GOOD NEWS: Homeless hound on new firefighter calendar

Gumby and North Charleston Firefighter Adam Craft.  Photo provided.

Staff reports  |  Gumby the Hound is a one-of-a-kind dog who has won the hearts of Charleston Animal Society staff – and will soon appear in its 2017 Firefighter Calendar!  On 11 occasions, families tried to adopt this sweet, loving hound, but 11 times, he would hop a fence, open a latch, and, somehow, run back to Charleston Animal Society.

“The staff unanimously decided that Gumby wanted to live here, so we officially adopted him as our live-in Charleston Animal Society ambassador in January,” said Charleston Animal Society CEO Joe Elmore.  Since he settled into his new digs in the “300 section” of Charleston Animal Society, Gumby has displayed some amazing talents. The behavior team discovered that Gumby was a natural “greeter dog” for play groups.  Each day, he is the leader of the pack when it comes to training the new guys on becoming friendly, social, playful pets.

Gumby also donates blood for serum that is used to treat the eyes of kittens who are impacted by upper respiratory infections. One blood draw from a large dog could produce enough serum to treat 10 to 15 kittens! “Many people ask why we don’t use adult cats and the reason is that we don’t have a full history on the cats that come in and using serum from them could spread disease,” Dr. Angele Bice with Charleston Animal Society said. “A blood draw for a cat is very stressful on them and would only produce enough to treat one kitten.” That’s when Gumby stepped in. “He is very easy to handle and is so happy-go-lucky, that he became the perfect candidate,” Bice added.

Charleston Animal Society is taking pre-orders now for its 2017 calendars online.  More.

In other good news:

Stinney case.  Hats off to students at the Charleston School of Law for starting the research for an expected civil rights case related to the 1944 execution of George Stinney Jr., the Alcolu 14-year-old who is the youngest person executed in the U.S. in modern times.  “Nothing can bring back George Stinney Jr., but we can use the civil court process to try to get justice for his family,” said Charleston School of Law President Ed Bell, who added his firm would file the case with the help of the students.  “A big lesson we try to provide students at the law school is that they need to give back to the community — and righting this wrong through the legal process will be a great learning experience as well as being the right thing to do.”

Fifth grader Clyde Mauldin’s second-place poster in a national contest. Click image to see a larger image.

Poster winner.  Congratulations to Mason Prep fifth grader Clyde Mauldin, who was recognized recently for his entry in the American Statistical Association’s 2016 poster competition.  He won second place in the national competition for his poster, “Are the Boston Celtics hitting home runs?”  Click the image at right to view a larger version of the poster.

Riley award.   The late W. Brian Moody was named the winner of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s 2016 Joseph P. Riley Leadership Award, which is given annually to a visionary leader who strengthens the community.  Moody, an accountant who served three terms on the county’s school board and was chair of the chamber from 1999 to 2000, passed away earlier this year.  He will be honored for his service at the chamber’s 2016 Honors Night, which starts 6 p.m. Sept. 15, and will be held at the Charleston Marriott Hotel.