Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-11-02
By MYRA MACPHERSON
5-s Star Staff Writer


Star Staff Writer
Most boys II years old like
dogs. There is one 11-year -old
boy in the District who likes
them a little more than most.
Yesterday at the Receiving
Home he Sat-small for his
age, with a thin face and large
brown eyes-and thought of
going home; to his family, his
dogs and the woods nearby.
Last week he was just another
routine case to those at Juve-
nile Court until, from the lock-
up cell, he barked with enough
skill to make every one think
a dog had been smuggled in.
He learned to initiate dogs
so well because they we're his
only playmateS for several
months. Brought over from the
Receiving Home. the boy spent
last Friday in Juvenile Court,
awaiting a hearing on whether
he should go home or to a well
fare institution. Unable to
locate his parents, the court
postponed the hearing until
today.
Rejected by Others
The boys background is filled
with loneliness. He didn't get
along too we'll in school. They
kidded and raZzed him." said
Laurence Frost, director of Ju-
venile Courts Child Guidance
Clinic.
He made friends with the
dogs in the neighborhood and
this soon became the story of
"a boy and his dog gone just
a little bit to extreme said |
Or. FroSe. Just how far is
hard to say. When you're deal
ing with children you must re-
member they exaggerate. He
.old me some stories, but he
never said the dogs licked his
face or that he licked theirs.
His emotions have been dam
aged, but he is definitely not
2sychotic; he has not lost |
touch with reality"
His mother reported that one
night last spring when he didn't
come home she found him with
a pack of dogs under porch.
Yesterday the boy said he
would get on all fours and run
with them, mot on the streets,
just in the alley"
Learning to bark was an
initiative thing. Il usually bark
after a dog banks"
Throughout his conversation
he conveyed a deep love Of
animals and a feeling of pro-
tecting them. Cooperative, but
quiet and unsmiling, his eyes
frightened only when he talked
of them.
Two Dogs Now
IT had one dog. Black and
red with a little white on it.
We had to give 1t away. I got
two dogs now; a girl and a hoy.
II got pigeons, too. / keep
them on top of garage in a
cage and one of my dogs is
a watch dog. If anyone tries to
get the pigeons, he'll bite them"
There are few animals the
boy doesn't like. but he says,
Il don't like fish. I just like
pets. / had a box of baby rats. |
One brown and one white. I
don't play with snakes because
they hurt. Except 1 play with
green snakes. They don't hurt.
He said he found the snakes
in a nearby woods. II want to
go home and take the dogs in
the woods. A little baby rabbit |
got killed once. I was going
through the woods and I saw it |
got killed and I buried it."
The boy first became known
to the court last Spring when
his mother brought him in,
saying he was beyond control.
After a few weeks in a welfare
institution he was released. In
August he came back. on his
own to his probation officer
and said he was lonely and
would be happier back at the
Receiving Home.
Backlog Case -I
One of the more than 1000
backlog cases, the boy had to
wait out these two months at
the Home and during that time
he said he's changed his mind.
Asked yesterday why he first
wanted to come back he said,
Il just wanted to-" He said he
no longer wanted to stay be-
cause "the hoys don't treat vo,i
right here" With some of the
reserve common to children as
well as adults when talking to
strangers, he defended his fam
lily. Unlike earlier psychological
reports, he said yesterday he
was happy at home with his