Hark, it's Romeo's sad tale
Evergreen woman hopes to adopt dog grieving for lost love
Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
Published September 20, 2007 at midnight
She's not Juliet, but she wants Romeo in the worst way.
An Evergreen woman faxed a two-page letter to a Denver official, begging to be allowed to adopt Romeo, a chow-mix whose furry girlfriend died in a traffic accident.
"Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!" wrote Allison Mohri, who signed her letter "animal lover" and "lover of chows."
Mohri, 38, has followed the plight of Romeo, as he's been dubbed, since motorists called police during rush hour Sept. 11 to say one dog was dead in the middle of the road and another dog was keeping vigil.
The two dogs had been seen frolicking together in northeast Denver for at least two days before their sudden and sad separation.
"There should be a Disney movie about it," Mohri said Wednesday.
A Denver animal-control unit picked up the grieving dog, but no one claimed him.
The 3- or-4-year-old dog has exhibited enough aggressive and anti-social behavior that Doug Kelley, director of animal control, determined he's not ready for adoption.
The dog will go to MaxFund, a no-kill shelter, today. The shelter will work with the animal to get him ready for adoption. Many people have offered to take him home.
Mohri said she will contact MaxFund about an adoption. She earlier wrote to Ellen Dumm, spokeswoman for Denver's Department of Environmental Health, saying how much she wanted the chow.
"I did point out that there are lots of dogs to be adopted, but she wanted Romeo," Dumm said.
Mohri said she was raised with chows and doesn't fear the sometimes unpredictable breed. Her father was an Air Force veterinarian and her mother and sister in Texas own dogs they got from a chow rescue operation.
Mohri does own one other pet, a 4-year-old cat named Stevie Ray Vaughn, after the late blues guitarist.
Wait, won't the chow eat the cat?
"The cat's priority - she has to be - but I don't think that he would be able to get to her," Mohri said, adding she grew up with chows and cats living together.
In her letter, Mohri described her home as 8,700 feet above sea level in Jefferson County's Brook Forest, but included a sentence that might give animal officials pause: "It's very quiet, barely any cars, just bears and lions."
But Mohri said her home has a high fence and a deck.
No word yet on whether she plans to stand on her deck and call out, "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"
bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327
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