Erie couple's dog, Mötley Chew, a finalist in wacky pet name contest

His veterinarian isn’t Dr. Feelgood, nor has he sold 100 million albums worldwide.

But he's "psychotic" just like Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx, Tommy Lee and Mick Mars in their heavy metal heyday.

That’s why Erie residents Brittany Huey and fiance Matthew Turner, both 30, decided to name their Australian shepherd/husky/Labrador retriever mix after the popular 80s rock band.

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Meet Mötley Chew, the year-old pup whose pun of a name has garnered him a bit of fame in Nationwide Insurance's Wacky Pet Name contest. Motley Chew is one of 10 finalists in the contest's canine category.

"Mötley's personality definitely fits the band's persona," Huey said. "It is his way or the highway. He's wild beyond control. I tell him every day he's now semi-famous, but he doesn't care."

Born in December 2020, the couple adopted Mötley Chew in January 2021. They threw around a few possible names until one day Turner texted Huey with Mötley Chew.

They had considered Travis Barker, the name of the drummer for Blink-182.

But Mötley Chew would win out. And it's fitting, considering that the couple’s other dog, an American bulldog/pit bull/Belgian shepherd mix, is named Ozzie Pawsborne.

"We’re both big fans of Mötley Crüe,” Huey said. “I grew up on them. He grew up on them, so we kind of just followed along with the pun name.”

And here's a bite of trivia: Mötley Crüe, after breaking into the mainstream in 1983, was chosen as the opening act for Ozzy Osborne’s 1984 U.S. tour. The album Osbourne was touring in support of? Bark at the Moon," of course.

Huey, who works at Stairways Behavioral Health as a psychiatric lab technician, obtained pet insurance from Nationwide through her employer for both pups. Nationwide reached out to Huey in January about entering Mötley Chew’s unique name in their Whacky Pet Name contest.

Huey opted to enter both dogs, only to realize later following a few internet searches that Ozzy Pawsbourne's name was fairly popular.

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Mötley Chew is one of 10 finalists in the contest alongside the likes of:

• Bruno Marscapone

• Dr. Potato Head

• Macho Dog Randy Savage

• Princess Dumptruck

• Porkfrog

• Ghostopher P. Spookington

The cat category includes pets named:

• Mr. Murder Mittens

• Boba Pett

• Crunchcat Supreme

• Ruth Bader Kitsburg

• Tayroar Swift

• Pickles McButterpants the Muffin Slayer

• Linda From Human Resources

People often "cackle" when they're told Mötley Chew’s name, Huey said.

"Anytime we walk into a building where we've already been, people remember his name," she added.

Voting opened Monday and ends on Saturday. People can vote for one wacky dog name and one wacky cat name a day. To vote, go to: bit.ly/3ufOqGr.

Contact Matthew Rink at mrink@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ETNrink.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Mötley Chew: Mötley Crüe-inspired name lands Erie dog in Nationwide contest