Amityville Record

Pets, Pets, Pets


 

 

In one month my “Pets” column in the Babylon Beacon will be 40 years old. The first “Pets”

In one month my “Pets” column in the Babylon Beacon will be 40 years old. The first “Pets” was published on February 24, 1983. I am so grateful for the chance to feature homeless pets for adoption for so long. In preparation for this anniversary, I’d like to revisit portions of old columns from each decade leading up to 2023. This week will feature excerpts from 1980s “Pets, Pets, Pets.” At that time I volunteered for League for Animal Protection (LAP) and Babylon Shelter:

Sept. 6, 1984: This is the “tail” of a Harriet without an Ozzie. On several occasions we’ve been called upon to do some dog detective work. Our clients (the dogs) are usually oblivious to all the hoopla they cause. Harriet was no exception.

Recently we received a call that the folks at the N. Lindenhurst 7-11 had found a Basset Hound. They rescued her after she had almost caused several accidents as she strolled across Rt. 109. It was a Friday evening, and Babylon Shelter was closed.

1980s Polaroid with Beacon “Pets” person and her 2 Afghans- Juliet & Alfie. Afghan Hounds are an ancient breed.

1980s Polaroid with Beacon “Pets” person and her 2 Afghans- Juliet & Alfie. Afghan Hounds are an ancient breed.

“Could LAP help out?” was the phone request. We arranged to take her to the shelter Saturday morning, and in the meantime, the store crew tried to find her owner. They soon found out that nothing could draw a bigger crowd of sympathetic helpers than to tie a soulful Basset to the store post with a sign -”Do you know this dog?” Several customers felt they recognized her, and some even drove her to her suspected addresses, but no leads were her owners.

One kind employee took the hound home overnight, and the early morning crowd thought she looked familiar. Maybe it’s just that everyone can identify with the pathetic look on a Basset’s face. Later that morning, we took over. Before going to the shelter, we gave her one spin around the other side of Rt. 109. Our client was not fazed by the trip, and promptly rested her head in a five-pound box of biscuits. Again, she looked familiar to everyone we met, and she responded to every Basset name they called. “Here, Peaches. Hi, Clementine” brought her over to give wags and kisses to complete strangers but did not bring her home.

 

 

At the shelter we learned we missed a couple looking for a Basset by ten minutes. One phone call revealed our client’s true identity. She was Harriet, a nine-year-old, overweight Basset who had wandered about one mile from the frantic people who were dog sitting her.

While we waited for her guardians to arrive, we tried calling her real name, “Harriet, Harriet” but no response. Oh, no, could we have the wrong overweight Basset Hound? Finally, “Harriet,” spoken in a different tone of voice, brought her over to plant a big, wet lick across the face.

When her folks arrived, she pretended not to hear “Harriet, what a bad girl,” but instantly fell asleep on their backseat.

The moral of our “tail”- Basset Hounds do not run away; they walk away very, very slowly; and when they do, they travel under assumed names.

Nov. 19, 1987: (Written before there were commercial DNA tests or Doodle designer dogs.) I am going to try to answer the philosophical question- “Which came first- the Collie or the Collie mix”- in a roundabout way. Dog owners often want to know the component breeds of their mixed pup. It’s hard to say. One breed’s traits may be dominant. For example, the Husky part in a Husky mix is easy to spot, but the rest could be anyone’s guess. It’s impossible to come up with a computer printout of the mongrel’s family tree.

The viewer tries to make an educated guess based on the dog’s appearance and temperament. Such dogs are probably mixed with every variation of the species Canis familiaris that 14,000 years of random breeding could produce. Mixed breeds are rarely a 50-50 blend, and many would not have any purebreds in their ancestry.

Back in the Fred Flintstone era, there were no Cocker Spaniels or Golden Retrievers. All dogs were either socialized wolves, or a close relative of both dogs and wolves. It’s theorized man first befriended dogs because he may have noticed dogs’ skills while hunting or shared a bone at the campfire with a friendly pup. Whatever the circumstances, he soon realized dogs’ value as companions. Domestication came first; selective breeding for specific purposes came later. Some breeds like the Saluki and Afghan Hound are ancient; others like the Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Miniature American Shepherd are relatively new.

No matter what the make-up, dogs-Chihuahua to Great Dane- are all the same species. Mixed breed dogs are special and each one is unique. They are the No Frills variety with all the great ingredients of DOG without the expensive packaging. By the way, the Collie mix came first. But in those days, no one watched Lassie or knew what a Collie was. Next week, we’ll peek at excerpts from “Pets” columns published in the 1990s.

Available for Adoption at Last Hope Adoption Center (631-671-2588), 3300 Beltagh Ave., Wantagh: Thomas is a two-year-old cat rescued as a friendly fellow who started eating with feral cats outside a Suffolk restaurant. He is probably a dumped pet because he was already neutered and not ear-tipped. Sam is a five-month-old puppy with a velvety coat. He is so smart. Volunteers taught him to SIT in about ten minutes.

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