Companion Corner: Ollie at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
03:04PM / Wednesday, November 05, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a little dog with big energy waiting for his forever home at the Berkshire Humane Society.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Ollie is a four-year-old mixed breed that has been at the shelter since September.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Ollie.

"Just very sweet, very, very, very loving lap dog, and also a little adventure buddy. He's very confident and a great, great little buddy," she said.

He was dropped off at the shelter Sept. 30 after he was having a hard time fitting in at his home.

"He was having difficulties fitting in with the family," Olivieri said. "There were some young kids, and he was tending to escape and get out of the house quite a bit, and he would go on daily adventures around the neighborhood, and it was just becoming not very safe for him and a little bit too much for his owner to handle with the young kids as well."

Ollie needs a family who will be patient with him. Older children would be better as he can have a hard time warming up and occasionally likes his space. He enjoys being outside and needs someone who is going to let him explore the outdoors as much as he can.

"Ollie would love a family with, if there are kids, teens and up, he can be a little bit funny about being picked up and body handling. So he needs a family who's very patient and understanding, and once he trusts you, he actually does enjoy being picked up. So a family that would really spend a lot of time with him outside," she said. "He's used to being outside quite a bit, so he loves to use his nose and just follow his nose on 'sniffaris' out in the woods. He would love to go to new locations, different places each week, different hikes, different walks, so that he could really explore with his nose."

He likes the attention and would prefer to be the only dog but he can be in a home with other cats.

"He really likes being doted on and loved and kind of fussed over. He likes to be the center of attention," Olivieri said. "He has lived with a cat before. He had a really good relationship with a cat in the previous home, so he could go to a home with cats. Other dogs, I think he would prefer to be the only dog."

With how much Ollie likes being outside, it is important he keeps up with his vaccines and preventatives.

"I believe he was positive for Lyme disease, which is very common for most dogs. So as long as he keeps up on his flea and tick prevention and his Lyme vaccine, that's going to help protect him and keep him to stay safe, especially since he loves to be outside, he's going to get some ticks on him. So he just needs to stay on top of preventatives and preventative vaccines as well."

Ollie is house broken but has occasionally marked an area. The shelter doesn't think this is a chronic problem because it may be his being in a new area or a one-time thing. Potential adopters could do a trial period with Ollie to see how he behaves.

"He will sometimes mark in a new area. He is potty trained, but he might lift a leg on a couch or something in the home while he's marking his area, his new space," Olivieri said. "There are belly bands. We have some at the shelter we could send him home with, just to discourage that behavior."

Ollie does also guard his food; when he is eating he likes to be left alone to eat.

But Ollie would love to meet someone who will allow him to be on the couch or bed so that he can get in some snuggle time.

"He's a cuddler. He just wants to be with you, probably under those covers. So he's gonna make such a great little companion for someone," she said.

You can visit Ollie at the Berkshire Humane Society and read more about him on the website.

The Berkshire Humane Society is open Tuesday through Sunday. The adoption center is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Tags: animal shelter, Berkshire Humane Society, dogs,

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

PEDA Site 9 Preparation, Member Retirement

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
03:40PM / Thursday, December 18, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The redevelopment of Site 9 for mixed-use in the William Stanley Business Park is set to take off.

Edward Weagle, principal geologist at Roux Associates, gave an update on the yearlong work to the Pittsfield Economic Development Authority last week.

"It's been a real pleasure for me to work on a project like this," he said. "This is kind of like a project of a career of a lifetime for me, and I'm very pleased to see that we're just at the finish line right now. My understanding is that all the documents are in front of the commissioner, waiting for her to sign off."

Mill Town Capital is planning to develop a mixed-use building that includes housing on the site. Roux, headquartered in Islandia, N.Y., was hired assist with obtaining grant financing, regulatory permitting, and regulatory approvals to aid in preparing the 16.5-acre site for redevelopment. Approximately 25,000 cubic yards of concrete slabs, foundations, and pavements were removed from the former GE site.

Once the documents are signed off, PEDA can begin the work of transferring 4.7 acres to Mill Town. Weagle said the closing on this project will make it easier to work on the other parcels and that he's looking forward to working on Sites 7 and 8.

PEDA received a $500,000 Site Readiness Program grant last year from MassDevelopment for Sites 7 and Site 8. The approximately 3-acre sites are across Woodlawn Avenue from Site 9 and border Kellogg Street.

In other news, the state Department of Transportation has rented the east side of the parking lot for CDL (Commercial Driver's License) training. This is an annual lease that began in September and will bring in $37,200 in revenue.

Lastly, the meeting concluded with congratulations to Maurice "Mick" Callahan Jr. on his retirement.

Callahan is a former chair and a founding member of PEDA, dating back to when the board was established in the 1990s. He has also served on a number of civic and community boards and has volunteered for many organizations in the Berkshires. He is the president of M. Callahan Inc.

"The one thing that's been a common denominator back is that you've always put others before yourself. You've served others well. You've been a mentor to two generations of Denmarks, and I'm sure many generations of other families and people within this city," said board Chair Jonathan Denmark. "We can never say thank you enough, but thank you for your services, for the creation of this board, your service to the city of Pittsfield, and to all the communities that you've represented and enjoy retirement."

"It wasn't always easy to be in the position that you were in Mick, but you handled it with so much grace, always respecting this community, bringing pride to our community," member Linda Clairmont said. "I could not have accomplished many of the things I did, especially here for this business part, without you all of the Economic Development discussions that we had really informed my thinking, and I'm so grateful."

Callahan left the team with a message as this was his final meeting, but said he is always reachable if needed.

"I also have to say that a lot of great people sat around this table and other tables before the current board, and the time that I had with Pam [Green] and Mike [Filpi] sticking around, the leadership of this mayor [board member Linda Tyer], and it really, it was always great synergy," he said.

"So don't be afraid to embrace change. And you know, you got a business model. It's been around long time. Shake it up. Take a good look at it, figure out where it needs to go, and you're lucky to have leadership that you have here."

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