Airports and Dogs
Today I have included two short stories. The first is how all those jokes about airline pilots and guide dogs started because contrary to popular belief this is not a modern tale despite its regular appearance on social media. Comedians have told jokes about it for decades and as for the stories that circulate they usually have no specific details but almost certainly derive from an actual event that took place in the 1960s.
The second celebrates the life of a dog that some of you may have seen and even met.
Guide dog
(Seeing eye dog)
BOAC. British Overseas Aircraft Corporation. After a series of mergers this organisation eventually became British Airways.
George Shearing was a classical and swing jazz pianist and, by the 1960s, was in fact, world-famous. In those days, he released a string of hit records, was the composer of over 300 compositions, and he became so successful and highly regarded that he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth 11 for services to music. What made Sir George Shearing so remarkable was that he was born blind and had to learn music using Braille at a school for the blind. As a man who needed to travel the world, the acquisition of a guide dog made his life so much less stressful.
In those days when George was famous, he travelled first class in the front of the plane, and on this occasion, he was at Heathrow Airport sitting in his seat waiting to take off, the destination being New York City USA. When the pilot and co-pilot boarded, they both recognised George, introduced themselves, expressed their pleasure at having him aboard and asked if there was anything that they could do to make his journey more enjoyable. George explained that it had been a bit of a rush to get to the airport and maybe it would help if someone took his guide dog for a little walk to make itself more comfortable for the entire trip.
This is when passengers in the departure lounge witnessed a Captain from BOAC in full uniform with four stripes on his epilates, which indicated that he was a top, experienced pilot, walking a guide dog through the concourse. Needless to say, there was a great deal of alarm among the passengers in economy class, and it is reported that a number declined to board the plane despite assurances that the pilot was only exercising a blind man’s dog!!
I therefore suggest that this was, in fact, the moment that set off all the pilot and guide dog stories.
Kanella
The figures for passengers travelling through Heraklion Airport are calculated from the official data released by the relevant authority in Greece.
I guess that we accept that for a dog to be truly happy, it needs a permanent home. You know, the type of place where it has a family environment, a master or mistress and a daily routine. But some dogs thrive in a setting that most of us would never associate with a totally contented canine. Such was the life of Kanella.
Now before we start, we need to explain her name, Kanella in Greek means cinnamon, which obviously derived from her colour. Cinnamon being a spice harvested from the bark of certain types of tree and used in both savoury and sweet recipes.
For those of you who have passed through Heraklion airport on the island of Crete, it is just possible that you observed Kanella and assumed quite reasonably that she was just a stray, no different from so many other homeless dogs. You may have been reluctant to approach her, frightened maybe that she might bite, but as regular travellers could have told you, she was a permanent fixture and totally passive. She was abandoned as a youngster at the airport in 2007 and never left. She was adopted by the taxi drivers who had her neutered, microchipped and provided her food and veterinary care for the rest of her life. When asked about her status, the cabbies would describe her official title as “Head of the Airport.”
She was “permitted” to enter the terminal building in the winter when it was very cold and wet, but for the majority of the time, she could be found associating with the taxi drivers who financed her lifestyle. She was encouraged to play football with them, but it has been said that she was not particularly good at the national game and only played to humour the drivers!! In the early days, it was being suggested to the taxi drivers that maybe Kanella should go to a shelter and be found a home, but this idea met with hostility by them as they considered Kanella was “one of their own” and they were her joint guardians. Most days, she would have been found among the taxi drivers where they congregated for their coffee and took their lunch break. She would wander amongst them, taking whatever titbits that she could scrounge and happy to accept whatever stroking that came her way. In her lifetime, over 60 million travellers have passed through Heraklion Airport, and regular visitors and many others paused to stroke Kanella as she became something of a celebrity.
Kanella gave immense pleasure to all that took the time to spend even a few moments in her company. It may not have been a standard regular life, but she had shelter, was well fed and had company whenever she wanted it, a lot more than many pets.
Sadly at the ripe old age of 16 years, Kanella has recently passed away. The drivers have dug a grave and have laid her to rest where they take their coffee. For those who wish to visit her grave, she is laid to rest in a piece of ground close to the entrance to the departure lounge, which is close to the FLO cafe. The taxi drivers will happily discuss Kanella and will relate any tales from her life. As one driver recounted, “She was the most famous thing in the airport!!”
KANELLA
RIP
“A hundred years from now it won’t matter what sort of house I lived in, what my bank account was or what car I drove….. but the world may be different because I was important in the lives of animals & the creatures on this earth.”
Anon
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