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Even though we had heard numerous theories about why Dalmatians were fire house mascots, your question offered us a great opportunity to sniff out the final word on the subject. Happily, our Yahoo search on "dalmatian fire" yielded pages and pages of results. Browsing through the results, we spotted a site titled Sparky the Fire Dog. We decided to pay Sparky a visit in hopes that he might have something to say on the matter. Luckily, he did -- in a section called All about Dalmatians: Dalmatians have been associated with fire departments for many years. Why? Many years ago, Dalmatians were used to
chase rats out of the fire stations and horse stables of London. The dogs also guided the horse-pulled fire wagons through city streets. Apparently, the tradition endured even after the horse-drawn fire trucks were replaced with more modern fire engines. That sounded logical, but we doggedly returned to our search results for further insights. We decided to try the Columbus Ohio Division of Fire's FAQ page, which includes the question "Why is a Dalmatian a fire dog?". The site explains that these hard-working dogs were trained to escort the fire engine to protect the horses from stray dogs and other animals. The distinctive spots of the Dalmatian made it easy for the horses to distinguish from
other dogs. We returned to our search results and tried another site. This one stated that Dalmatians had a "natural calming effect on horses." The dogs escorted the horse-drawn carriage in order to quiet the horses. Once on the scene, however, the dog had other duties as well, including safeguarding the fire equipment from vandalism and theft. So it appears that Dalmatians have a variety of admirable traits that have endeared them to firefighters and secured them a permanent position in fire-house history.
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