Griggs: 'The Case Of The Purloined Pooch' And Other Animals Along The Way

Griggs: ‘The Case Of The Purloined Pooch’ And Other Animals Along The Way

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on March 23, 2018
- 1:20 pm

Pecos, a 13-year-old Red Merle Aussie was dognapped and later rescued and returned to his owner. Courtesy photo

Six adorable white bundles of Samoyed fur, already showing their individual characters. Courtesy photo

By DAVID GRIGGS

Foreign Correspondent

Los Alamos Daily Post

While in New Mexico, I received an early morning telephone call from Crystal, an old friend who was living in Bend, Ore. She was moving to a farm nearer to the ocean, and wondered if I would like to help her drive a truck and unpack her studio.

So, in late summer with wildfires burning all over the Northwest, I found myself riding the Coast Starlight past a smoke-shrouded Mount Shasta. We spent a couple of days packing, cleaning, and then moving over the Cascade Mountains with two pickups and trailers, two dogs, six puppies and one horse.

After a four-hour drive, we arrived at her new farm in the Coast Range in western Oregon.

Unfortunately, one dog did not make the trip. Pecos, Crystal’s 13-year-old Red Merle Aussie had gone missing in Bend. Crystal had searched for him until one in the morning, but without success. She was devastated to think that her long-time companion had been eaten by the high desert coyotes. This happened just before I arrived, and in the middle of all the moving uproar.

After we completed the move, Crystal checked by telephone with the animal shelters in Bend, and then went on the Internet to Craig’s List.

Cut to the chase: It turns out that a couple who had in-laws in the Bend area had found Pecos and taken him home with them to San Francisco. When finally contacted, they stated that they could not be bothered to bring him back, not even part-way. Crystal needed to stay here to take care of her horse Gandalf, and the Samoyed mother Sage and her six puppies, so I was dispatched on a two-day mission to rescue Pecos from the dog-nappers down in the Bay Area Tenderloin.

The trip was almost 600 miles each way, and daytime temperatures en route hit 105o. Now, Pecos had not seen me in three years, and, when I arrived, he was not sure who I was. I grabbed a pillow out of the truck and thrust it at his nose, and the smell of Crystal and Sage convinced him to jump in the truck and drive off with me.

The whole ride home, I kept interrogating him: “Are you sure you are Pecos? We’re not going to get back and Crystal is going to say, ‘That’s not my dog!’, is she?” Every time I said the words “Pecos” and “Crystal”, Pecos twisted his head in that questioning gesture that dogs have.

Anyway, there was a happy ending. Pecos was indeed Pecos, and he had a joyful reunion with Crystal.

I would like to introduce three-legged Tripod, who is one of the three house dogs at La Palapa in Panajachel, Guatemala. Saturday is Tripod’s favorite day of the week at this popular bar and restaurant. Smokin’ Joe’s BBQ crew arrives in a boat from the other side of Lake Atitlán at around nine in the morning. They set up, cook, and serve a delicious barbecue. The dogs are pleased to help take care of bones and leftovers.

With sadness, I would like to note here the recent passing away of Nancy Keith-Popp, a patron saint of street dogs in Panajachel, Guatemala. Many thanks to her and her husband Jonas for all their efforts, and to all of you out there who care for animals in your lives.

Of special mention are: Muffy and the East Bay SPCA, Jeannie and The Dixon Animal Protection Society, and Louise and Petr and Mamut, their rescued Newfoundland.

During my annual peregrination, I have been spending a few weeks in New Orleans during each Jazz Festival season. I would be remiss if I did not tip my hat to Oysters of the Schlessinger family, members of the Crawfish Étouffée clan, and their less well-off relatives the Soft-shelled Crab Po’boys. I should also mention another noble animal family in New Orleans, the Cockroaches of the insect order Blattodea. They are an ancient lineage, dating back at least as far as the Carboniferous period, some 320 million years ago. I must say, that you have never lived until you have had a cockroach run across your face in the middle of the night.

Generally, I travel by public transportation such as trains, buses, airplanes and boats. I live out of a backpack. This makes it awkward to have the company of a pet. Actually, I do have a pet who travels comfortably with me: A’Tuin, a small paper mache turtle named after the Giant Star Turtle who sails through space in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series.

Continuing on with my journey, I stopped in Massachusetts to visit my daughter Amy and her family, Jeremiah and Jacob, and their extremely friendly big black dog Obi-Wan Kenobi. The chickens in their flock have grown considerably over the last year. In addition to thinning out the insect population in the lawn, they are producing some delicious eggs.

In Syracuse, NY, I visited my sister Linda and her husband Martin, and their four (stuffed, toy) elephants: Horton, Eric (Bounce), Heart, and Wild. I am sure these guys would have enjoyed seeing the Wooly Mammoths at La Brea Tar Pits.

In Arcata, CA, I visited Simba, the cat who lives at Marsh Commons, and is taken care of by his servants Toby and Patrick (my son and grandson). One night the raccoons raided the plum tree next to the patio. Simba plastered himself by his claws on the screen door, howling in true “king of the jungle” mode to get out and attack the thieves. Who would have imagined such ferocious behavior from such a nice, sweet pussy cat? (I was reminded of John Steinbeck and his dog in Travels with Charley, one of my favorite road trip books.)

Amtrak’s train the Southwest Chief brought me from Los Angeles to New Mexico to dog-sit for Sophie, a lovely Aussie. Katy, her owner, was traveling to a wedding in England and then a writers’ conference in New York.

The first morning after Katy left, Sophie barked at me when I sat up on the side of the bed. “Treats?” I asked her. “Treats?” I repeated.

Sophie twisted her head in that quizzical manner dogs have. You could see her thinking, “I know that word.” From then on, she no longer barked at me. We arrived at the arrangement that when I ate, she ate. We got along well. She also enjoyed taking long walks with me.

It was great to be back in New Mexico, where I lived for almost two decades of my life. In Rancho de Taos, I joined my old friend Kate and her cat, Mr. Grigio, to watch the LA Dodgers play baseball on the television. I spent a few days with my EarthHeart Farm family, and their assorted menagerie of dogs, cats, chickens, turkey and goats.

On the way through the Coast Range on narrow, winding Summit Highway, we pass two giraffes eating apples from a tree. They are statues, but they look amazingly real.

Bats – either Long-eared myotis or Little brown myotis – made an appearance in the evening in the garage when we first moved in, but then we seldom saw them. However, one warm night I left my window open, and I woke to the sound of a bat flying around the room. For five minutes, Bela Lugosi bounced off walls and the ceiling and flew past my head in my bedroom, before he finally found his way out through the window.

Crystal and I spent an enjoyable two hours in late October exploring the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Ore. Exhibits included sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals and an octopus, as well as ocean fish, sharks, and a wolf eel. My favorite stop was in the aviary. Two types of puffins were on display: tufted puffins and horned puffins.

Although not as colorful in their non-breeding season plumage, the Tufted Puffins still had their distinctive large reddish-orange beaks. I was reminded of a favorite poem from my youth: “There once was a Puffin” by Florence Page Jaques. https:////puffinpalooza.com/there-once-was-a-puffin/

There is a fish hatchery a few miles up the road from where I stayed in Oregon. When I drove by at one point, a Great Blue Heron was sitting on the edge of one of the ponds. Sidewalk superintendent? Quality control expert? Fish-watching tourist? Ok you bird experts – any other possibilities?