Frank Touby —
Well, Tank friends and fans, we’ve come a long way since adopting the beloved Labrador retriever formerly owned by Danny Murphy, the charismatic Irishman who made so many friends from his post by the LCBO across from St. Lawrence Market. It has only been a month and a half, but it seems like a decade.
The Tank Report
Tank, as you no doubt know, was in the apartment with Danny’s body for a day or longer and was distraught when authorities finally broke in.
We don’t know what claimed Danny, but he did like a pint or so and maybe that had something to do with it.
To re-tell for many of you, the early days of our adoption of Tank:
Tank had to be held for 10 days at Toronto Animal Services, according to the law.
While many of Danny’s friends and Tank’s admirers (he is a gorgeous specimen of the breed) wanted to adopt or suggest where he could be adopted, Paulette and I jumped in first.
It was very meaningful to Tank because Danny’s close friend lives just across the street from us and Tank spent a lot of time in the apartment of Kevin Scrimshaw with his two dogs and the occasional canine guest.
Kevin’s basset hound Monty is the closest thing Tank has to a best friend and the two like to play and, if there is a sturdy stick to be had, pull against each other in a opera of snarls and growls to get it out of Monty’s viselike jaws; all in good fun.
While Tank spent the first couple of days out of the pound in Kevin’s apartment with Monty, that was just to help him over the emotional distress he plainly suffered in the wake of Danny’s death and his own confinement.
But since those early few days, Tank has been with Paulette, Daisy and me in our home and he still gets to see Kevin and Monty on most days. It’s very convenient.
And now, instead of being jolted around, Tank has become part of our home and pack of two dogs and two people.
Unaccustomed to women, he took a few days to get used to Paulette being an equal pack leader. That was overcome quickly and Tank is as loyal to her as he is to me.
Loyalty is his trademark. He hasn’t forgotten Kevin and seeks him out whenever we see him with his pack of freshly unleashed dogs in the park. But he follows Paulette or me home.
So Tank is very much our dog now. He is polite with Daisy and the two don’t eat from each other’s bowl. They have, if not great love for each other, absolutely no animosity, jealousy or bad temper for each other. To our surprise, Daisy never resented his presence in her home. We worried about that but there was never a moment when we needed to.
There has been some talk in the neighbourhood about funding a tombstone for Danny, who was buried in Vaughan a week or so ago. Kevin attended, along with a number of Danny’s friends.
Kevin says Danny couldn’t care less about a tombstone. But what he would appreciate, says Kevin, is a tree in St. Lawrence Neighbourhood. That’s a doable thing and The Bulletin will join in a request for the city to name a tree for Danny Murphy. Danny would love it, says Kevin, and it’s a fitting tribute to a guy who was so extraordinary in his simplicity and goodwill.
So this is the last official Tank Report.
There will be some others from time to time, just for those many fans of the sleek black Lab they came to love.
But you’ll have to search the website for “Tank Report” to read any further additions, which will be fewer and farther between. In the next few days we’ll move the Tank Report files where only a Search will find them as we reseerve landing page space for other news and features.
Tank still has many fans who want to know how he’s doing and from time to time we’ll put up some words and photos about his life.
Meanwhile, we look forward to seeing you in the ”dog park” and schoolyard for DAS and St. Michael at Sherbourne and The Esplanade. Or occasionally around St. Lawrence Market on Saturdays. Feel free to greet Tank. He likes people.
Only, please don’t offer him food. We’re trying to keep his weight down to a tight 90 lbs. He’s looking trim and moving better and he’s well fed.