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The canine empire bites back

| September 22, 2018 1:00 AM

It’s true.

I’ve made several mentions of Sammie the World’s Greatest Cat in this space.

Why?

Well, on one hand (the biased one), she’s earned the publicity simply by living up to that magical five-word name. If you’re the greatest, you should be known far and wide.

But there’s something else.

Whenever I’ve asked readers to submit stories and/or photos of their pets — the sort of shots that folks might find interesting or amusing — I have never received a single reference to anything but cats.

Not one dog.

Never mind ferrets, desert turtles or the occasional llama. Which is a shame, because I love llamas.

Have I told you the story of how I almost bought one on a whim, just driving home from work in Utah?

It seemed like our neighborhood needed a llama, and …

Maybe another time for that whole tale.

Back to business …

I’ve received dozens of great cat photos — yep, they’re all here and maybe we can get each of them into print eventually.

My favorite (not counting Sammie) was the shot of a cat who not only refused to drink anything but tap water, but sat down and basically filled a bathroom sink until the wish was granted.

Loved it.

BUT STILL …

Where are you, dog lovers?

With all the thousands of people who read The Press — in print and online — or follow this column on Facebook and/or Twitter, it’s baffling that we haven’t heard from the canine corps.

To remedy the matter …

I’m issuing a second call for your cool pet photos and tales, and once again, all animals are welcome.

Yep, I know more cat pix are coming, but I thought maybe the first time we did this, there was a doggie convention somewhere far away — and every single pooch was out of the county.

Or something.

Don’t know how else to explain it.

Every time I go to buy Sammie some food (ever the princess, there are only two top-tier types she’ll touch), I notice the adjoining aisle is always crammed with dog food, dog toys, dog leashes, dog magazines and every manner of dog stuff in the universe.

Stores wouldn’t stock things that weren’t in demand.

So we know there are dog lovers among you, and since this is 2018, you have access to both cameras and means of emailing photos — likely on the same device.

JUST TO kick off the excitement, I’m going to break the ice with an “Awwww” photo of Lucky, much-loved companion of state representative candidate Dan Hanks.

Look, isn’t that a wonderful shot?

I grabbed the picture off Facebook, and here’s what Dan wrote …

“Dog care is a huge part of our life. Lucky is never left alone with toys, but somewhere he found a piece of one and decided it was food.

“An emergency surgery last week was successful to remove the toy. He has been a good patient and has decided this is the way to sleep.”

You can even see the stitches on Lucky’s tummy in the photo.

There’s proof: Dogs make awesome subjects, too.

They’re not quite up there with Sammie the World’s Greatest Cat, but still …

Pretty terrific.

So get in touch, Puppy People!

•••

Steve Cameron is a columnist for The Press, and has been a proud dog owner several times in the past.

A Brand New Day appears Wednesday through Saturday each week. Steve’s sports column runs on Tuesday.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Facebook: Steve Cameron

Twitter:@BrandNewDayCDA