Owney (dog)

Owney

Owney with unidentified Albany letter carrier, c.1895
Other name(s)	Owney, the Postal Dog
Species	Dog
Breed	Border terrier
Sex	Male
Died	June 11, 1897 (aged 10 est.) Toledo, Ohio
Resting place	Smithsonian Institution
Occupation	Railway Mail Service, Railway Post Office Guardian/Traveller
Employer	U.S. Post Office
Notable role	Companion
Years active	1887–1897
Owner	Mail Clerk, Albany, New York

Owney (ca. 1887 – June 11, 1897), was a stray Border terrier adopted as the first unofficial postal mascot by the Albany, New York, post office about 1888. The Albany mail professionals recommended the dog to their Railway Mail Service colleagues, and he became a nationwide mascot for 9 years (1888–97). He traveled throughout the 48 contiguous United States and voyaged around the world traveling over 140,000 miles in his lifetime as a mascot of the Railway Post Office and the United States Postal Service. He is best known for being the subject of commemorative activities, including a 2011 U.S. postage stamp.

Owney was an abandoned puppy adopted in 1888 by a post office worker named Owen, who worked at the Albany post office. Seeking shelter on a rainy night, the young mutt wandered into the back door of the post office, which had been accidentally left ajar. The pup seemed to love the smell of the mail bags and soon made one his bed. When the supervisor inquired about the dog that the Albany postal workers were keeping in the back room they said it was Owen's dog. Succumbing to the pup's likable demeanor and the persuasion of the postal workers, the supervisor let them keep the mutt, even though it was against the post office rules. From then on Owen's mutt was known as "Owney".

Owney usually slept on the mail bags and when they were moved, Owney went with them. He was considered to be good luck by postal railway clerks, since no train he ever rode on was in a wreck. He was a welcome addition in any railway post office; he was a faithful guardian of railway mail and the bags it was carried in, and would not allow anyone other than mail clerks to touch the bags.

This was an important duty and Owney was well-situated for it, as the Albany train station was a key division point on the New York Central railroad system, one of the two largest railroads in the U.S. at that time. Mail trains from Albany rolled eastward to Boston, south to New York City, and westward to Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Chicago, and points further west. As a contemporary book recounted: "The terrier 'Owney' travels from one end of the country to the other in the postal cars, tagged through, petted, talked to, looked out for, as a brother, almost. But sometimes, no matter what the attention, he suddenly departs for the south, the east, or the west, and is not seen again for months." In 1893 he was feared dead after having disappeared, but it turned out he was involved in an accident in Canada.