February 25,
2005
Edneyville
students get lesson from pampered pooch
Scott
Parrott
Times-News Staff Writer
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Freckles the dog
visits students at Edneyville Elementary School.
Freckles has appeared twice on Animal Planet.
Paul Howey, Freckles' owner, has written a book
about his dog The Mystery of the Little White
Dog in the Desert.
(photo by Patrick
Sullivan/TIMES-NEWS) |
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Hendersonville NC - Five years ago, Freckles, a white
terrier mix, hunkered beneath the shade of a boulder in the
Sonoran Desert in Southwest Arizona.
Six puppies huddled against her breast. It remains a mystery how
Freckles ended up in the desert. She could have fled abuse. She
could have been abandoned and left for dead in that arid,
punishing terrain.
But somehow, Freckles fended off coyotes, rattlesnakes,
blistering heat and starvation.
Today, life is much better for Freckles.
She is considered a hero in the doggy world. She has her own
book, and she has been on television. She attends awards shows
in Florida, and when she flies, she doesn't find herself in a
crate among the luggage. She sits by the humans.
And instead of coyotes, Freckles is more inclined to spend her
days among Yellow Jackets. That is, Edneyville Elementary School
Yellow Jackets.
On Thursday morning, Freckles and her owners, Paul and Trish
Howey, visited Edneyville Elementary to teach the children about
the humane treatment of animals.
"Animals are special," Mrs. Howey said. "There's this attitude
among adults. A dog is either part of the family or just out
there. Hopefully, the kids have some more absorbency."
While Mr. Howey paced in front of a gym filled with students,
Freckles lay on her doggy bed, calm.
"I have two Boston terriers, and they are the antithesis of
Freckles," Principal Chris Smith said.
Mr. Howey told Freckles' story, one he has written in an
award-winning book called Freckles: The Mystery of the
Little White Dog in the Desert.
A hand shot up from the crowd of 150 kindergarten and
first-grade students packing the bleachers.
"How could somebody do that?" a child asked, after hearing about
Freckles being abandoned.
"I don't know, but I do know it makes me very upset," Mr. Howey
said.
Mr. Howey talked about how a sheriff's deputy found the
abandoned dog, and rescued Freckles and all six of her puppies
from the desert. The deputy carried the frightened canines to
the county jail, where female inmates bathed and cared for the
dogs. All six puppies were adopted out, but Freckles, called
Jill by the inmates, found no new home.
That was when Trish Howey visited the jail, met Freckles, and
brought her to their home in Arizona. Mr. Howey returned from
work and found the dog in the back yard.
"I saw she was white and had spots, and I was ready to name her,
so I called her Freckles," said Mr. Howey, who moved with his
wife to Asheville last year.
But Freckles feared Paul Howey, and most other men. The couple
thought a man might have abused her in the past, so they turned
to obedience school for help.
Within months, Freckles was a different dog. And the Howeys
started to notice other surprising traits in Freckles.
On a hiking trip, the dog chased down the couple's granddaughter
on a steep mountainside, and walked beside her to protect her
from falling over the edge. She took a quick liking to other
children, too.
So the Howeys started taking Freckles to visit children in local
hospitals and schools. Her pet therapy work, coupled with her
story, has made Freckles quite the celebrity.
She has been featured on the television network Animal Planet,
and she has appeared at schools and hospitals across the nation.
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
awarded Mr. Howey's book about Freckles the Henry Bergh Award
for Children's Literature. The group also named Freckles the
Humane Hero of the Year.
Sure, Freckles has fans in kennels, obedience schools, backyards
and vet clinics throughout the nation.
But she made some new friends at Edneyville Elementary on
Thursday, including Tommy Hendrix, 6.
"I wish that it was my dog, so I could pet her all the time,"
Tommy said.
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