in the head repeatedly with her paws.

Now as a full-grown dog, Angel still has a fear of Esmeralda, to the point where she won’t dare pass the feline in the hallway, or any other part of the house.

“The cat will be at one end of the hallway and Angel will be at the other end, and she won’t pass her,” Barbara said. “She cries until I come and get her. She’s afraid of the cat.”

And that’s not the only peculiar thing about Angel.

Barbara said she’s certain that Angel doesn’t think she’s a dog. Every day, When Barbara takes her kids to school, Angel has to tag along, hopping into the car for the ride. That ritual has continued in other ways as well.

The Fuzere family often takes trips with their RV to various parts through the west coast to visit family and friends. Again, Angel is there as well, eager to go with them for the ride, no matter where the family goes.

“She’s always been that way,” Barbara said. “She loves car rides. She loves to go. You just say the word ‘go,’ and she’s at the door. She loves to take the kids to school in the morning.”

At home, Angel also has the strange habit of digging through the family’s clean laundry (she refuses to dig through dirty clothes) for a washrag or a sock, which she will carry in her mouth throughout the day. Barbara likened this habit to “a baby with a blanket.”

All told, with some minor quirks aside, Angel has been the best dog the family could hope for, said Barbara.

Every afternoon, Angel eagerly waits for Pete to arrive home from work. Barbara said Angel even has another sense about her, as she begins to wag her tail before Pete’s van is even remotely close to reaching the driveway. Angel’s wagging tail is a sure sign dad’s down the street, Barbara said, adding, “she can hear the van from a mile away.”

With their Pet of the Month, the Fuzere family has won a $20 gift certificate from Evergreen Pet Center, located at 1620 E. Capitol Expressway, in the Silver Creek Marketplace.