Hamilton rescue dogs a huge hit in London, England
Betty and Bean started out as strays on some tough Texas streets and, having just barely dodged a shot of pentobarbital at a kill shelter there, they are now to be found underground. In London, England.
No, they're not hiding out. They're becoming celebrities, even more than they were when Julie Shannon unleashed them onto Instagram with her popular dog-dedicated account, where they're a big hit, for two tiny rescues.
When I say underground, I mean the subway there, the famous Tube, where Betty and Bean can be seen on numerous posters in stations promoting the annual London Dog Week, which is this week. Not only there. Betty and Bean's adorable canine countenances are plastered over enormous billboards on the streets of the great British metropolis, part of the buildup to the week.
The two chihuahuas, who were brought to that Texas shelter independently but ended up sharing a crate and have been inseparable ever since, were recently chosen official ambassadors of London Dog Week.
Julie, born and raised in Hamilton (she's only been in London since last year), could not be more - what do the English say? - chuffed. She's thrilled.
HUGE news @betty_and_bean have been selected as London Dog Week Ambassadors this year and are featured in a billboard campaign across London rail, tube and shopping centres," Julie wrote me in an email the other day.
Kiehl's skin care company has come out with a skin care line for dogs and, along with Wyld Cub dog harnesses, both sponsors and organizers of London Dog Week, they asked Julie if Bean and Betty could lend their images to the lead-up to the big event.
Their pictures are in some 40 Tube and rail stations," Julie explains. And on billboards and digital screens in shopping areas."
The honour is an exciting new plateau on a dog odyssey that has taken the two across an ocean and from ill fortune to fame. Somehow, when they were in that shelter, says Julie, an organization called Texas Chihuahua Rescue found out about them and pulled them to safety.
Julie, then still in Canada, was at the time grieving the devastating loss of her beloved Yorkie/Silky mix, Pebbles, who died at 5 years old. It was 2017. She (Pebbles) was five-and-a-half pounds of pure joy," says Julie, who went to Hill Park Secondary.
She and husband, Matthew Punt, weren't going to get another dog for a while but Julie was so upset she could scarcely work, so Matt suggested they plunge in. When they heard of Betty and Bean, their spirits rose; when, upon inquiring, they heard from Texas Chihuahua Rescue that the two were with a foster family in Burlington, they were overjoyed.
When they met Betty and Bean, Julie and Matt were vanquished. We fell in love right away," she says. They took the two home. That was December 2017.
Soon after the story flew into high gear. It was 2019 and Matt got asked by his company to go to London. It was a great opportunity. Then COVID hit. Julie and Matt were still keen on it but their relocation was delayed by the pandemic until July 2020. On top of everything else involved in a trans-Atlantic voyage, there were the dogs.
Julie couldn't bear the thought of them being in the hold of the plane, the rule if they were to land at Heathrow. So they flew to Paris, the dogs with them, then on to London via the Chunnel.
In all the fuss of the move, Julie deferred the search for a job in England - she had been a buyer for a big chain but had become disillusioned with the work.
We all have to believe we can follow our dreams, and mine was to leave the corporate world and create something I'm passionate about, so I took the last year during COVID to start spreading a little joy via Instagram and posting content about Betty and Bean."
For the last year she has taken them around London, from their home in Notting Hill (500 square feet - good thing they don't have two Russian wolfhounds), to places like King's Cross, Hyde Park, St. Pancras, Hampstead Heath, Buckingham Palace, Covent Garden, Kensington Park and many other London landmarks. Also to places like Cornwall and Brighton.
She takes pictures and shoots video of the dogs and posts them on her Instagram, with Matt setting them to music from groups like Depeche Mode. They've proven immensely popular.
In one I took them to a fancy dog store in Belgravia, and Matt set it to Madonna's Vogue.'"
She has 5,500 followers and growing fast, with more than 100 messages a day.
We have the nicest followers and very engaged. I feel I know them. One woman messages from her bed in the hospital with COVID." The woman said she was grateful they'd given her something positive to look at that day. Julie says people recognize them on the street now. She'd like to turn the account into a travel blog or vlog.
Britain gave us The Beatles; now Hamilton, through Julie and Matt, has given Britain the fab two, Betty and Bean, at this happy point along their long and winding road.
Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator. Reach him via email: jmahoney@thespec.com