Red Dog (Karratha)
Encyclopedia
Australian Kelpie
The Kelpie is an Australian sheep dog successful at mustering and droving with little or no command guidance. They are medium-sized dogs and come in a variety of colours...
/cattle dog cross that was well-known for his travels through Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
's Pilbara region. There is a statue in his memory in Dampier
Dampier, Western Australia
Dampier is a major industrial port in the north-west of Western Australia. The Dampier Port is part of the Dampier Archipelago. The port services petrochemical, salt, iron ore and natural gas export industries. Rio Tinto exports large volumes of iron ore through the port, and in September 2010...
, which is one of the towns to which he often returned. He is frequently referred to as a "Red Kelpie" or a "Red Cloud Kelpie".
Red Dog is believed to have been born in the town of Paraburdoo
Paraburdoo, Western Australia
Paraburdoo is a town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The name of the town comes from the Aboriginal word for 'white cockatoo'. It is located 1,536 kilometres north of Perth and 79 kilometres southwest of Tom Price. Paraburdoo was developed in the early 1970s to support Hamersley...
in 1971 and had a variety of names to those who knew him, including: Bluey, Tally Ho, and Dog of the Northwest. Tally Ho was his first name, given to him by a man called Colonel Cummings, who is believed to have been his first owner and the one who brought him to Dampier. The nickname "Red Dog" has been attributed to the red dirt of the Pilbara Region (although "red dog" is a common nickname for red kelpies and heelers much in the same way as "blue dog" is a common nickname for Australian Cattle Dogs). His second owner was John Stazzonelli, a bus/truck driver with Hamersley Iron
Hamersley Iron
Pilbara Iron is a wholly owned subsidiary of the multinational Rio Tinto Group, that manages assets for Hamersley Iron Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, and Robe River Iron Associates, an unincorporated joint venture between Rio and three Japanese steel companies Mitsui Iron Ore...
, whose work allowed Red to travel as far as Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Broome
Broome, Western Australia
Broome is a pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. The year round population is approximately 14,436, growing to more than 45,000 per month during the tourist season...
, Roebourne
Roebourne, Western Australia
Roebourne is an old gold rush town in Western Australia's Pilbara region. It is 202 km from Port Hedland and 1,563 km from Perth, the state's capital. It prospered during its gold boom of the late 19th century and was once the biggest settlement between Darwin and Perth...
, Point Samson
Point Samson, Western Australia
,Point Samson is a small coastal hamlet 1,579 km north of Perth and 18 km north of Roebourne in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The town is a popular holiday location for the nearby mining towns, including Wickham, Karratha and Dampier. Fishing is the main industry...
and Port Hedland
Port Hedland, Western Australia
Port Hedland is the highest tonnage port in Australia and largest town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with a population of approximately 14,000 ....
.
Following Stazzonelli's death in 1975, Red spent a lot of time travelling on his own, although he was taken in by many members of the community and a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
who treated him. Red was made a member of the Dampier Salts Sport and Social Club and the Transport Union. He was also given a bank account with the Wales Bank
Westpac
Westpac , is a multinational financial services, one of the Australian "big four" banks and the second-largest bank in New Zealand....
, which is said to have used him as a mascot and sales tool with the slogan "If Red banks at the Wales, then you can too." Although he had many friends, it is believed that his death in 1979 was caused by deliberate strychnine
Strychnine
Strychnine is a highly toxic , colorless crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine causes muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia or sheer exhaustion...
poisoning. Red is buried in an unmarked grave somewhere between Dampier and Karratha
Karratha, Western Australia
-Facilities:A range of hotel, motel, B&B and caravan/RV accommodation is available for visitors. However, as the town is booming, accommodation is often hard to come by.The town has restaurants, a tavern, two hotels and two night clubs...
.
Soon after Red's death, Australian author Nancy Gillespie
Nancy Gillespie
-Life:She was born in Taihape, New Zealand, and moved to the Pilbara in the 1970s.She wrote the original Red Dog book, titled “Red Dog”.This book is no longer in print, however a new edition of the book is to be released September 2011....
wrote and compiled anecdotes and poetry written by several people of the Pilbara region for her book Red Dog as did Beverly Duckett in her 1993 book Red Dog: the Pilbara wanderer.
Red Dog's story and statue have caught the attention of a number of people passing through Dampier including British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Louis de Bernières
Louis de Bernières
Louis de Bernières is a British novelist most famous for his fourth novel, Captain Corelli's Mandolin. In 1993 de Bernières was selected as one of the "20 Best of Young British Novelists", part of a promotion in Granta magazine...
, who was inspired to write a book loosely based on Red's legend called Red Dog
Red Dog (novel)
Red Dog is a short novel by Louis de Bernières charting the life of a popular dog, a "Red Cloud Kelpie" nicknamed Red Dog, in Karratha, Western Australia. A movie based on the novel was filmed in Australia in 2011.-Part one:...
. A Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
club has been named in his honor.
A feature film
Red Dog (film)
Red Dog is a 2011 Australian family film directed by Kriv Stenders. The film is based on a true story from the novel Red Dog. At the 2011 Inside Film Awards Red Dog was nominated in nine categories and won seven, including Best Feature Film.-Cast:...
about Red, based on de Bernières' novel, has been made in Australia and was released in cinemas 4 August 2011. Based on a screenplay by Daniel Taplitz, it is directed by Kriv Stenders and the title role played by Koko.
See also
- Red Dog (film)Red Dog (film)Red Dog is a 2011 Australian family film directed by Kriv Stenders. The film is based on a true story from the novel Red Dog. At the 2011 Inside Film Awards Red Dog was nominated in nine categories and won seven, including Best Feature Film.-Cast:...
, 2011 film - Red Dog (novel)Red Dog (novel)Red Dog is a short novel by Louis de Bernières charting the life of a popular dog, a "Red Cloud Kelpie" nicknamed Red Dog, in Karratha, Western Australia. A movie based on the novel was filmed in Australia in 2011.-Part one:...
, 2002 book by Louis de Bernières - Red Dog (short story), 1983 short story by Nancy Gillespie
- Gunner (dog)Gunner (dog)Gunner was a stray male kelpie who became notable for his reliability to accurately alert allied airforce personnel that Japanese aircraft were approaching Darwin during World War II.-Career:...
External links
- http://reddogwa.com/red_dog_book_4 Red Dog (short story), 2011 short story by Nancy Gillespie
- http://reddogwa.com/red_dog_book_2 Red Dog (short story), short story by Beverley Duckett
- RED DOG website
- reddog4wd.com Red Dog 4 Wheel Drive Club (Inc)