AR-News: (PA) Duo goes all-out in fight for underdogs

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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/tribnorth/news/s_159606.html

By Mark Berton
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 12, 2003 


A dog-grooming duo in Avalon has taken up four-legged causes in the north 
boroughs of Pittsburgh. 
Lois Cummins, 45, and her stepdaughter, Tami Cancilla, 29, operate the 
nonprofit organization "Spencer and Friends" out of their Avalon grooming parlor. 
It's a calling they started answering 12 years ago. Spencer and Friends 
officially became a nonprofit organization last year. 
Cummins said she and Cancilla work as a team with the Avalon police and fire 
departments and sometimes help out in neighboring communities. 
This year alone, the two have answered more than 30 animal-related emergency 
calls, such as building fires in which animals were trapped or injured, 
arrests that leave suspects' pets without care and reports of animal abuse or 
neglect. 
Two weeks ago, for example, they took charge of a dog rescued from a house 
fire along South Birmingham Avenue until the owner, who was not home at the 
time, was located. 
"It's like canine Rescue 911," she said. "Chief (Robert) Howie will call, 
we'll jump in the police car, and we'll head to wherever we're headed to. If the 
dog is not hurt, we bring it back to the police station and we keep the dogs 
there for 48 hours." 
After that, the animal is housed at Avalon Veterinary Hospital until the 
owner is located. 
Not all their rescues involved calamities or severe abuse. 
Spencer, the 13-year-old black lab mascot for which the organization was 
named, was diagnosed with diabetes, and his former owner said he didn't have time 
to give Spencer the treatment needed. Once 10 pounds underweight and lethargic 
from askew blood-sugar levels, he now whiles away his days being petted by 
customers and snoozing on his 101 Dalmatians pillow. 
Spencer's "friends" include animals ranging from cats to guinea pigs. 
"We just placed a Newfoundland, hermit crabs and six beta fish," Cummins 
said. "It was a home where the lady died, but we found homes for everybody." 
Cummins and Cancilla don't do fund-raisers because when people find out where 
the two are located, they find animals left on their porch. 
"It's sad how many people just abandon their pets. It's a throw-away world," 
Cummins said. 
Howie said that the help of Spencer and Friends has been indispensable to 
Avalon. 
"We can't do without it," he said. "We'd have to hire a contractor and it 
would cost the borough money. They're never more than a couple of minutes away." 
Dolly Archey, of Avalon, adopted Dario after he was rescued by Spencer and 
Friends earlier this year. 
Dario, a lab-shepherd mix, was found starved and severely dehydrated in crate 
in a home after his original owner went into a coma and died in a hospital. 
"He was hospitalized for a few weeks. When he got strong enough to be 
released...we fell in love with him and decided to adopt him," Archey said. 
While most of their rescues have happy endings, Cancilla and Cummins both 
conceded the work is stressful. 
"It gets to you," Cummins said. 
"We've been overwhelmed with cruelty cases, but when they come back to visit 
you and you see how well they're doing, that wipes it all away. When you tell 
an owner their dog is safe up at the jail cell -- the one lady just sat down 
and started crying. That makes it worthwhile." 
Mark Berton can be reached at mberton at tribweb.com or (724) 779-7108. 
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