Paddy the Wanderer & Other Tails
There are some local identities that inspire us warmly and perhaps none quite so much as those four-legged kind that bite us in our hearts and make our hearts sore from very deep affections. A beautiful Children’s book about an adventurous New Zealand dog called ‘Paddy the Wanderer’ and featuring illustrations by Weta Workshop designers Frank Victoria and Rebekah Tisch tells this real life story of ‘Paddy the Wanderer’.
Paddy the Wanderer
‘Paddy the Wanderer’ was a brindle-coloured Airedale Terrier dog that became a well known and much loved identity on the Wellington waterfront in the 1930’s. He was brought to life in 2007 by Dianne Haworth (Harper Collins) in her first Children’s book by the same name.
“Paddy was no old ordinary dog and the story of his life has strong connections with the waterfront workers and seamen of the 1930s here in New Zealand. Author Dianne Haworth gives a a heart-rending account of a dog whose life was intimately tied up with the life and times of the Depression-era in Wellington.
An Airedale Terrier, originally known as the Waterside Terrier were used as vermin hunters. The breed was later crossed with the Otterhound to make him a better swimmer since its original function was badger and otter hunting. Paddy whose original name was believed to have been “Dash” was the favourite pet of a little girl called Elsie Marion Glasgow, whose father was a seaman.
Elsie Marion and her mother Alice would often bring their dog to meet John Glasgow’s ship when he was returning to port. In this way “Dash” soon became familiar with the wharf area. Tragically, Elsie Marion became ill and died of pneumonia in 1928, aged three-and-a-half year. Bewildered and lost, “Dash” strayed from home and took to wandering the wharves, seemingly in search of this lost playmate. He never returned home, deciding instead to remain at the waterfront.
Paddy on the Wharves
Paddy came to be a familiar sight on the wharves in the 1930’s and began to feature regularly in newspaper articles. He was cared for by watersiders and Harbour Board workers, seamen and local taxi drivers, who all took it in turn to pay his annual dog licence fee. The taxi drivers would often take him for rides around the city and sometimes up country.
In 1932 he was present at the Wellington Depression riots. A series of riots in New Zealand had occurred earlier in that year. The Government hastily introduced a repressive Public Safety Conservation Bill but it failed to prevent the serious riot that occurred in Wellington on May 10. Following a demonstration outside Parliament Buildings and an unsuccessful deputation to the Government the unemployed rushed through Lambton Quay, Willis and Manners Streets.
Paddy also made voyages to some of New Zealand’s coastal ports and to Australia. He was said to have good sea legs and “a really keen nose for impending storms”. In 1935 he made a flight in a Gipsy Moth bi-plane and apparently enjoyed the experience of flying in an open cockpit.
Honorary Assistant Nightwatchman of the Wellington Harbour Board
Two years later in 1937 he was appointed Honorary Assistant Nightwatchman of the Wellington Harbour Board responsible for hunting out “pirates, smugglers and rodents.” When his health deteriorated, he was placed in a sickbed in Shed 1 and attended to by a vet with people calling to see him and to enquire about his welfare.
He was 13 years old by this time or 63 human years. He was then usually to be found on the Tally Clerk’s stand inside the Queens Wharf Gates.
On July 17, 1939, Paddy died. An Obituary Notice was placed in the local papers informing everyone of his death. Twelve black taxis formed a funeral procession to carry his coffin from Queen’s Wharf to the City Corporation yards for cremation.
Funds were collected by Paddy’s old friends for a Memorial Drinking Fountain so that in 1945 the fountain was duly erected.
It is set in stone made from London’s bombed Waterloo Bridge. When the drinking bowl overflows with water it fills the two drinking bowls below for any dog who wants to quench its thirst.”
RED DOG of the Pilbara
Another tail but in the Pilbara region of West Australia’s rugged north-west became well-known too. His name was Red Dog. He earned himself such a reputation as a colourful canine individualist that they sculpted him in stone as a living memorial. They say he was born in 1971, probably at Paraburdoo.
Paraburdoo is 651 km north of Carnarvon (1536 km north of Perth) and 365 m above sea level. It’s located at the southwestern end of the Hamersley Range National Park. Only 81 km south of Tom Price where my friend Frazer was born. Paraburdoo like Tom Price is a typical mining town.
Red Dog was a kelpie-cattle dog cross who was originally named ‘Tally’. He would roam the countryside at will and displayed the rather socially off-putting habit of farting after he had gulped down his food. Farting or flatulence is the distension of the dog’s stomach or intestines with gas or air. Nearly all gastro-intestinal gas comes from either swallowed air (aerophagia) or from air produced by bacterial fermentation and processing of ingested nutrients.
Red Dog would ‘bot (Australian slang for scrounge) food at any backyard barbeque or beach party in the Dampier area and came to adopt for himself the life of a wanderer, a true canine gypsy and loveable vagabond. He made himself at home wherever he went and whenever it suited him.
John Stazzonelli
He befriended a bus driver who did the Dampier and Karratha runs. John Stazzonelli was born in Geraldton, raised in Northampton and died in Dampier not far from where Red’s statue now stands and where Red Dog was the unofficial passenger on Hammersley Iron’s Company Buses.
John died in a motorbike accident in July, 1975 at the age of 27. He left behind two sons and a daughter. His daughter Kelly Turpin is the creator/administrator of the Facebook page ‘Red Dog – The Pilbara Wanderer’. John had been in the army, and then went on to work in the transport division of Hamersley Iron, WA. After John’s death Red Dog was noticed watching passing traffic for his friend for a long time afterwards. Sound familiar?
One day a new driver pushed Red Dog out of his bus and all the Hammersley workers walked off the job in protest. The new driver was quickly made aware of Red Dog’s special status among the workforce. On any of the buses he travelled Red Dog chose the seat immediately behind the driver; this was his preferred position and no one was allowed to share the seat with him unless of course he was strongly bribed with a tasty morsel. On one occasion after having enjoyed a good feed, Red Dog started one of his farting sessions. He cleared the bus!
From time to time he got free rides on courier vehicles and even on long distance transport trucks plying the North-West Coastal Highway. He was also the only dog in Australia who had a fully paid up membership of the Transport Worker’s Union, thanks to his fellow unionists. In 1978, a Karratha woman was picking up her daughter at the Walkabout Motel early one morning when she spotted Red Dog sleeping in the parking area. Aware of his ways, she held open her door inviting him to climb aboard, an offer he sleepily accepted.
In the industrial area, the lady opened the door but her passenger refused to budge. She then decided to take him to Dampier, some 20 kilometres away. Again the dog refused to leave her car. Next she drove him all the way to the Hammersley Single Men’s Quarters where he happily left the vehicle tail wagging, to socialise with his fellow unionists at the breakfast table.
Red Dog is Injured
One day Red Dog was found with a injury beside the Dampier-Karratha road. He was driven back to the Dampier Salt site where he was given a much-needed bath and his wounds were at the same time washed and disinfected. It was noted by his carers that chocolate seemed to bring about an immediate miraculous cure. It was about this time that Red Dog was made an official member of the Dampier Salt Sports and Social Club, a financial member of the Metal Trades Union and a bank account was opened for him AND he was officially registered with the shire.
Among his other random achievements were fathering an assorted of mixed-bred puppies in several districts, all of whom bore a striking resemblance to their Dad. Red Dog seemed to prefer Dampier Salt as his occasional home, especially when recuperating from dog fights, love affairs or when he was sick. He had rather a disrespectful habit when visited a certain church to methodically move down the aisle giving a token piddle on each of the rows of pews, marking his territory.
Churchgoers said he sometimes he did this when there was preaching going on. The poor minister apparently always ended cracking up with giggles and couldn’t continue. One said, “we were always grateful to Red Dog because it meant we got away early!” If he tired of a place, or needed stimulation, he simply hitched a ride somewhere else, preferring always to sit with his head halfway out of a window enjoying the breeze.
He was found one day out in the rugged Karratha hills with two bullet wounds in a rear leg, probably done by a dingo trapper or pastoralist who noticed him too close to sheep paddocks. When a message was sent to his mates at Dampier Salt, some immediately downed tools and went to collect him. They got drunk due to the heat, were taken into custody for the night and were fined in court. They reckoned later that with all the outlay of court fines, accommodation, vet’s fees and loss of wages next time it might be cheaper to fly in a brain surgeon.
Red Dog’s Legendary Travels
Red Dog’s overland travels were legendary. Unofficially, he is known to have travelled hundreds of kilometres to places like Roebourne, Point Samson, Port Hedland and even as far south as Perth on at least two occasions where he was observed enjoying dips in the Indian Ocean. Several well-meaning families tried to adopt him on a permanent basis, but he never stayed for long anywhere. He was a vagabond at heart, a free spirit, his home the open road under a million stars.
One time Red Dog was arrested by the Dog Catcher at Roebourne and was locked in the pound where he was given treatment for heartworm. At night, unknown persons broke into the premises and set all the dogs free. The culprits were never identified.
Red Dog died at Karratha on November 21, 1979. He’d eaten a lump of meat laced with strychnine. With treatment he seemed to recuperate at first then worsened and he was regretfully put to sleep. He was buried alongside the lonely track between Roebourne and Cossack.
A bronze life-sized statue was erected and stands today at the Information Bay near the entrance to Dampier township. Red Dog’s story and statue have caught the attention of a number of people passing through Dampier including British author Louis de Bernières. It was in fact de Bernières account of Red Dog that I’d read and I recall at the time that it made me feel homesick for hills and dog breeds I recognised from my childhood.
‘Red Dog’ by Nancy Gillespie: Re-print of the Original 1983 book, September 2011
“Nancy Gillespie knew Red Dog well, and being a Dampier resident, it makes her eligible to have the honour of writing about what will become a famous legend. Red Dog was masterless, but owned by the Pilbara, and has been likened to the dog on the tuckerbox at Gundagai New South Wales, they both toiled by instinct, and were proven to be man’s best friend.
Nancy diligently worked to gain correct information and suitable photographs, plus an added benefit to readers on the care of any North-west canine. With a Pilbara writers generous disposition she was also anxious to publish poetry on Red Dog by fellow writers. This is now added to give a paw sore traveller a gracious epitaph, and makes the souvenir RED DOG book memorable.
Such a spirit is recorded by a housewife’s pen, and has transformed Nancy Gillespie to a capable author. If it could happen, then Red Dog would give her a lick of approval.”
We’re made better we human-kind by animals in our lives. Kinder oftentimes. And they for their part, are much kinder than we could ever be. Paddy the Wanderer and Red Dog were simply two on a planet full of good mates that achieved fame in the communities where they chose to live. May their memories live on.
UPDATE
PLO.com congratulates RED DOG the movie. On 16 November 2011 at the Jameson IF Awards, Sydney it took home 7 Awards, among them the coveted showtime IF Award for Best Feature Film. Others included: Josh Lucas for ‘Best Actor’, Kriv Stenders for ‘Best Direction’, ‘Best Script’, ‘Best Box Office Achievement’, ‘Best Cinematography’ and ‘Best Music’
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