Ovechkin and undocumented Ghera
Rumor is Donald Trump has repeatedly asked Ovi about Ghera's birth certificate. :-)
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Burscheid is 19 miles (24 mins) away from Cologne
By Von Jürgen Heimann, Westdeutsche Zeitung, May 6, 2011, "Top Russian hockey player has a guard dog from Burscheid"
The Roscheck family, a dog breeder from Burscheid, has been trying for months to contact the NHL star who doesn't have the papers for his pet yet.
When Hannelies Roscheck opened the sports section of the Bergischen Volksboten on Wednesday [Wednesday, May 4, 2011, Capitals - Lightning, game 4 -tj], she found a new chance to reach for the Russian hockey superstar Alexander Ovechkin through our IIHF World Championship correspondent in Bratislava. Within half an hour the editorial department in Burscheid was in contact with their reporter in Slovakia, but to no avail; Ovechkin indeed was a member of Russian national team, but 25-year-old was still in US playing for NHL's Washington Capitals [in playoffs].
In no case Hannelies Roscheck is a crazy hockey fan who wants an autograph sign at any cost. It was rather about signing the papers for German shepherd called "Qualle" [German for "Jelly Fish"]. She was born with six other puppies on January 1st, 2010, in Burscheid, which was witnessed by Margit van Kölnerin Dorssen, "the world-renowned breeder," said Hannelies Roscheck.
Super athlete Ovechkin learned about her when he played at the IIHF World Cup for the Russians at the Lanxess Arena [May 2010]. But first time visiting her in Cologne he didn't find the dog he was looking for. Everything changed when van Dorssen brought Qualle to the cathedral city [Cologne].
Roscheck remembered how Qualle rummaged through the belongings of the Russians right away and found a pack of cigarettes. That impressed the new owner. "She is searching for drugs," said the athlete and bought the dog. "He said, he wanted her to guard his property in Russia".
The interpreter and Ovechkin's friends are said to have asked for the dog's papers right away, but to transfer the papers to new owner in the books of the "German Shepherds association" in Augsburg takes some time. And up to today Hannelies Roscheck does not have the superstar's address, which is necessary to mail the papers.
Inquiries to the Washington Capitals and the interpreter remained unanswered so far. According to the rules he owns the dog only after he receives the papers. Qualle, who was given a new name on a day she was bought, still is a "Burscheiderin" [inhabitant of Burscheid] in the documents.
Many thanks to our reader Anja for the link and translation.
Related posts:
Ovechkin returns to Moscow with a new friend
Ovechkin puts his dog Ghera into the car and says, "Papa, drive home then..."
May 24, 2010. Ghera is almost 5 months old.
Ovi goes to France soon with Ilya Nikulin. Hopefully we'll see some photos from Paris on twitter.
And congratulations to our field reporter Emily. She's got a promotion at Japer's Rink.
J.P.:
Finally, on an administrative note, I'd like to note that we've moved Emily up the masthead to Associate Editor - a long overdue acknowledgement of the tireless effort and fantastic product she puts out while on Clips duty and elsewhere. Kudos, Em.
She is now in the higher levels of blogosphere, but she started it right here, on this blog first. I don't even know how many posts we have here that end with famous catch phrase:
"Reporting live, this is Emily"We all wish Emily the best and hope that she will continue to work here as a freelance reporter, to paraphrase it, there's no place like where you've started.
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9 comments:
Is that an Ovie tweet from May 27 or a quote from another source?
@Ovie: you promised to tweet a pic from Moscow that we will like. A tweet from Paris will be an acceptable substitute if you include a pic. I'd also like to see a current pic of Ghera, how is she doing? In an interview you said she was sly and needed training. How has that gone?
BTW, I'm not sure about the procedure when animals are brought into the USA from abroad. Are they put in quarantine, and for how long? Does Ghera have to be quarantined each time she leaves the USA and then re-enters? She must be well traveled.
I wonder who's training her, never mind how Ovie is doing LOL.
TJ, Of course we'd all love to see his facebook:) What pics has he been posting that you have posting? I got the impression that Ovie couldn't stand the paparazzi so that is interesting.
Well you can knock me over with a feather. I didn't know Ovie was on Facebook. Is this the Russian version? I don't have an account on any Facebook so I'm clueless about how this works.
TJ, do you and Ovie friend each other on this Facebook? Are there more photos you can share?
One more thing TJ, I'm curious. Are you a DC resident or somewhere close to DC? Do you go to games and practices? Or are you a long distance fan of the Caps and Ovie?
Clearly, the people trying to get the papers to him aren't very creative: use the internet and mail it to Ovie via the Washington Capitals (instructions on how to mail things to players are on the website), or use the internet white pages and type in his name to get his Arlington address.
@BobbyG,
No, the dog doesn't need to go through quarentine. The big issue is traveling from a country with high incidence of rabies. The U.S. and Russia (and Germany) are considered Third Countries (low incidence of rabies), under those circumstances a pet must have resided in a Third Country for at least four months before travel. As far as we know, Ghera has only lived in Third Countries, so she fits this requirement.
A certificate of health has to be filled out from the country you are traveling to (the vet can do this or provide the information) and other papers should be in order (people who travel with their pets tend to create a "pet passport"). Forms can be gotten online.
Then, you check with airline requirements.
Re: Facebook, Ovie said last year that they are fake accounts. At some point he got a real account with the Russian equivalent, but was keeping it private and limited to friends' access only after he had problems with earlier accounts.
Ovi posts pictures after I post them here. I guess it's a green light for him, like "this photo is not private anymore"...
so TJ, you are Ovi's facebook friend since his page is only open to friends? Or he has someone monitor this site to know what you post? If so, Ovie please tell Varly to re-sign with Caps and forget the KHL!
Do you know when he will come to France?
I'm soooo a big fan of him and my dream is to have a picture of/with him :)
Btw, I really like your blog :)
@O: thanks for the info about Ghera's "passport" LOL. I hope Ovie posts a new pic and updates us on her training soon.
@TJ: I'll repeat again what AB also asked. Are you Ovie's Facebook friend, is that how you have access to the photos he posts?
Congratulations on your promotion Emily! I enjoy your reports here so much, and your work at JP is greatly appreciated from this fan!
BobbyG, waiting for TJ to come clean about his possible friending Ovie on Facebook.
He also hasn't revealed if he's a local DC Caps/Ovie fan or long distance. I admit I'm a long distance fan, no secret there.
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