Saturday, October 1, 2011

THE AUDITOR

One last story about Butte. And then we move down the road.

The Auditor

Meet Auditor. For more than 17 years he lived alone in the barren waste dumps, leach pads, and mine roads surrounding the rim of the huge Berkeley Pit strip mine in Butte, Montana. He was an unfriendly, dirty mutt, resembling a pile of stained rags. The dog shunned human contact, but the miners respected his toughness and named him "Auditor" because he would always show up when least expected.

They built him a shanty, made him a bed of rags, and left food and water for him. Auditor defied conventional wisdom that said nothing could live in the toxic Superfund site. The peaceful looking "pond" in the Berkeley Pit is poisonous enough to kill birds, as several hundred snow geese discovered when they landed on it in 1995.

The Auditor was first seen roaming the mine in 1986 after he was reportedly dumped at the mine’s viewing stand by a heartless owner.  He died in his doghouse November 19, 2003

The Auditor1

7 comments:

  1. I don't even know what to say..:*(
    that poor dog!!..I will personally never understand how some people think that pets are disposable..like a piece of garbage..my 'boys' are nice and cozy lying on my unmade bed at the moment and for that I am most grateful.

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  2. Poor Auditor. I'm glad someone helped the poor dog.

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  3. Dogs are family too ... just ask them.

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  4. I am always heartened by the goodness of folks thought to be so tough who take time to be kind to one of God's creatures. ~Liz

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  5. Awww...poor dog. But at least someone helped him as much as they could. I think anyone who "dumps" an animal should be dumped themselves out in the middle of nowhere and see how they like it!

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  6. Poor dog and what a heartless nasty owner.

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  7. What an incredible story. Auditor looks to me like a standard poodle by the corded evergrowing hair. Standards can often live that long too. Any guesses?
    Dragonfly

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