When we think of famous dogs, we likely think of Lassie, Toto, Old Yeller, Rin Tin Tin, or Benji. Dogs are an important part of our folklore and history, after all. And the silver screen – or even the small TV screen in our living room – makes these canine celebrities loom large in our imaginations.
But San Francisco, past and present, has other celebrated dogs to call its own. Two of the most famous were Bummer and Lazarus who roamed the streets of San Francisco in the early 1860s. Both were known for their exceptional rat-killing abilities and their apparent friendship with an old San Franciscan character named Emperor Norton.
Bummer and Lazarus illustration: unknown
The fledgling city of San Francisco had two problems in the mid-1800s: an overgrowth of rats and too many free-ranging stray dogs. In response, the Board of Supervisors ordered that all stray dogs be captured and euthanized. But Bummer and Lazarus were so popular that a group of restaurant owners and an angry public started a campaign to pardon them. In fact, the dogs were known as great ratters and Bummer, in particular, was celebrated for having killed nearly 80 rats in an hour. Reluctantly, the Board of Supervisors pardoned Lazarus and Bummer and they gained their freedom to roam the city streets.
Around the same time, another character known as Emperor Norton was also roaming our streets. A former commodities trader and real estate speculator, Joshua A. Norton was once one of San Francisco’s richest citizens. But after a spectacular business failure and bankruptcy, he reinvented himself as the self-declared Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, traveling around town in royal attire.
Was he insane or just eccentric? No one really knew, but he soon became a favorite of the newspapers, cartoonists, and souvenir sellers. Many restaurants encouraged him to patronize their establishments by offering him free dinners, as their customers loved his entertaining persona. In turn, Emperor Norton started offering leftovers from his free meals to Lazarus and Bummer, and before long, local papers were highlighting the trio and tourist shops were hawking trinkets with their images – the 19th-century equivalent of going viral.
Now fast forward a century and a half to a modern San Francisco dog celebrity: the late Mia Scott, a winning Pekingese, and Japanese Chin mix. But unlike Lazarus and Bummer, Mia’s claim to fame is entirely altruistic.
Mia’s story began at Muttville, an iconic San Francisco institution dedicated to rescuing older dogs. Her soon-to-be new mom, Emily Scott, wasn’t looking for an addition to her family on the day that she accompanied her niece to Muttville. But Mia had other ideas. Within minutes of Emily’s arrival, Mia jumped into her lap, and in very short order, both Mia and her daughter, Fia, were on their way to their new home with Emily.
Mia and Fia Scott; painting: Ken Gorczyca, DVM
I had the privilege of getting to know both Mia and Fia when my friend and fellow veterinarian, Dr. Kathy Gervais, was dog-sitting for Emily. As I approached the front door, I could hear two excited dogs waiting to greet me. They soon settled down and gazed at me with their beautiful brown eyes, wagging their fluffy tails.
Then tragically last year, Mia sustained extensive wounds in an accident. Dr. Gervais and the other veterinarians at the San Francisco Animal Medical Center (formerly Pets Unlimited) tried heroically to save Mia to no avail. When I learned she was unable to recover, I was heartbroken for Emily and Fia. The loss of an animal companion, or even an animal patient, may be some of the deepest grief a human can experience.
But while Mia was being treated for her injuries, Emily had learned about the mental health crisis in the veterinary profession. To channel her grief and in Mia’s memory, she helped create the Veterinary Mental Health Initiative (VMHI), a new program under the Shanti Project/PAWS umbrella.
As a veterinarian, I’ve watched my colleagues suffer from high suicide rates and depression over the past decade. This has many causes, with compassion fatigue being one of the biggest factors. Additionally, most of our young veterinarians carry huge school loan debts — sometimes up to a half million dollars — that many will never be able to pay back. In fact, veterinarians earn significantly less than our physician or dentist colleagues, yet are saddled with the same educational debt load.
Finally, the COVID pandemic created a huge wave of new pet adoptions in the past two years. Of course, these new animal companions helped keep many of us sane and healthy, but the rapid increase in pet ownership put even more stress on veterinarians and staff. This surge in demand, coupled with a sharp decrease in staffing and available appointments, dramatically highlighted the already existing veterinary shortage and made 12-hour days the new normal for many of us. Obviously, unlike many other professions, veterinarians cannot work from home.
Now the new Veterinary Mental Health Initiative offers a safe space for veterinarians, veterinary students, and clinic staff to meet each other online and participate in support groups or obtain one-on-one services. It is a poignant legacy that Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS) – an organization originally founded by veterinarians to help people with AIDS keep their pets – is now helping veterinarians deal with our own stresses and wounds, and keeping us healthy some 35 years later. A true circle of life.
And that’s how Mia’s legacy and Emily’s loss have today become part of San Francisco’s canine history, along with Bummer and Lazarus and all the other dogs who’ve graced the City of St. Francis, past and present.
They may not be Lassie or Rin Tin Tin, but they’ve earned a spot in our hearts all the same.