friends of the hound is a greyhound adoption group committed to the rehabilitation& rescue of Greyhounds in NSW

UNDER-DOG HONOURS STEVE IRWIN

Five-year-old Gosford boy, Jonty Harris, made an unusual tribute to his hero, Steve Irwin, shortly after Steve died in August 2006.     

“Steve Irwin was my hero. So when we got a new dog just after he died, I decided to call him ‘Crikey!’  in honour of Steve  - cos he loved animals and always stood up for them no matter what.  And I really liked the way he said “Crikey!” all the time. I think he’d like that I called my dog ‘Crikey!’ and would laugh lots,” said Jonty.

“Crikey! is a really good dog and I love him. He’s seven so he’s a bit older than me, but we play together all the time. He loves our other dogs. He’s always smiling. And, he really loves sleeping in my room, and playing with his crocodile that I got from Australia Zoo,” he said.

Jonty’s mother Nikki said “I think it’s wonderful that Jonty wanted to remember Steve Irwin in such a positive way. We love our greyhound, big Crikey, and we absolutely loved Steve to bits - he lives on in our house and hearts and very much in memory. We have pictures, TV shows, shirts, toy crocodiles, books, - you name it...and of course every time we call "Crikey!” we’re reminded of a wonderful Australian and a real hero for animals.

“When we were looking for a dog for Jonty we wanted to adopt one from an animal welfare group. We also wanted a reasonable sized dog with a calm, gentle nature. And of course, the new dog had to get on with our other two dogs – Manly, a brown Miniature Pinscher, and Hoppa a Fox Terrier.

“We did a fair bit of looking around and decided on a greyhound. We’d heard such great things about them – how they don’t need a lot of exercise and how good they are with kids. When we met Crikey! (then known as Mickey) we were hooked.

“Crikey! is wonderful with Jonty and the other kids – very patient, gentle and affectionate. They get on so well together – its amazing. We love him to bits. He’s a wonderful dog,” said Nikki.