A Trio of Dead Pets in the Michigan Mitten
On a recent trip, we
visited the graves (or remains) of three beloved animals:
 Betty the Stuffed Sleigh Dog
Fennville, Michigan
The winter of 1937 was nasty in the upper Midwest. It trapped a bus full of tourists,
or a few truckers (accounts vary) in Glenn, MI, forcing them to eat
whatever was on hand, thus creating "The Pancake Town." And it was in 1937, perhaps during that winter, that a seven-year-old dog
named Betty died.
Betty lived in Chicago with a lady with no children. The lady loved her dog,
and when Betty died the lady had her stuffed. When the lady died, she
willed Betty to a niece named Kate. Kate worked part-time on the pie
crew at Crane's Pie Pantry Restaurant, a family-owned business that
was decorated with old farm junk and goofy mannequins. Kate kept Betty
for a while, but she got tired of vacuuming the dead dog. She asked
the Cranes if they'd like to take Betty. The Cranes said yes. And
that is when Betty, fifty years after she had died, finally reached
the spotlight.
Betty has become the mascot of Crane's Pie Pantry Restaurant. She sits in a sleigh
on the enclosed porch. A sign around her neck gives the sparse facts
of her life. She is vacuumed once a year. And her new home is Fennville,
just down the road from Glenn The Pancake Town.
"Betty" the Stuffed Sleigh Dog:Address: 6054 124th Ave., Fennville, MI [ Show Map] Directions: I-196 exit 34. Hwy 89 (124th Ave.) east about three miles to Crane's Pie Pantry. On the right. Phone: 269-561-2297
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 Mr. Chicken the Plastic-Legged Rooster
Jackson, Michigan
Another winter, another Midwest animal casualty. It was December, 1996. The victim
was a rooster. He was left outside in a storm, and his two feet were
frozen beyond repair. Fortunately for posterity, the rooster was befriended
by a local vet, Tim England. Tim named him "Mr. Chicken" and had a physical therapist make a pair of acrylic legs and feet for the rooster
that fit snugly over his stumps.
Mr. Chicken became an instant feel-good celebrity. His story was told in Newsweek and in newspapers from South Africa to Hawaii. But only six months
later, in June, 1997, Mr. Chicken was mauled to death, probably by
a raccoon, as he tried to protect the chickens who shared his pen.
He died with his plastic legs on, and that was the way that he was
buried, in the animal hospital's flower garden, with a small headstone. "He was a famous little guy," Dr. England said.
Dr. England still has a file full of letters from people who wrote in to express
sympathy for Mr. Chicken. One woman from South Africa even wrote a
poem. But, he reports, "We have not had a special needs chicken since then."
Mr. Chicken the Plastic-Legged Rooster:Address: 3232 North Dettman Rd, Jackson, MI [ Show Map] Directions: I-94 exit 142 (US 127). Take 127 south. Take the first exit (Michigan Ave). Go west on Michigan, then take first right on North Dettman Rd. This takes you back up and over I-94. The Animal Hospital is just to the north of I-94, on the left. The grave is to the right of Crossroads Animal Hospital, in the back yard, by the interstate. Phone: 517-781-1111
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 World Champion Cow of the Insane
Traverse City, Michigan
Northern Michigan Asylum opened in 1885 and gradually became a sprawling complex on the western outskirts of Traverse City. It was so vast that it had orchards of cherries, peaches and apples, vineyards and vegetable gardens, field crops, and livestock from beef to chickens, horses to pigs. And it had its own herd of cows.
The most famous of these -- the most famous inhabitant, period, of the entire Asylum -- was Traverse Colantha Walker. She was a grand champion milk cow, producing 200,114 pounds of milk and 7,525 pounds of butterfat in her long life. When she died in 1932 the hospital staff and patients held a banquet in her honor. They buried her in a small, grassy knoll, under a marble tombstone, outside of the stately brick dairy barn that had been her home.
The Asylum closed in 1989. The cow's grave is still tucked into a tranquil corner of the grounds, but it may not be tranquil for much longer. The hospital complex is now known as The Grand Traverse Commons, and its buildings are being converted into upscale restaurants and boutiques for the yuppies who now come to this part of Michigan to golf.
World Champion Cow of the Insane:Address: Silver Drive, Traverse City, MI [ Show Map] Directions: US 31 north into town. Left at the rock pyramid onto 11th St. Cross Elmwood Ave. onto the former Asylum grounds, then keep bearing left. The road (Silver Drive) turns into a dirt road, then bends to the right. The grave is at the intersection of this dirt road and another dirt road, near the two dairy barns, under a tree.
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