Patches the dog on death row saves his own life by singing Happy Birthday

-Fifteen-year-old pooch disappeared after owner died
-Patches eventually tracked down in a pound
-Proof of family link came in dog's ability to bark birthday song
-He is soon to be reunited with his relatives

By Richard Shears

They say that every dog has its day, but the days of Patches the mongrel seemed numbered - until he was able to sing Happy Birthday.

Patches was due to be put down at a dog pound because no-one who could prove they knew him had come forward.

That was until a dog foster carer called at Mildura pound in Australia, where 15-year-old Patches was being kept on death row and tried to get him to sing Happy Birthday. He obliged - and his life was spared.

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Singing sensation Patches, right, was saved from death after being able to sing happy birthday


If that sounds like a shaggy dog story, well, you should hear him howl in accompaniment whenever anyone strikes up a rendering of the birthday tune.

Patches' elderly master, Eddie Vassallo, an Italian migrant living in northern Victoria, used to spend hours sitting with his pet on his knee.

But when 82-year-old Eddie died three months ago, Patches got caught up in the confusion that followed and ended up in a pound.

Working on behalf of Mr Vassallo's daughter, who lives in far-away Sydney, Kaye Grivec, a Victorian Dog Rescue foster carer, helped in the hunt for the much-loved pooch.

When she arrived at the pound, Miss Grivec was asked if she could prove that Patches belonged to someone.

'There's only one way to find out,' said Miss Grivec, and started singing Happy Birthday to the dog.

'At first, he had a sad, faraway look in his eyes, just like he was thinking about something or missing someone,' said Miss Grivec.

'Then he just put his head back and started howling along with me, and I just burst into tears of joy,' she told Melbourne's Herald-Sun newspaper.

Marie Vassallo, daughter of Patches' late master, was overjoyed when she learned that the dog's enjoyment of Happy Birthday had saved his life.

'When they finished singing, Dad would say "bravo, bravo, Patches" and Patches just loved it," she said.

'Also, when it was anyone's birthday, Dad would telephone them and he would sing Happy Birthday to them with Patches singing along.

'It was Patches' favourite song and it became a family tradition for Dad and Patches to sing it together.'

When she learned that Patches had disappeared following her father's death, Miss Vassallo was heartbroken.

'He'd been impounded for quite a while and his time on death row was almost up.

'Thank goodness he's been found and saved and it was all due to that song.

'We're now arranging to have Patches brought up to Sydney to live out his life with the family.'




source:dailymail