Results: Owney, the Postal Dog: PART 2 of 2

People started to record Owney's travels by attaching tokens and tags to his collar. Medals were engraved with the names of cities, hotels, and post offices Owney visited. Two tags stated, "Presented to his Dogship" and "Awarded to Owney the Globetrotter". Do you think that was a neat idea?

Postmaster General John Wanamaker named Owney the official Mascot of Rail Mail Services. Concerned about the weight of his collar, he had a harness/coat made to display the tags. Medals were removed from time to time and stored. Ultimately, Owney had over 1,000 tags. Almost 400 survived. Are you surprised by how popular Owney became?

In 1895, for an advertising campaign for the city of Tacoma, Washington, Owney was sent on a four-month trip. He traveled with mailbags on steamships and trains through Asia, across Europe, and throughout the US. Does this seem fair to the dog?

By 1897, Owney's health had declined, he had mobility issues, and his temperament had changed. The postmaster in Toledo, Ohio had him put down after he bit a clerk. Postal workers raised funds to have his body preserved. Since 1993, Owney is on display in a case in Washington DC in the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Do you approve of taxidermy preservation of pets?

I first heard Owney's story when the US Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in his honor in 2011. Have you seen Owney's 44 cent forever stamp?