BUCKHANNON – The canines and cats housed at the Lewis-Upshur Animal Control Facility will get a special treat to celebrate Easter this year.

Director of the Lewis-Upshur Animal Control Facility Jan Cochran said volunteers and staff of LUAC purchased special dog treats from Winnie’s Attic in Philippi, to give the dogs a special Easter Sunday.

“My daughter’s friend owns Winnie’s Attic, and she advertised that one of her distributors was going to make Easter baskets for the dogs because she sells dog treats and dog-related items in the store,” Cochran said. “I asked the volunteers if they were interested in donating towards this and we had a good response; we were able to purchase 16 baskets.”

The treats are banana and peanut butter-flavored with icing.

“We had to put them in the freezer, just to make sure they didn’t grow a mold or anything like that, and then we’ll take them out Sunday morning and give them to the dogs when they’re fed around 2 p.m.,” Cocchran said. “We have never done this for Easter. At Christmas time, we’ve had people bring things up like last year, Jen brought up cheeseburgers, so everybody got a cheeseburger on their dinner plates.”

The cats aren’t being left out; they will also receive chicken breasts in their food bowl this Easter.

“This is the first time we’ve done anything for Easter, but Sweet-A-Licious has brought pup cups up a few times,” Cochran said. “This is our first time working with Winnie’s Attic because she just recently opened her store sometime this year, and I just happened to see the dogs treats and thought that would be a great idea.”

Cochran said it’s always nice to give the animals a special treat, especially during the holidays.

“People often feel bad for most of these dogs, but honestly, a lot of these guys live a better life here than they had for most of their lives –they have a warm bed, air conditioning, a full bowl every day and fresh water,” Cochran said.