Aside from a sunburned nose and pee-stained fur on his legs, Chuckie the Jack Russell Terrier is a happy and healthy dog, this according to the staff from the Cambridge and District Humane Society.

Nicknamed Chuckie by the staff, the dog was apparently found by a Cambridge family last Thursday morning along highway 97, placed inside a metal wire cage all alone by the side of the road. Because the cage was placed near a clump of trees, other cars were unable to spot the dog.

Fortunately for Chuckie, one family eventually found him after catching a glimpse of the crate and what was inside it. This is what they told Tracy Laraway, a Cambridge animal cruelty prevention agent.

Laraway says that the family thought something wasn’t right with the crate, so they made a U turn to check. After rescuing the Terrier, they immediately brought him to the Cambridge shelter.

Upon receiving the dog, the staff remarked that he’s very lucky to have survived at all. The sunburn on his nose suggests that he might’ve been left there for quite some time. Aside from being exposed to the bare elements, Chuckie had no food or water in his cage.

The shelter expects to receive a barrage of requests to adopt Chuckie, but first they want to learn why he was left all alone there in the first place.

A school in the City of Cambridge is set to become a prime example for effective energy conservation and education, if a proposal to install solar panels on its roof pushes through.

The Waterloo Region District School Board is currently producing feasibility studies and other estimates in the hopes of getting grants from the Ontario Ministry of Education for the mounting of solar panels in 5 of the region’s schools.

Cambridge is the location for one of the sites, but according to Ron Dallan, manager of capital projects, the school to receive the panels will be kept a close secret until the district receives official instructions from the Ministry of Education.

But the excitement he and the board feels however, is something they can’t hide. Cambridge’s residents are also very enthusiastic to represent the benefits and advantages of using cleaner and greener sources of energy.

Dallan said that the use of these solar panels would definitely help in reducing energy costs and consumption at the district, but the initiative wouldn’t be considered as a real moneymaker.

Nevertheless, the benefits of harnessing the power of the sun are not to be ignored, and the educational activities that could arise from the installation of the panels will be priceless to students, he added.