Saint Roch: Patron Saint of Dogs

by Cheryl

Drawing of St. Roch, the patron saint of dogs.  He has a black lab with him.
The lab does resemble Coach, slightly. Roch is smiling. Drawing created by artist Barbara Barratt.

Yes.  There is a patron saint of dogs. At least that is what I found out at the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe and why would they lie?  I like that artist Barbara Barratt has St. Roch walking with a black lab.  Although, it does appear to me that the lab is looking just a little bit like he is begging for a treat, like perhaps, St. Roch keeps some kibble in his pockets and has a habit of maybe handing them out to good puppies every now and then.  That could explain why St. Roch has a small smile and a cheeky tilt to his head. He knows in a minute or two he is going to reward this good pup with a bit of kibble and a pat on the head.

What you can't tell from this drawing is where St. Roch is.  I can make a pretty good guess that he isn't in Santa Fe though.

No Dogs Allowed Sign at Tent Rocks.

Santa Fe seems to have this curious relationship with dogs.  While the townspeople seem friendly enough to them.  We see plenty of people walking their dogs.  The government seems downright anti-dog.

Take for example this sign we encountered this morning on our hike out at Tent Rocks National Monument.

The more detailed sign.

Then there was the more detailed sign that followed the huge No Dogs Allowed sign. It said in effect that dogs aren't allowed at the monument any more effective immediately.  There was a smaller sign that said something about dogs being a safety hazard.  But it was unclear.

We asked on our way out about service dogs and were told that service dogs with a vest or ID were gladly admitted without any problem at all.  The ranger was very cheery about it.  So, aggressive sign, but only toward regular dogs, not service dogs.

No dogs allowed on grass sign in front of city government building.

Yet not all Santa Fe government buildings are happy to see dogs.  We passed one on the way to the Kakawa Chocolate House that had this friendly message: No Dogs Allowed on Grass.  It was clear that what had been tearing up the grass was groundhogs or mice or rats or prairie dogs or some sort of vermin.  But did they have a no vermin sign?  No, they did not.  They just wanted the dogs to stay off the lawn.  And the lawn didn't look that great.  Holes, lots of dirt piles.

Nasty really.

Coach would have sniffed.  Loudly.  And then continued walking.  And probably nudged me.  Looking for a treat or a pat on the head.  Wondering why we chose Santa Fe when Tampa Bay is so much more friendly to all dogs.