J. Edgar Hoover was hard on criminals but mushy-soft over his dogs, say the folks at a local pet cemetery.
Seven of the late FBI director's beloved pooches are buried under the shady oaks of Aspin Hill Memorial Park in this Washington suburb. The weathered headstone on the Hoover plot pays tribute to the memory of one canine companion named "Spee De Bozo."The inscription reads: "Our Best Friend."
Spee De Bozo departed for doggie heaven in May 1934. A couple of months later, Hoover's private mourning dissolved in public triumph over the news that federal agents had gunned down his nemesis, gangster John Dillinger, outside a Chicago movie theater.
Hoover was never known to have visited his dogs' gravesite, although an FBI telephone operator whose dog was buried at Aspin Hill would check on the Hoover plot occasionally to make sure it was well-kept.
While making life difficult for bank robbers, anti-war protesters, civil rights activists, suspected subversives and personal political enemies, Hoover was disarmed by the tail-wagging entreaties of "G-Boy" and "Cindy," his last two Cairn terriers.
"Naturally, they are spoiled," he once confessed. "They boss me around."
The will left by Hoover, who died in 1972, included a request that Clyde Tolson, his chief deputy and trusted confidant, find a suitable home for the two terriers.
The Hoover dogs are not the only celebrities at the 70-year-old Aspin Hill cemetery, which is owned by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a non-profit animal rights organization.
Most of the 35,000 to 40,000 animals interred at Aspin Hill are dogs and cats with such names as "Darling Skippy," "Our Fluffy," "Tinker Bell," "Lollipop," "Sir Toby Belch," "Queenie" and "Mustard - Mommie's Baby Boy" inscribed on their tombstones.
There also are 17 horses and hundreds of pet rabbits, monkeys, parrots, turkeys, goats, hamsters, guinea pigs, frogs, goldfish, turtles and snakes. And there are graves of 13 human beings who chose to be buried close to their pets. The ashes of one couple are interred in front of a mausoleum containing the tomb of their Boston bull terrier, Mickey.
On the grounds is a shelter for live animals and a small "funeral home" where a former owner once offered non-denominational prayers for the deceased and solace to their owners.