A published report about Barney the talking dog left some Charlotte Observer employees speechless when callers eager to hear the voluble canine overloaded telephone lines at the newspaper.
"We certainly underestimated the public's appetite to hear a talking dog," said Tom Tozer, Observer features editor, after the newspaper ran a story that included a phone number readers could call to hear a taped message from the 6-year-old dachshund in nearby Valdese.The dog's owner, Mable Wiles, says the dog has a vocabulary that includes, "I'm hungry," "Mama," "Yes," "No," and "Huh-unnh."
When calls overloaded The Observer's phone lines, the paper discontinued the call-in late Thursday.
"The sheer volume of people trying to call Barney is filling up the trunk lines coming into The Observer building," said Southern Bell spokesman Clifton Metcalf.
Tozer said the paper had made copies of the Barney tape available to local television and radio stations so people can hear it.
Wiles said the tape doesn't do her dog justice, "Especially when he gets down to his bass voice."