Princess' terrier kills queen's corgi

[jack merchant]

From the Associated Press

Dec. 24, 2003 | LONDON (AP) -- There will be a face _ and four paws _ missing from beneath the queen's table this Christmas. As the royal family gathered Wednesday to celebrate the holidays, Queen Elizabeth II was mourning the death of one of her beloved corgis, mauled by a terrier with a violent past owned by her daughter Princess Anne.

Buckingham Palace would not comment on the widely reported attack, which has cast a pall over the family's holiday celebrations. An unidentified ``royal insider'' told The Sun newspaper that the queen was devastated by the dog's death.


British newspapers said Pharos the corgi was hurt in an altercation with Dotty the bull terrier at the royal family's Sandringham estate on Monday. The 77-year-old queen, recovering from recent knee surgery, hobbled to the scene to find Pharos badly injured, with one leg broken in three places.

The corgi was treated by royal vets but had to be put down, reports said.

Dotty was in the news _ and her royal owner in court _ last year after she attacked two children in a park. But Colette Case, a prominent London pet behavior consultant, said the latest tragic incident ``could have happened in any household.

``Corgis are very feisty dogs and are known for getting themselves into scrapes and scraps,'' she said.

The queen is a noted corgi fancier, and has owned more than 30 of the petite Welsh cattle dogs, starting with Susan, who was given to her on her 18th birthday in 1944.

She has also introduced a new breed of dog known as a ``dorgi'' _ the unlikely result of one of her corgis mating with a dachshund named Pipkin belonging to her sister Princess Margaret.

Her affection for the breed is well known. Photographs of Buckingham Palace published in the Daily Mirror tabloid last month, taken by a reporter posing as a royal footman, showed a Tupperware container of dog biscuits on the queen's breakfast table.

The dogs often sneak into official palace functions, including a reception for President Bush last month. Newspaper reports said the queen hangs out Christmas stockings packed with doggie treats for her canine companions.

The death of Pharos leaves the queen with eight corgis and dorgis.

Dotty has been in the dog house before. In April 2002 she bit two children, aged 7 and 12, as they walked in Windsor Great Park near Windsor Castle.

Princess Anne was fined $880 _ the first time in the modern age that a senior member of the British royal family had been convicted of a criminal offense.

After a canine psychologist described Dotty as ``an utterly placid, playful dog,'' the judge spared the terrier's life but ordered that the animal undergo training and be kept on a leash in public places.

Case said Dotty was not necessarily to blame for the latest incident.

``We don't even know what happened. It could have been self defense,'' she said. ``The corgis have had to see behavior consultants in the past for biting members of the household staff, so they are not exactly the easiest of dogs to manage either.

``I think this was a very badly managed situation that was allowed to get out of control. Just bad handling,'' Case said. ``(Princess Anne) has had an incident with this dog in the past, so she knew that this dog required even greater management and care.''

I'm afraid I can't help finding this rather humourous ......

 

[Perfection]

Ah the epic struggle of inbreeding dogs in the epic inbreeding royal family!

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Time for that pitbull to die and Princess Anne to be locked in the Tower

How appropriate a name "Dotty" is for an animal such as a Pitbull Terrier.

 

[Kinniken]

We French invented a great tool for situations just like that... the Guillotine

 

[jack merchant]

Richly deserved by those people who name their sausages on legs 'Pharos', I'd say .

 

[Kinniken]

Originally posted by jack merchant
Richly deserved by those people who name their sausages on legs 'Pharos', I'd say .

Them, their families, their dogs, and the "journalists" who feeds on the lot.

Hmmm, looks like the population of the UK might dip a little there

 

[MBarry01]

Hmmm I own a corgi....

 

[Pontiuth Pilate]

If only the Queen mourned like this over each of her dead subjects.

 

[TrailblazingScot]

Originally posted by MBarry01
Hmmm I own a corgi....

...car. V.nice Thomas, it is time for tellytubbies now

 

[Hitro]

Worst news of the year.

 

[cgannon64]

Yeah, she would have missed him. I mean, how can she watch her morning soap operas now? It just won't be the same...

 

[Speedo]

The US has Jacko, the Brits have the royal family. Such lovely entertainment.

 

[h4ppy]

You say "dorgi" I say MUTT.

 

[Archer 007]

Why should we care is the key question?

 

[h4ppy]

It turns out that it was another terrier, "Florence" who killed the dog. Here is the CNN article.

LONDON, England (CNN) -- The prime suspect in a royal whodunit has been cleared.

Buckingham Palace has announced that Princess Anne's bull terrier Dotty did not fatally maul a corgi belonging to Queen Elizabeth II shortly before Christmas.

Instead, the palace said one of Anne's other terriers, Florence, was responsible.

Newspaper reports had identified Dotty as the culprit after Pharos the corgi was attacked at the royal family's Sandringham estate last week. The corgi was badly injured and had to be put down.

The incident prompted calls from animal welfare groups for Princess Anne to destroy Dotty, who attacked two children in a park in 2002, landing her owner with a £500 (U.S.$880) fine.

But on Tuesday, Buckingham Palace announced Dotty was no longer a suspect.

"We understand that it was Florence," a spokesman for the royal household told CNN. "We are confirming that it wasn't Dotty."

Buckingham Palace had previously refused to comment on the incident.

The palace said it was a matter for the queen and her daughter to decide whether Florence would be put down. British newspapers reported that Florence had no history of violent behavior.

The attack took place as Britain's royal family gathered for Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk.

The princess arrived with the dogs, and as the door was opened by a servant the Queen's corgi raced down to greet her. At that point Pharos was bitten on the legs, according to reports.

The queen, who is convalescing after recent knee and facial surgery, is said to have heard the noise and walked outside but Pharos was already injured.

The queen is devoted to her corgis -- a short-legged Welsh farm dog with a fox-like face -- and prepared them Christmas stockings filled with doughnuts and chocolate drops, the Times newspaper reported.

Here is the link: http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/12/30/corgi.mystery/index.html

 

[BCLG100]

Okay so as long as it wasnt the first dog that makes it all right then i think the one that mauled the child should be put down.

 

[jpowers]

Not only did Florence maul the still unnamed corgi, but framed Dotty? A canine conspiracy lurking in the House of Stewart? Or is it Two-Door? I say lock all the pets up at Guantanamo Bay until one of them squeals.