Philo High School Welcomes New Facility Dog

ZANESVILLE, OH – One local school has a new staff member joining the team this school year.

Philo High School is happy to announce that they recently acquired a golden retriever facility dog named Mazey.

A Philo Alumni reached out to the Zanesville Purina Plant and asked if they could help to bring a dog to help the students out.

“Purina is very passionate about supporting the community and we heard from one of the previous students here that there was a need to support the pet we have here so Purina was very excited about that,” Nabor Carino, the Zanesville Purina Plant Manager said. “We made a donation to the school so they could provide the training she needed.”

Kelly Mock, the 9th and 10th Grade Counselor at Philo, said Mazey came from an organization called Paws With A Cause based in Waylon, Michigan.

She said sometimes it’s hard to get kids to open up about what they’re feeling or going through and that Mazey will be a great avenue to open that line of communication.

“They breed and train dogs to be service dogs and then the dogs who don’t meet muster for being a service dog, sometimes become facility dogs,” Mock said. “Those dogs can work in schools or healthcare settings and we were fortunate enough to be matched with Mazey. Her primary job here is going to be working with students, providing comfort, I think she could also be great at bridge building.”

Mazey will be available to work with students, as well as faculty, in the Counselor’s Office.