"Owney" is a great American.
There are all sorts of 'service dogs' in this country. I find this particular service dog a real morale boost and important for people to find a devoted companion to make the work a little lighter.
There are police dogs, military dogs, rescue dogs and all kinds of dogs that visit nursing homes to make everyone's day better.
It is a fascinating story and a real American treasure. It is wonderful. Love it.
It’s been more than 120 years (click title to entry - thank you) since a little dog named Owney trotted into an Albany, New York post office and took up residence there, sleeping among the mail bags. For nine years, Owney, by then a beloved pet to the mail clerks, served as the unofficial mascot of the U.S. Railway Mail Service, riding the rails from state to state. After his death, his body was preserved and spent decades on display at the Smithsonian Institution. When Owney was transferred in 1993 to the Smithsonian’s new National Postal Museum, the scruffy Postal pub would became one of that museum’s most popular attractions. This summer, Owney is finally being honored with his own postage stamp, one with interactive features sure to endear him to new generations.
“It’s been in the works for a long, long, long time,” says Nancy Pope, historian and curator at the National Postal Museum, who recalls that there has been talk of an Owney stamp since the 1980s. “People would ask, ‘Shouldn’t there be a stamp with Owney on it,’ so it’s been one of those things that people bring up on a regular basis.”...
