Fur better-or-worse vows

DURYEA – Oliviah Kumor and Remi McAndrew aren’t your typical couple, but that’s not going to stop them from tying the knot.

They are both 7, or a combined age of 98 – in dog years.

Oliviah, a Labrador mix, and Remi, a German pointer, will bark their vows at 2 p.m. Saturday at Pet Services by Denise and Tracey’s Hope Hospice Care. Denise Kumor, who owns the business, came up with the idea as a way to raise money for the boarding service and hospice center.

“It started because we rescued a dog (Oliviah) from Ohio who was going to be put down the very next day,” Kumor said. “This particular dog struck me. She was a beautiful Lab mix, and was going to be euthanized the next day because she had a tumor. That’s when we decided we were going to take her in.”

Oliviah was supposed to be put up for adoption, but Kumor couldn’t let her go.

“She is very protective of her area, and she’s very loyal,” Kumor said. “That’s why it surprised me when there was a German pointer (Remi) that comes on a regular basis (to be boarded). He and Oliviah would be inseparable. It wasn’t like her to take someone into her territory.”

Remi, owned by Katie and Russ McAndrew of Duryea, will wear a white tuxedo with tails. The bride will wear a white wedding dress – handmade by Candy Chilek of West Pittston, the “mother” of maid of honor Pepsi. Oliviah’s ensemble will be complete with beads, flowers and train.

“She’s going to look very pretty,” Kumor said. “We’re going to have the dog of honor (Pepsi), bride’s dogs, a preacher dog, a ring bearer dog and the groomsmen.

“The boys have top hats, and there’s even a ferret in the wedding that she made a small tux for.”

There will be an organic cake for the dogs and a reception with the dancing dog group, the Pawsitively Pet Prancers. The wedding colors will be peach and lavender, the colors of the hospice center. Other events include a yard sale and psychic readings for dogs.

“We try to help people defray the cost of things like medication, insulin for animals that are on long-term medication, Alzheimer’s animals, paralyzed pets…we try to gain as much money as we possibly can,” Kumor said.

She said she believes the hospice center is the only one of its kind in Pennsylvania that cares for sick and dying dogs.

The center is named for Kumor’s dog Tracey, the inspiration for the hospice program.

More than 40 volunteers, including an adoption committee, hospice volunteers, and boarding volunteers, staff the center. It has been operating for four years.

The program has provided partial funding for procedures including the amputation of a dog’s leg because of cancer and the money for insulin for diabetic dogs.