Darlington bloodhounds named ‘Rhett’ and ‘Scarlett’
John D. Russell/MORNING NEWS
Alyssa Shelley of Scranton, who was chosen to name the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office’s two new bloodhound puppies, plays with the female, Scarlett, Monday afternoon. The male puppy is named Rhett. Alyssa said she thought of the names after she and her mother watched the movie “Gone With The Wind.”
Published: March 9, 2009
The latest additions to the Darlington County Bloodhound Team got their new names Monday, thanks to a Florence County girl.
Alyssa Shelley, 10, is a fourth-grade student at Scranton Elementary. She voted at scnow.com to name the dogs Rhett and Scarlett, after the characters in the classic movie “Gone with the Wind.”
“They were two names I liked when my mama showed me that picture,” she said.
Darlington County Sheriff Wayne Byrd said the names just fit the puppies perfectly.
“We had a lot of really good single names, but this was the best combination name,” he said.
Alyssa’s mother, Lacie Blackman-Shelley, said her daughter wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up.
“She did her Girl Scout community service with the (Florence Area) Humane Society last year,” she said. “She’s been wanting to go back again. If it was up to her, she’d be there every day and bring them all home.”
The puppies weigh roughly 25 pounds each right now at nine weeks old, but Byrd said that will likely change on a near daily basis.
“They’re going to be big dogs when they’re full grown,” he said.
The puppies can gambol around the dog pen for the time being, playing games of hide and seek, the sheriff said. But once they reach six months old, their training will begin in earnest.
“As far as going out on a real track, (it) will be six months,” he said. “They’ll be ready for service a little after their first year.”
Rhett and Scarlett were gifts from an area breeder and will be joining the two bloodhounds, Buckshot and Apple, already on staff at the sheriff’s office.
“They’re used for tracking, only tracking,” Byrd said. “The advantage of a bloodhound is that they can track an older track that’s a couple hours or as much as a day old and usually find whoever they’re looking for.”
The puppies have brought an air of playfulness to a job that can often be somber, he said.
“You ever want to see a bunch of adults act like children, bring a couple of puppies around — you’ll see it,” Byrd said with a laugh.
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