A paw up on safe boating

Coast Guard Magazine, Sept-Oct, 2007 by Angelia Rorison

Charts, pencils and compasses litter the tables of the mess deck at Station New York in Staten Island, N.Y. The crew of 80 men and women study and prepare for their upcoming ready-for-operations test. The atmosphere is pensive and quiet. Suddenly, the mood picks up as the newest and most popular addition to the station enters the room.

"Woof," barks Harry, the new crewmember at the Station. He greets his fellow shipmates with slobber-filled kisses as they pet his soft caramel-colored coat.

Harry, a 21-month old golden retriever, is the first known mascot in the history of Station New York. Harry was donated by Guiding Eyes for the Blind in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., a non-profit organization that provides free guide dogs for the visually impaired who cannot afford them.

"With 80 people here we needed a dog with some training already," said BM2 Mike Greene. "So we looked for organizations that released trained dogs and found Guiding Eyes."

Guiding Eyes usually charges $2,000 for dogs that have been trained through the program but don't graduate, like Harry. However, once the organization found out Harry would be the N.Y. mascot for Safe Boating they put the station at the top of their adoption list and gave him to the station free of charge, bypassing the usual four-to five-year wait for a dog into an eight-month wait. In thanks, the station donated $500 of their morale fund to the group.

Harry enjoys his new home at the station.

"He has adjusted very well because there are established commands," said Greene. "We emailed a copy to everyone here so they would be ready when he arrived."

Harry knows 19 commands such as: sit, down, stay, here, come, no and get busy, which is the command for "go to the bathroom" that he learned from Guiding Eyes.

Harry is no idle mascot. He stands watches, attends quarters in the morning and goes out to salute the flag at colors with the crew.

Furthermore as the mascot for safe boating, Harry actively participated in media coverage during National Safe Boating Week teaching the public, especially children, the importance of wearing their life jackets. Harry made his on-camera debut during a safe boating special on "Fox and Friends," May 26. Harry stood next to Greene during an on-camera interview proudly wearing his properly fitted life jacket.

Besides being the safe boating mascot, Harry raises the morale at the station.

"He lightens the mood at the end of the workday because we have someone to run around and play with," said MK2 Tracy Montgomery.

Harry enjoys chasing geese and barking at the buoy by the station.

"He loves it here," said BM3 Justin Mathess. "You can tell, he runs around here and it's like he knows he has a whole new playground."

Harry's future in the Coast Guard is bright. He is currently getting his Personal Qualification Standards signed off for safety equipment and trying to figure out what rate he wants to pursue.

"Harry was destined for the Coast Guard--his birthday is the day after Coast Guard Day," said Greene.

For more information on Guiding Eyes for the Blind, please visit: www.guidingeyes.org.

For more information on Coast Guard mascots and their history please visit: http://www.uscg.mil/History/Mascots.html.

Story and photos by PA3 Angelia Rorison, PADET NY