An Island Dog Named Butch
Sometimes it’s not the breathtaking scenery or the delicious food that make a trip special, but the people you meet and relationships formed. Sometimes, those relationships aren’t even forged with people but rather with animals that unexpectedly come across our path. And such is the story of a lonely island dog named Butch.
We were enjoying our annual February vacation to this year’s tropical destination of Long Island. We stayed at Gems by Paradise in Clarence Town, the capital of Long Island. Long Island is a hidden treasure among the islands of the Bahamas. But this trip blog is not about my experiences on the island but rather a friendship formed with a special dog.
The secluded island suits us well as we like to explore on our own. The one main “highway” that runs the length of the island makes exploration easy and fun. Through daily exploration in our rental car, we came across Butch. Although we were not the only ones to notice this dog. Anyone passing by that way was bound to notice him eventually.
Upon arrival at our hotel, we couldn’t help but overhear a few guests checking out saying, “What’s up with that dog that lives around the corner?” Ah yes, we had seen a dog. Right around the corner from our hotel you will find a concrete slab among the rubble and what looks like store shelving.
Hurricane Joaquin hit Long Island in 2015 as a Category 4 hurricane. In fact, its sustained winds of 155 mph were just short of being classified a Category 5 hurricane! Throughout our trip, almost everyone we visited with had a survival story to tell about the devastation that took place. However, during our stay, it was encouraging to see the island has recovered quite well. Most of the locals would tell you that they are finally back on their feet. But not everyone managed to recover from the devastating storm.
The southern part of the island was hit especially hard, several schools closed as they consolidated classrooms with schools in other settlements. You can still see remnants of broken buildings that included homes as well as stores that had been ravaged by Hurricane Joaquin that now sit empty.
Keep in mind, this is the story as it was told to me. In 2015 when Hurricane Joaquin hit, it destroyed a convenience store in Clarence Town owned by an elderly man named Mr. Pratt. Mr. Pratt went to stay at Gems for a while until the man’s daughter flew down from Nassau and took him back home to live with her. For whatever reason, he left his dog Butch behind. Some locals said his daughter didn’t want a dog while others were unsure. Regardless of the reason, Butch was abandoned.
Hello, my name is Butch and I’ve lost my owner. If found, please return him to our home at the deserted convenience store. I’ll be here waiting.
One of the locals in town tried to take Butch and give him a new home, but to no avail. Butch would return again and again to the site of the convenience store looking for Mr. Pratt. He will not leave.
The first time I saw Butch, it was nighttime and he was laying in the road. Luckily there isn’t much traffic on Long Island because occasionally we found him sleeping in or near the road at night. Other evenings, we found him sitting by the road watching the cars go by as if he was expecting someone.
By day, he sleeps on the concrete slab next to some boards piled up around the foundation of the store away from the hot sun. He has a tarp that extends over his water and food bowls that provide a small cover from the elements.
We stopped to visit Butch as often as our vacation schedule allowed. Butch wags his tail and trots over to the car to inspect us. He sniffs us carefully as we give him some petting and food. In the frig in our condo, we have a big cold jug of water labeled BUTCH WATER that we use to refill his water bowl daily.
I wish I had known about him before our trip. I would have brought some meat flavored rawhide bones from the U.S. because he LOVES bones. They are his absolute favorite!
Friday night is the famous pig roast at Rowdy Boys Bar & Grill in Clarence Town. It is a fantastic feast! We met Bernard Knowles who took great care roasting tonight’s pig for 7 hours. The marinade over the pig is brown sugar and fruit in its natural juice making the pig juicy and tender. Bernard sat there cutting up the juicy roasted pig happily serving and visiting with everyone.
Enjoying a pig roast Friday at Rowdy Boys Bar & Grill where I stole a pig bone for Butch
Half-way through dinner, Joe is rolling his eyes at me. Hidden by the tablecloth is a Ziploc bag that is sitting discreetly in my lap as I scoop up leftovers pig scraps and sous bones from Joe’s curried duck for Butch. A boater who docked his boat in the nearby marina brought his big fluffy white cat to the door. Bernard leaves his pig serving station momentarily along with several others to pet the cat. I seize the moment to rush to the pig pan and grab the biggest pig bone for Butch.
After supper, I rewarded Butch with his magnificent pig bone. He immediately grabs the giant pig bone and runs off to the bushes to savor it in private. We learned quickly on the trip to give any bones to Butch at the very end of our daily visit for this reason.
Butch takes his bone and heads to the bushes across the road to savor his prize in peace
I just don’t understand why people would leave their pets behind; they would never leave you. And Butch will never leave the convenience store. He stays here waiting for the owner that will never come back for him. And thus, becomes our nightly routine. We go out for a nice evening meal and then I have my heart broken after supper every time we visit Butch on the way home and I see him living there alone.
This is Butch’s home now. By day, he sleeps in the shade on the other side of this structure. When the sun gets too high, he goes under the tarp. He has water and food bowls here that we fill up daily.
Throughout our trip, we continue to stop and see Butch giving him fresh cold water every morning. After our first initial visit, he makes a point to urinate on our tire every time he sees us. I guess he likes us too and has claimed us as his territory. Initially tentative in our very first meeting, he now barks excitedly when we open the car door. He recognizes us as the “food and water” people and anxiously awaits a treasure of a bone.
In the evenings, we bring him our dinner leftovers. We did in fact buy Butch a nice bag of dog food to leave behind for him when we depart. I’m not sure he is too keen on dog food based on his nonchalant reaction. He’s so used to eating human food that tourists and the locals have dropped off, I think he prefers that now.
Good morning Butch – he marks our car as his territory as usual
We also found the actual sign to the store in the pile of rubble. I’d like to replace the old sign with a new one called, “Butch’s Hot Spot”. If I lived in Long Island, I’d make an Instagram page for Butch. Who doesn’t love a good dog story and a loyal dog such as this?
People are feeding him….sometimes…although some mornings he acts like he’s starving. He does have a rather nasty gash behind his neck. It looks fresh and gnats are buzzing around it. I wonder if another dog attacked him. He’s pretty dirty and has mud caked on his right front elbow joint. I’d love to give him a bath.
Lunch at The Forest Takeaway means one thing – BBQ Rib bones for Butch! We loved our lunch and Butch equally enjoyed our leftover bones!
Our very last visit with Butch before we left Long Island was difficult. We gave him the last of the BBQ rib bones from yesterday’s lunch. Normally we wait til the very end of our visit to give him bones because once we give him a bone, our visit is over rather abruptly as he ducks out of sight with it. That was not the case this evening. He didn’t want food, he didn’t want water….he just wanted petted. He’s never turned down a bone like this before. Those pleading eyes, I can’t help but think he knew we were leaving him.
If we lived here, I would take some of the piles of wood from the hurricane damaged houses and build him a proper dog house. That tarp probably doesn’t provide much shelter in the heavy tropical rains. I’d paint him a new sign that says Butch’s Hot Spot so everyone would stop by and see him. I’d also give him a bath and fix that gash on his neck. They just had an animal clinic on the island during our stay where you could bring your pets to the vet for treatment. I wish we could have taken him in. Other than the cut on his neck and needing a bath, he seems to be in generally good health
It’s our last day on the island and I sense that Butch knows we are leaving. He gives me a last look as if to say, “Where are you going?”
We plan to put reviews on Trip Advisor and will mention Butch’s location so that travelers will be sure to stop and see him and give him some food/water/attention. And of course, I will write about him in my upcoming book. It’s really all we can do for him.
If you have the opportunity to go to Long Island, please visit sweet Butch. He lives in Clarence Town right next to Unique Wheels (car rental) and just around the corner from Gems by Paradise. Hopefully the store sign is still up as we left it as a landmark to help others locate him.
While Long Island has unlimited white sand beaches to explore with clear blue water, I will always remember the special furry friend I made on this trip just as clearly as the beautiful scenery. Thank you Butch!
Goodbye Butch my sweet boy
