“She would follow Tom, and watch what he was doing. She seemed to mimic his mannerisms,” said Pam Montana, Tom’s fiance. “And Lucy was gentle. She never once jumped up on anyone.” Tom was changing, friends, family
members and colleagues observed. “I became what I would call a certified ani- mal nut. I kept treats in my car to lure strays off the highway. Once in my car, I might grab a burger at Wendy’s for the dog, then take him to a veterinarian to be checked out,” said Tom. He would try to find their owners, or make sure they were taken care of at local shelters, by donating money and supplies. He even picked up dead dogs, and brought them back to the funeral home.“If the dog had a collar on, I would call the owner to let them know we were holding the dog.” Lucy was bringing out the best in a man who had once been so consumed with work, he had barely ever taken time off to enjoy the fruits of his labor. And, perhaps this was Lucy’s purpose in life as a dog.
It had been determined that Lucy
was eight years old when she stepped under that carport four years ago. Time was not on her side. One night, earlier this year,Tom and Pam heard Lucy thrashing about as she
slept.They thought she was dreaming. She was actually having con- vulsions.
An MRI would reveal that Lucy had
a tumor on the front of her brain. Surgery to remove the tumor left Lucy blind in her left eye. But that didn’t make a differ- ence to Lucy,who quickly returned to her duties at work. Several months later, Lucy began having seizures again. Her hind legs stopped working. She had to be carried outside to do her
business.Tom and Pam decided it was time to let Lucy go. Picture a man in a crisply pressed
white shirt, tie and suit rolling in the grass with his dogs. Something happened to Tom on that rainy day four years ago when a lost dog found her way to Dobies Funeral Home. And Tom can’t
really
explain it other than to say, “I guess you could say I was lost too.”This, from a man who would have been perfectly happy never owning a pet.“I had no interest and no time to have a pet,” said Tom. “But, Lucy changed me. Something I didn’t think was possible.
www.TheNewBarker.com
Lucy had a funeral worthy of her cel-
ebrated life, planned by Tom Dobies. He placed an ad in the local newspaper announcing Lucy’s passing. He invited an Episcopal priest and a Baptist minister to the funeral. Lucy was placed in a Grecian solid bronze casket. Tom had memorial cards printed displaying a picture of Lucy and a prayer for animals. People came
from all over, lining up outside the funer- al home. Many had never met Tom or Lucy, but were connected by the death of their own pets, many still grieving from their own loss. They thanked Tom for honoring a dog in such a way. Like-mind- ed people comfortably gathered, without being ridiculed by having someone else tell them it was silly to have a funeral for a dog.
“Lucy was a family member,” said
Tom,“We were committed to her, and as long as she had the will to live, I would not give up on her. She never gave up on me.”
Tom is not ready to bring another
dog into his life. He and Pam have two older dogs, eight-year-old Husky, Amber and Rosie,a 13 year-old
Corgi.Both were adopted. But, he added, “I wish another dog would wander up.” U
Y
Thomas B. Dobies Funeral Homes & Crematory also offers Pets at Peace, a way to cele- brate pets’ lives after death. For more information, call 727.937.7555 and ask for Tom.
www.DobiesFuneralHome.com
To read more about the domestica- tion of dogs, visit the Archaeological
Tom Dobies, Pam Montana, Rosie and Amber pose in front of Lucy’s dog house. Photograph by Anna Cooke.
Institute of America online at
www.Archaeology.org/1009/dogs/companions.
THE NEW BARKER 69
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