by Amanda Hara
COLUMBIA Tenn.- From the verge of death-to the brink of celebrity, a
local shelter dog is living a true rags to riches life.
Porky the dog has always had a strong resemblance to "Sandy", the
canine character in the Broadway production of Annie.
But when no one adopted Porky from the Maury County Animal Shelter, the dog
was set to be euthanized.
Sonjalyn Dickson Rine works with the local rescue, Pet Pals of Maury
County. She said, "They were preparing her to be euthanized when she
pulled out of her collar and ran to the trustee and leapt into her arms."
That's when Rine decided to send out a mass email with a desperate
plea. Rine said, "I wrote her plea from the dog's point of view, and
I said, ‘Don't you recognize me? I'm S,Sandy star of stage and screen. I make
one wrong turn in Tennessee and ended up in jail.'"
Days later, Rine's last ditch effort paid off.
"The plea wound up in the hands of William Berloni who is a renowned
Tony Award winning animal trainer. We had no idea he was looking to cast a new
Sandy for the Broadway production of Annie."
On Saturday, Berloni made the trip to Columbia, told everyone he saw a star
in Porky, and arranged an audition.
Rine said, "Porky's story oh wow talk about rags to riches she was a
stray on the streets of Columbia."
Now, she's bound for stardom.
In about ten days, Porky will make the trip to Bill Berloni's farm in
Connecticut where she'll meet the show's director. If he likes her, Porky
will start training in New York. Even if Porky doesn't pass the test,
Berloni has a list of people waiting to adopt a "Sandy" type dog
that's been trained under him.
The Annie production will debut on Broadway in September.
ahara@newschannel5.com
