10 | JULY 21 • 2022 

G

ayle Ellias, 55, of White Lake was 
looking to rescue a new dog to 
bring home to complete her pack 
of dogs. “When I first saw pictures and 
videos of Ichabod, I paused and looked at 
him and thought, ‘he’s probably already 
adopted.
’”
Even at the first glance of Ichabod, an 
Alaskan Malamute, Ellias knew there was 
something about him. She didn’t want just 
any dog; she had her heart set on saving a 
life. Little did she know how much he would 
change hers. 
Growing up, Ellias always had a love for 
animals. She was raised in a Conservative 
Jewish home in Trenton.
“The identity of being Jewish was strong 
to my parents, especially my dad. We were 
one of the few Jewish families from the 

Downriver area. My family even founded 
the Beth Isaac Synagogue in Trenton,
” Ellias 
said. 
After moving out of Trenton to the White 
Lake area, Ellias continued to hold her 
Jewish faith close to her heart. She shared 
her religious practices with her children, 
now grown, Jacob, Sara and Jarid. 
“My youngest is leaving for MSU next 
month, so I will be an ‘empty nester,
’” Ellias 
said. 
Ellias has more than 32 years of diverse 
experience in clinical social work. She works 
with all ages and specializes in children (and 
their parents) with autism spectrum disor-
der issues and developmental issues. 
Now she works part-time virtually as a 
therapist with Counseling Associates in 
West Bloomfield. 

THE RESCUE 
Throughout Ellias’s career she knew she 
wanted to have a therapy dog.
“I have five other dogs,
” she said. “Being a 
therapy dog is innate; it’s not something you 
can train.
”
She had her heart set on rescuing a gold-
en retriever. She began her search. Ellias 
knew about the Humane Society and read 
about how golden retrievers were coming to 
the states from China, rescued from the dog 
meat trade. 
“When I learned about the dog meat 
trade in China, I didn’t know it was real. 
I started to do more research and learned 
about No Dogs Left Behind (NDLB) found-
ed by Jeff Beri,
” Ellias explained. 
NDLB is a nonprofit animal rescue based 
in New York, that uses international and 

Meet Ichabod, an Alaskan Malamute 
therapy dog with a disability, who teaches 
everyone there’s more to life.

 From 
Slaughterhouse 
 to Therapy Dog

RACHEL SWEET ASSOCIATE EDITOR

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

Gail Ellias and 
Ichabod

JERRY ZOLYNSKY

