To those who have known Alex's Valkyrie-- Some of you who went to the FML's 10th anniversary in Orlando may remember Alex's Doberman guide dog Valkyrie. She was the one who enjoyed riding on Space Mountain, and was featured in a rather silly picture of the gathering wearing a pair of Easter bunny ears. She was also at all of the ferret shows that Alex and Kit attended. We first met Kyrie at a ferret show nine years ago. Kyrie had been living with us as her retirement home. She had to give up guiding Alex in February because advanced arthritis made it impossible for her to go up the stairs of buses, etc when Alex was in New York. Kyrie had to be euthanized on Monday because her arthritis had caused calcification of her spine which pressed on her nerves and totally paralyzed her back legs. Adding to her problems was the fact that she was in pain from a large number of kidney stones. Considering most Dobermans only live to be around ten years old, Kyrie had a good long run. She would have been 14 in October. She loved playing with our ferrets til the last, and is now no doubt playing tag (and losing) with all of the ferrets at the bridge. She will be missed by my ferrets, and all of the people who loved her. Melodyt and the elven eight. -- Melody Tomaszewicz Holdings Record Maintenance Team Leader New Brunswick Libraries Access/Collection Services Rutgers University Email: [log in to unmask] Phone: (732) 445-3856 ext. 313 ,',', ___ \ `'`,' \ ()o=; `'`','`/ .. \/ / ( / \ "/ \(_ \(_ "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." [Posted in FML issue 4959]