There is an employee here at Westminster that has four legs, fur, and a tail. His only job is to chase the geese away from our campus.

If a prospective student or parent walked into Westminster today, the last thing they would expect to find greeting them in the Grand Entry is a furry golden retriever named Bogey.

This particular dog has a unique job at Westminster that saves the school a great deal of time and money.  His job is to come to school just a couple of times a week and scare the geese away from the school grounds.

“Geese are not afraid of humans or cars, but are terribly afraid of wolves, foxes and dogs, no matter what size,” said Mark Jennings, Director of Facilities.

“When we bring Bogey on the grounds, the geese fly away. He doesn’t exactly chase them as much as he shows up and they fly away.”

However, it is not all work for this dog. When he is not chasing the birds, he has nearly complete access to all of the building areas and grounds, though he is not allowed in the kitchen, the Café or in any of the offices.

The need for Bogey arose after WCA moved to the new campus.  Dozens of geese and other birds found the several water reservoirs on Westminster’s grounds and decided to make them their neighborhood hangout.

Geese pose a problem because their feces carry many strains of bacteria, some of which can cause serious illness. The administration decided to hire a company to help with the geese problem.

“This was a necessary, but expensive, service to keep the grounds sanitary,” said Jennings.

There was a succession of several companies that tried various methods for ridding the campus of these nuisance birds. They even hired one that put up plastic statues of wolves to scare the birds. None of the methods worked to rid WCA of the geese.

Eventually, the facilities department found a company called Another Wild Goose Chase. They brought in specially trained dogs to chase the geese away. This method worked well but was costly.

Because of the expense, they began discussing other options for once the Canada goose migration season was over. Then Jennings had the bright idea of bringing in an employee dog named Bella, to handle the geese, instead of paying an outside company. Unfortunately, Bella’s temperament was not right for the job, plus she strayed from the grounds a number of times.

Then Todd Fuller, Westminster Director of Finance and Operations, volunteered his own dog, Bogey, for the position.

“Bogey is friendly, very laid back and likes to stay close to his handler, which makes him the perfect dog for the task,” said Jennings.

Westminster students have also noticed Bogey’s friendly demeanor.

“When you walk into a room and Bogey is there, he will immediately jump up and walk over to meet you,” said Timmy Sell, freshman.

After a short trial period, Bogey has become a permanent fixture at WCA. According to Jennings, like all model employees, he seems to love coming to work.