Rosie, R.I.P.
Anyone who knows Justin Rudd - and who in Belmont Shore doesn't? - knew his "girl," Rosie the bulldog.
The community activist pulled his brindle-coated friend in a red Radio Flyer wagon to his myriad animal-related events - dog costume parades, pet blessings and bulldog beauty contests among them.
Rudd and Rosie were a familiar sight on Second Street, as well as the avenues that bisect it, and passers-by would often stop and ask to meet the English bulldog they knew from newspapers and TV. Standing on four short legs, Rosie would crane her turtle-like neck to solicit pats and give sloppy kisses that were like running your face through a car wash.
Rosie died Sunday morning of old age. She was 12, a couple of years beyond the typical life expectancy for her breed, but not old enough for Long Beach's best-known animal advocate.
"I've never cried as much over anything," Rudd, 40, said a few hours before Rosie was cremated Monday in Huntington Beach.
Rudd sounded deeply bereft, his normally cheerful Southern drawl turned flat by a cold and by grief. Rosie was not only the wrinkled mascot for his nonprofit Community Action Team, and all of the charitable work it does, but his closest animal companion.
"She was the inspiration for it all," Rudd said, citing the dog beach he won city approval for at the foot of Granada Avenue as one example of how Rosie influenced his activism.
1 Comments
Leave a comment
About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
My heart aches for Justin. I celebrate the beauty of them finding each other so that each of them achieved the great things that came so naturally from the love and loyalty that they shared.
Justin saw the qualities of Rosie and provided an environment and the companionship for her to truly develop into the great dog that she was and she became an Ambassador Dog for the public's education and awareness. A rare person and a rare dog paired together, the purest music in life comes from the songs in our hearts played for others.
Thank you Justin, for being Rosie's human. Rosie deserved the best.