33 - Sunday, March 25, 1990 ~ North Shore News

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PAGE 34

Dog days for Unc

e Len

GOLDER RETIRES FROM THE SPCA BUT WILL STILL HOST TV SHOW

AFTER 15 years with the North Vancouver SPCA, ‘Uncle’
Len Golder is hanging up his dog leash.

But the 66-year-old Golder, who
recently retired from his job as an
inspector with the SPCA, will con-
tinue to host the popular That Dog
and Cat Show on Shaw Cable 4.

As an inspector, Golder’s job
was to go out and assist injured
animals ‘‘of any description,’
picking up stray dogs and in-
vestigating public complaints
about animal facilities.

And while the bark of most of
the canines Golder encountered
was worse than the bite, he admits
the reverse was true for a small
percentage of the dogs he dealt
with.

Golder recalls when he was call-
ed out to pick up an injured dog.
He assessed the situation and con-
cluded that the job would be a
piece of cake.

“*! thought the dog was hit,’’ he
said. ‘‘l approached him and I
figured he was in such a state that
he couldn’t get me. I was never so
wrong. |! didn’t exercise enough
caution. He was fast on the draw
and he bit me."*

And then there was the time
Golder used good old-fashioned
wickery to nab a not-too-friendly
dog on East 18th Street in North
Vancouver.

“It was like an opera when I got
there. The police had the road
blocked off and there were people
standing on their porches waiting
for the show to begin. | went up to
acop — who was sitting in his car
with the window rolled up — and
he pointed out where the dog
was...on a veranda,’’ said Golder.

“Ef approached the dog but |
couldn’t get him on a catch-pole (a

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By SURJ RATTAN
News Reporter

pole with a loop at the end). He
was too smart, he kept ducking his
head. So I had to go back to the
car, and when I turaed my back on
him he came after me and knocked
me down,"’ said Golder.

That’ 5 when Golder decided he

4 few y years ago Shaw
Cable said they were
going to put the show on
a regular format. I said:
‘Put it on any kind of
mat you like. aad

would have to out-smart the dog.
He called back to the SPCA and
had someone bring out a can of
dog food.

Golder, with catch-pole and dog
food can in hand, put the can of
dog food in the centre of the cat-
ch-pole’s loop and when the dog
approached the apparatus and dug
in for a feast, Golder had collared
his canine.

Golder has been doing Shaw
Cable’s That Dog and Cat Show
for the last !4 years and said he
can still remember the very first
show.

“PT was extolling the virtues of
this dog and I gave him a big
build-up. When | was finished with
him, I handed him off to a girl to
take away and when he (dog) got
off camera, you heard this big
growling sound. | looked back at
the camera and said: ‘Oh ya, by
the way, he bites.’”’

When the show first started it
was called Give Me Shelter, and it
was only aired when the cable
company didn’t have any other
programs available, said Golder.

He added that the show’s popu-
larity continued to grow and when
viewers did not see the show, they
would phone the cable office and
ask ‘‘when is that dog and cat
show"' going to be on.

“They didn’t know the name of
it. They just kept calling it that
dog and cat show, and that’s how
it got its new name,”” said Golder,
who is the first to admit he is in
the dark when it comes to the
technical side of show business.

“A few years ago they (Shaw
Cable) said they were going to put
the show on a regular format. I
said: ‘Put it on any kind of a mat
you like’; those were fancy words
tome.”

Out of all the dogs and cats he
has featured in the 14 years of the
show, Golder said one particular
dog stands out.

“There was this little dog and I
was extolling the virtues of him. 1
was kneeling down next to him and
he lifted his leg and began leaking
all over me. We kept that in,”” said
Golder.

He added that That Dog and
Cat Show is directly responsible
for the adoption of several dogs.

“That show has saved a lot of
dogs.”’

Golder, who has two cats, and
until recently had two dogs, says
that dogs are indeed man’s best
friend.

“I’ve always had two dogs
because they’re great fun. Wat-
ching them is better than watching
television. They’re just like kids.”’

Offer ends April 1st

Lynn Valley Centre ; 985-76 1 5

NEWS photo Terry Peters
DOG AND Cat Show host ‘Uncle’ Len Golder says watching dogs is

more fun than watching televsion.

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