Lab-a-lion: Dog causes lion scare in Norfolk
Can you tell the difference between a dog and a lion? If so, Norfolk, Virginia needs you.
Meet Charles the Monarch, a dog doomed to bear the brunt of his owners' hometown school pride. Charles is groomed to look like the mascot of Old Dominion University. A lion.
Charles the Monarch was born a Labradoodle (arguably Strike One against his pride), and now is forced to walk the streets looking vaguely like a cat. Oh, the indignity.
However, locals have been getting freaked out, and have called the Norfolk police with lion sightings.
The animal was running on Granby Street, a male voice said.
Then a woman took the phone. She sounded anxious as she described the proximity to the zoo.
“There was a lion that ran across the street. A baby lion. It was about the size of a Labrador retriever.”
There's a reason that the suspected lion was the size of a Labrador retriever... it was Charles the Monarch. Norfolk, it seems, is home to a population that's overly-credulous when it comes to big cats.
It gets better/worse: according to the story linked above, Charles' owners tell people that their dog is part-dog and part-lion... and some actually believe it.
Ceci n'est pas un lion*
There are no real lions in this photo. One is a dog, the other is a human in a lion costume. No cause for alarm.
Meanwhile, Old Dominion is capitalizing on Charles the Monarch's newfound global fame, and will feature him front-and-center in its January 13 women's basketball game.
(* Apologies to René Magritte.)
