In Memory of Pele

Last week, Pele, the black lab that lives across the street, died. I've been surprised by how much I've been thinking about him, and now want to honor his memory.

Pele was a big guy, close to 100 pounds, and everyone loved him except for Chocolate. In my very first blog entry, I hint that Chocolate is a very friendly guy with one exception. That exception was Pele. I think Pele was a threat to Chocolate's self appointed alpha ranking on the street. For the five years that Pele was part of the neighborhood, there was a constant, uh, pissing match between the two. Each watered each others shrubbery on a regular basis whenever they'd be out for walks.

There was an altercation between the two last summer where Chocolate wore Pele's patience thin (Chocolate had this obnoxious habit of running tight circles around Pele when they did see each other off leash), and after seven stitches and a $300 vet bill, Chocolate was still none the wiser about what his ranking should be on the block (hint: not alpha).

But here's what's important about this story and why I bring it up now. Pele was an important member of my neighbor's family, but he was also a part of our lives too. I didn't realize until this week how much each pet on the block gives depth and personality to the neighborhood. Knowing that I won't see Pele come out the front door anymore makes me very sad. He was such a sweet guy and he will be missed by everyone who came to know him.

A note on how Pele died. On a warm Spring day last week, Pele jumped the fence and was visiting neighborhood houses. Many garage doors were open, and Pele came upon and ingested rat poison. He died at home that evening, when the vet and his family thought he was past the worst of it.

Our neighborhood is close to our downtown center, and rats are a part of our lives. There are ways to address the problem that doesn't involve poison. My sure-fire cure is Minnie, my tortoise shell cat, who delivers at least one dead rat every other week. Not always pleasant to clean up, but I'll deal with that any day over risking hurting an unintended victim.

If you find you need to place poison out of any kind, please think about how it might be accessible to an inadvertent visitor or unintended victim. Pele's life was cut short, and we on the street all feel the loss. Our neighborhood is a little less exciting today without him here. We will miss you Pele, may you rest in peace.