Staff writer
He was top dog at Washington Area Humane Society. It was not an honor canines covet because, for Wilbert, it meant the longest stay at the shelter.
But after more than 14 months at the humane society, Wilbert has a home.
As the saying goes, "A man's home is his castle." For Wilbert, home is now in Castle Shannon with Kerry Hartman, 28, a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.
There's a long history of animosity between dog and mailman, but it was actually through the mail that Wilbert and Hartman connected.
Hartman was delivering the Washington Area Humane Society newsletter in mid-July when he saw Wilbert's picture and brief biography featured on the back cover. In the meantime, Wilbert's senior status resulted in stories and photos in the July 25 edition of the Observer-Reporter as well as in an area magazine.
Wilbert, Hartman said, reminded him of his childhood pet, a chocolate Labrador retriever named Hershey, and he adopted Wilbert on July 29.
"I'm really tickled that he has finally caught the eye of someone in the public," said Faye Kennedy, human society board member. "People started coming in to see him."
Although Wilbert, who came to the humane society as a stray, was believed to be a chocolate Lab mix, Hartman took him to a veterinarian who identified him as a Chesapeake Bay retriever and placed his age at 5 to 6 years, a tad younger than he was pegged at the shelter.
"I'd never heard of them," Hartman said of the breed, also known as "Chessies."
Hartman's mom, Judi Abate of Whitehall, described her son as "totally smitten" by Wilbert, and told of one of the dog's endearing qualities: He drags his doggie bed up or down the stairs of Hartman's home, depending on where he thinks he'll be more comfortable. Once he's situated, he picks up Hartman's shoes, not to chew, but to curl up with until his master returns.
"He's a gracious, grateful animal," Abate said.
Hartman delivers mail out of the Bridgeville post office, a job he formerly performed in Washington.
He said his on-the-job confrontations with dogs have been "few and far between. It's the exception rather than the rule."
Wilbert was just one of the Washington Area Humane Society's newsmakers this summer. A pit bull mix, known as Alex, Alexander and Xander, was the victim of an animal cruelty case earlier this month in Charleroi. Surgery repaired his serious hip and leg injuries, and he's now receiving physical therapy.
"He goes home with me every night," said Lorie Schooley, Washington Area Humane Society manager, who calls the dog Xander.