Animal obituaries

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2006:
Flip, 5, a Belgian Malinois police dog who once found 40
pounds of cocaine, was shot on November 18, 2006 in Jackson
Township, Ohio by a man “who apparently felt threatened” when Flip
wandered into his property on the dog’s day off, wrote Findlay
Courier staff writer J. Steven Dillon. Flip was partner of Findlay
Police Patrolman Bryon Deeter.

Dewey Readmore Books, 19, found as a kitten in the book
drop at the Spencer Public Library in Sioux City, Iowa, in January
1988, died on November 29, 2006 in the arms of librarian Vicki
Myron, who adopted him, held a contest to name him, and saw him
become one of the most famous library cats in the world, featured on
postcards and his own section at <www.spencerlibrary.com>.

Lakshmi, 43, resident elephant since 1966 at the Thekutheru
Krishnan Temple in Madurai, India, died suddenly on November 9
during one of her frequent visits to the nearby Sourashtra Higher
Secondary School. “She had been the centre of attraction at the
annual temple festival, and had attended the rejuvenation camp,
conducted by the Tamil Nadu state government at Mudumalai for the
past three years,” recalled The Hindu.

Ginny the donkey, protector of 26 goats kept by George and
Patty Coe of Spencer, West Virginia, was fatally wounded on
November 20, the first day of firearm buck hunting season.