Elvis had menagerie of dogs, fowl, horses
In honor of Elvis Week 2007, we’ll tell you about some of the pets the King owned.
There were plenty of dogs at Graceland, including a basset hound named Sherlock, and Great Danes named Snoopy and Brutus.
Elvis once flew his chow chow Get Lo in his small Jetstar plane to Boston for treatment of a kidney ailment. The dog stayed for three months in intensive care and came home, but soon died.
Other dogs of various breeds he owned included Whoosh, Oswald and Honey.
Fans probably remember his Pomeranian Edmund, who became attached to Elvis’ Aunt Delta. The dog often would appear when people were touring Graceland after it opened in 1982. He would sit in the Jungle Room and howl if Aunt Delta left him, said Todd Morgan, Graceland spokesman.
Graceland was also well-known for the various horses Elvis owned, including his beloved golden palomino quarter horse Rising Sun.
But Elvis didn’t stop with traditional pets. He also owned donkeys, peacocks, guinea hens, ducks, turkeys, chickens, a chimpanzee, a monkey and a mynah bird.
Once Elvis, his father, Vernon, and Lamar Fike drove a limousine to Germantown to buy chickens, ducks and other fowl to stock at Graceland, Morgan said.
Fike rode in the back of the limo with the livestock, which flew around and messed in the car. The car was cleaned and fumigated, but it was never the same. Elvis sold it.
Graceland remained an animal-friendly place even after Elvis’ death. His horses lived out their lives there. Rising Sun is buried at Graceland, and horses live there now.
Listen up!
This should go without saying, but apparently not. A friend was at Starbucks recently and saw two dogs inside a car with the windows cracked barely an inch.
Another friend was at a fast-food restaurant and saw the same thing.
Last week, a Memphis couple received an animal cruelty citation in Collierville after they left two dogs inside a car for at least 20 minutes.
Animal cruelty is a crime in Memphis, too. Leaving your animal inside a parked car in this heat is torture. Don’t believe me? Take the test. Crack the windows, turn off the car and sit in it for five minutes. Not so bad? Try 10 or 20. Nothing ever goes as quickly as you imagine it will.
Just do your pets a favor and leave them at home. Don’t even think about bringing them out in this heat unless they are going inside with you or unless you are staying in your car the entire time.
Events
Annual conformation show: Memphis Toy Dog Club, noon-6 p.m. today and 10 a.m-4 p.m. Friday, Southaven Multipurpose Arena, 7360 U.S. 51 North. Admission to watch the shows is free. No pets or baby strollers allowed.
Adoptions
All animals are spayed and neutered and current on vaccinations.
Dogs: Horse Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Saturday, Petco, 7680 Poplar in Germantown; $50. horsecreekwildlife.org.
Dogs, cats, puppies, kittens: Fayette County Animal Rescue, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, PetSmart, 7941 Winchester; $95. fayettefcar.com.
Dogs and puppies: West Tennessee Border Collie Rescue, noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Petco, 7680 Poplar, Germantown. Information: tnbordercollierescue.com
Dogs, cats, puppies, kittens: DeSoto Animal Rescue Society, 11 a.m.- 4 p.m., Saturday, PetSmart, 7941 Winchester. Dogs and puppies: $90. Cats and kittens: $75. (662)342-9448 or desotopetlovers.org.
Dogs, kittens: Good Dog Rescue, 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Bartlett Petco, 6015 Stage; $125 gdrescue.petfinder.com, 276-7751.
Cindy Wolff, the owner of three spoiled dogs, can be reached by e-mailing wolff@commercialappeal.com, or by sending mail to The Commercial Appeal, 495 Union, Memphis, TN 38103, or by calling (901) 529-5220. Visit her Blog at blog.commercialappeal.com/pets/.
What was Elvis’s pet turkey’s name? Thanks.
Back in the early 70’s some of The King’s staff secretly took some of the strays to a local Whitehaven vet, who placed them. When my sister’s cat died in this doctor’s office, she left with a mixed breed cat who was named Mr. Snuffalupagos by my then small niece. Snuffy lived to a ripe old age, but we all wondered if a cat who’d lived at Graceland could be happy in a middle class neighborhood!
We loved Snuffy but he was always even more special because he’d been touched by The King!!!
I think the turkey’s name was Bowtie.
I am so sad,still today about ELVIS DEATH. I MARRIED JULY 16 AND THEN AUGUST 9TH WAS MY B-DAY THEN AUGUST 16TH WAS A VERY SAD DAY. I CANT HARDLY TAKE IT TODAY IM SO LONESOME. I WISH I COULD HAVE TALKED 2 HIM . OTHER THAN JESUS HE WAS THE KING. IT IS SUCH A LOSS.
i was not an ELVIS FAN until i visited graceland in june 2007. that place is awesome and has such a ’sweet’ spirit. FELL IN LOVE WITH ELVIS!!!
Great !