Biggles Leap of Faith
I was on one of my jaunts recently and came across a pooch statue at The Rocks in Sydney. The inconspicuous statue is of a miniature Schnauzer, named Biggles. The plaque had a list of people and government bodies responsible for its commission. So, I am thinking this pooch must have done something extraordinary to have himself immortalized. So after some investigating I discovered Biggles was a local daredevil dog, often seen during the 1980’s and 1990’s, zooming through the streets of Sydney on the back of his owners motorcycle. Known for his antics like leaping from tall buildings (in a single bound) in pursuit of wayward cats, poor old Biggles was last seen leaping to his death off a cliff in Sydney Harbour. It has long been rumored the crazy mutt was chasing a rat and not a cat. There is something tragically funny in this dog tale and it reminds me of the story of Barry the St Bernard.
Barry The St Bernard
Many moons ago I did a story on old Barry. I traveled to the Cimetière des Chiens (Pet Cemetery) in Paris (I kid you not) specifically to track down the Barry monument. Barry was a rescue dog (the ones with the brandy keg around their necks) who had saved between 40-100 lives (sounds a bit of an exaggeration, but I digress). Unfortunately for Barry, the last one he rescued, killed him. Yes, I know it is an awful story but it gets even worse. In 1814 Barry was part of a rescue team sent to recapture an escapee who had fled into the snow in the mountains of Switzerland. Barry eventually found the prisoner unconscious, so like a good doggy he lay on top of him to keep him warm. When the prisoner came too, he found he had a 140kg fur coat lying on top of him and I guess he freaked out and stabbed Barry to death. Barry’s monument can be found in the Paris Pet Cemetery and his body is preserved in the Natural History Museum in Berne, Switzerland. I swear you can’t make this stuff up.
