Flashback Friday: The Original SF Underdogs
Welcome back to Flashback Friday: a series where I share some of my favorite weird, wonderful, and occasionally hidden, stories from San Francisco’s past.
It was a Sunday, and another pop-up adoption event. I was coming back from a benefit for the SF Art Institute Archives and Beyond Rescue was the hidden star of the show. If you aren’t familiar with them, they are a San Francisco crew that focuses on the "beyond" part of animal welfare. They provide safety nets for families and dogs that the traditional system often overlooks, operating with a strict "no judgment" philosophy. And they’re a huge part of my life… will share more on that at a later date.
My drive home got me thinking about the fact that San Francisco has been a "rescue city" since the mid-1800s. Long before we had Instagram feeds, we had Bummer and Lazarus.
In the 1860s, the city was obsessed with two specific stray dogs. Bummer was a black-and-white Newfoundland mix known for being a legendary ratter on Montgomery Street. He eventually rescued another dog: a skinny, mangy pup who had been badly injured in a fight. Bummer stayed by the smaller dog's side, shared his food, and nursed him back to health. The city named the newcomer Lazarus.
The pair became local celebrities. They were such a fixture of San Francisco life that they were actually exempted from the city’s stray laws. At a time when the "dog catcher" was a feared figure, the Board of Supervisors passed a special ordinance specifically protecting Bummer and Lazarus. They were allowed to roam the streets freely, eat at the finest restaurants, and attend public events. There are even rumors they sat in on a performance by Mark Twain.
When Lazarus died in 1863, the city went into genuine mourning. When Bummer passed two years later, Mark Twain himself wrote a eulogy for him. He described the dog as being full of years, honors, and rheumatism.
This little nugget of the past captures the true DNA of my beloved city. We have always been a place for outcasts and eccentrics. We have always been a community that looks out for one another when the official systems fail. We will
When I look at the work Beyond Rescue does today, I see that same spirit. They are making sure that no one, whether they have two legs or four, gets left behind in the fog.
