Dog shaved like lion sets off panic, 911 calls in Virginia

Curtis Rush 
Toronto Star Reporter 

A dog that has been shaved to look like a lion set off a panic in Norfolk, Virginia this week.

On Tuesday, three 911 calls came in reporting a lion wandering the streets.

It’s “roaming loose in the neighbourhood a few blocks from the zoo,” one caller reported to the 911 dispatcher at 10:19 a.m.

Five minutes later, a second caller seemed confused, reporting an animal looking like a small lion. “It had the mane and everything.”

A third call, at 1:19 p.m., reported a “baby lion” wandering loose around nearby houses.

The animal was walking around , but “I don’t think it has caused any problems so far,” the caller added.

The dispatcher asked: “Was it by itself?” and later, “Do you think it was looking for food?”

After the 911 calls, Norfolk police called the Virginia Zoo to make sure its lions were all accounted for.

They were.

Soon, however, the mystery was over.

The lion was really Charles the Monarch, a Labrador-poodle mix whose owner has groomed it to look like Norfolk’s Old Dominion University’s costumed lion mascot.

The Labradoodle, complete with dye-coloured mane, has since become a nationwide celebrity.

Daniel Painter bought the dog four years ago as a puppy, and his daughter Natalie brings Charles to campus.

But their lives were turned upside down after the media storm.

Charles and his owners were flown all-expenses paid to New York City for a whirlwind day of television appearances Thursday.

After creating a sensation in Times Square on Wednesday night, they were up early for a host of television appearances, including NBC’s Today Show, Good Morning America, on CNN with Anderson Cooper and Extra and Inside Edition.

The dog even has its own Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Charles has been well known in the Norfolk community, frequently making appearances at the university’s tailgate parties.

Painter frequently takes Charles to work with him at a local garden centre that he operates.

The reaction has so far been mostly positive, but there was one person who complained that the dog should be on a leash.

However, Painter said he has had no problems with the Norfolk police department, even though Charles has sparked several 911 calls over the years.

Police department spokesperson Karen Parker-Chesson confirmed to the Star that “there have been calls to 911 for Charles before”, but no reports of Charles biting anyone, and he has never been picked up by the department’s animal control officers.

Also, Painter has never been cited for any violation.

“All the police officers know him and get their pictures taken with him,” Painter told the Star. “Charles is loving it. I think he knows he’s famous.”