Ami Samuels and her husband, Dr. Mark Zacharia, operate Edmonds-Westgate Animal Hospital, a small veterinarian facility that mostly treats dogs and cats. When someone on their staff, Sarah Werner, took in a pet goose at her home outside Seattle, Samuels had an unusual thought: “We need to put a scarf on that goose.”
For Seattle Sounders fans like Samuels and Dr. Zacharia, the wish made sense. Anyone else, though, would be extremely confused. Despite the latter, Werner made it happen with her pet goose, Fern.
“Turns out geese are not cooperative photo models,” laughed Samuels.
The scarf-wearing goose is a nod to Sounders midfielder Gustav Svensson, a beloved midfielder known for his “Goose” nickname since joining the Rave Green in 2017.
Fern the Goose poses for a photo in a Sounders scarf in honor of Sounders midfielder Gustav "Goose" Svensson | Photo courtesy of Sarah Werner
Samuels found an older scarf that was thick and clearly showed the club’s logo. From there, Werner stepped up with the huge, albeit strange, favor. It was a success!
Samuels, Dr. Zacharia, and their two sons of have been Season Members in section 208 since the inaugural 2009 season. It immediately became the family’s favorite activity together.
“Our two sons both played soccer when they were young, so we thought it was so cool to have to grow up with a major sports team,” Samuels said.” It was a really cool family activity – and the parents and kids are still there.”
Through the launch of the animal hospital’s Instagram account, @ewvethospital, the couple is now able to combine their favorite soccer team with their work. They launched the Instagram account in January 2020 and have already posted multiple photos of animals in Sounders gear, including Fern the Goose.
“Our staff just loves taking photos and our clients love seeing photos—ours will be Sounders heavy,” Samuels said. “If people ask ‘Why all this Sounders stuff?’ Because it’s the Sounders!”
