London, the Doggy and Me - The Truth Behind the Urban Legend
When my friend, Helen, told me a tale about a dead dog in a stolen suitcase, it seemed like the perfect inspiration for a short story. The basics of the tale are this: a house sitter finds that the family pet - an enormous dog - has died. To get the dog cremated the house sitter has to take to dog on the London Underground. However, whilst on the underground, as thief runs off with the suitcase.
Of course, my story is a lot more elaborate and involved the addition of an aspiring actress desperate to earn a part in a West End production of 'Prime', a love triangle and freezer full of defrosting fruit, but it contains the same key elements.
Since my book came out, I've realised that the stolen dog carcass is a wide spread urban legend that has been circulating for at least fourteen years. And so, I set about trying to uncover the truth behind the tale. Was it ever based on fact?
It seems the story has been around since at least 1998 when it was set in New York. By 2005, the same story was going strong but the dog was reported to have been stolen from the Chicago 'L' Train. As time went by, the 'facts' of the story changed to suit whatever City was most relevant to the storyteller.
In 2008, Metro ran the story, only they reported that the theft had happened on the London Underground. The same year, one group of people felt that the story had so much potential that they made a short film based on the story.
It is unclear whether or not the story even had a factual basis as it is likely to have originated long before the widespread use of the internet.
As a writer you quickly learn that almost everything has been done before, but I never expected my story to have been recycled quite so often.
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As you know, I too have heard this story told at a party in my flat. I took great pleasure in waiting till it was over, then whipping out my signed paperback copy of 'Seesaw' and showing it to everyone! I think genuine urban legends, as this seems to be, are fair game for fiction. Especially as you weaved other elements around it so entertainingly.