Revision 140261583 of "Benutzer:Kandschwar/Owney (dog)" on dewiki

{{More footnotes|date=July 2009}}
[[File:Owney.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Owney, photographed in 1895]]
'''Owney''' (ca. 1888 - July 11, 1897), was a stray mixed breed [[terrier]] adopted as the first official postal [[mascot]] by Railway Mail Service and [[Albany, New York]], post office in 1888.

==Story==
[[File:OwneyDog.jpg|thumb|left|Following his death in 1897, Owney's body was carefully preserved.  Owney is currently on display at the Smithsonian [[National Postal Museum]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]

Owney was abandoned by an Albany postal worker (no name was mentioned) in 1888 and was quickly adopted by the other post office workers working there. He usually slept on the mail bags and when they were moved, Owney went with them. He was considered to be good luck by postal workers, since no train he ever rode on was in a wreck.

As his trips grew longer, the postal clerks at Albany became concerned that the dog be identified, and, if necessary returned to them. They bought Owney a collar with a metal tag that read: "Owney, Post Office, Albany, New York" at which point he became the unofficial mascot of the Railway Mail Service.

The dog was later adopted by Railway Mail clerks as their unofficial mascot. They marked his travels by placing tags on his collar. Throughout his life, Owney accumulated an unknown number of tags, tokens, trinkets, and medals; some of which are now on display at the [[National Postal Museum]].

In 1895, Owney made an around-the-world trip, aboard trains and steamships. Starting from Tacoma, Washington, he traveled throughout Asia and across Europe, before returning to Albany. 

Owney retired from the Railway Mail Service in 1897 due to poor eyesight and old age. However, as a world-traveled dog he was difficult to contain and slipped out of the Albany post office in June 1897.

The exact details of the incident which lead to his death are unclear, but according to the National Postal Museum website, "Owney rode the train one last time before he died."

Newspapers around the country carried the story of Owney's death.   They reported that Owney had been ill, was about 17 years old and had become aggressive in his old age.  After attacking a postal clerk and a US Marshal in Toledo, Ohio, Owney was shot and killed on the orders of the local Postmaster.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Dog Owney Dead at Last|accessdate=27 July 2011|newspaper=Tacoma Daily News|date=12 June 1897}}</ref>

On July 27, 2011, the [[United States Postal Service]] issued a [[Forever stamp]] honoring Owney.<ref>http://www.stamps.org/cac/owney/index.htm</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=Owney, the Mail Pouch Pooch|author=Mona Kerby|coauthors=Lynne Barasch|year=2008|location=New York|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-0-374-35685-9}}
*{{cite book|title=Owney:The Traveling Dog|publisher=Olympic Marketing Corp|author=Lynn Hall|year=1977|isbn=978-0-8116-4860-8}}
*{{cite book|title=A Lucky Dog: Owney, U.S. Rail Mascot|author=Dirk Wales|publisher=Great Plains|year=2003|isbn=978-0-9632459-0-8}}
*{{cite book|title=A Small Dog's Big Life: Around the World With Owney|author=Irene Kelly|publisher=Holiday House|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8234-1863-3}}
*{{cite book|author=Carl L. Biemiller|year=2000|origyear=1966|title=Any Friend of Owney's|publisher=Putnam Pub Group|isbn=978-0-399-60032-6}}

==External links==
*[http://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/tags/owney/ Owney images from Smithsonian Institution]
*[http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/owney/index.html Owney at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyioQlIIDeE Video for ''Owney, the Mail Pouch Pooch'']
*[http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/owney/Postmasters_Advocate_Owney_article-2011-04.pdf  Latest research on Owney, published in April 2011 Postmasters Advocate]

[[Category:1888 animal births]]
[[Category:1897 animal deaths]]
[[Category:Individual dogs]]