After Uno the beagle won the 2008 Westminster Dog Show you would think that it would have been a giant step forward for the rights of all beagles. However, you’d be wrong. Poor Hank the beagle has been banned from the dump and a parade, a double whammy. This story out of Eastham, MA isn’t exactly as it seems.
It all began in May, when Hank – a fixture at the town transfer station for two years – was summarily banished by Amaral’s new boss.
Neil Andres, the new Public Works Superintendant, would not allow Hank at the transfer station because he didn’t believe pets should be brought to work. While Janet Amaral did obey orders and leave Hank home she thought of a way to showcase her housebound beagle.
To show the town just what it was banning, she also planned to showcase Hank and local beagles in need of homes on their own float in the Sept. 7 “Windmill Weekend” parade, complete with a soundtrack that would include “Bad Reputation” and “You Better be Good to Me.”
The choice of music for the float may have been just enough to get Hank banished from the float. “The music might have rubbed it in a bit,” Amaral said. “But it would also be a chance for people to meet this dog that never bothered anyone.”
Dowman and his committee, however, believe a “Hank” float would only “continue to fan a confrontation.”
“This situation has been building into a rivalry between an employee and the administration,” Dowman said, “and we just don’t want to get in the middle of it.”
Oh well Hank, there’s always next year.
