Dog’s Tale Has Happy Ending: He’s Canadian

The golden retriever found wandering around the Rose Parade route on New Year’s Day wearing only a red bandanna and dog license No. 175 from “Parksville” may be one step closer to home today.

Puzzled county animal care officials, who have pampered the dog they nicknamed “Rosebud” after a South Pasadena resident turned it over to them, at first couldn’t track down his license number in any of the half-dozen U.S. towns named Parksville.

But since a Times article (Page 3) described the mystery of the dog who was found but whose hometown was lost, they have been deluged with phone calls from readers who reminded them that there is a Parksville in Canada.

The bell-shaped 1982 dog tag around Rosebud’s neck has been traced to Parksville, British Columbia, and officials are attempting to contact the last registered owner.

And a Parksville official told The Times today that the male retriever--an amiable dog who has become the heart-throb of the Downey Animal Shelter--has a registered name. It is “Hobo”--not too different from “Gypsy,” the moniker the South Pasadena man gave the dog when he found him in his front yard.