Number Plate Stories

Animal MAG 1C - What's your pet plate?

By Ruby Speechley

In ancient Egypt, cats and dogs were worshipped like gods. Today, pet owners all over the country are showing their adoration for their animals in a variety of ways; with jewel encrusted collars, velvet beds and now their very own personal number plates!

But it doesn’t have to cost the earth, according to Peter Jackman from Anglesey, “I chose A800 PUG because it was the cheapest PUG plate I could find. I wanted to express my love for this breed without breaking the bank. I can’t imagine life without them,” he said. “When one of them had four puppies, I couldn’t even bring myself to give them away, so I ended up with six! I belong to the Pug dog club and one of the breeders there has a brilliant plate - PUG 1.”

Would you think of man’s best friend if you saw the Star Trek plate 5 POK? I doubt it, but a family from Bedfordshire bought this number for their lanky-legged Doberman, named Spock. “He looks a bit like an alien to be honest,” said Mr. Borkett, “his legs are ridiculously long and when his ears are flipped back they look very pointy indeed!” The Borketts were very quick to add that no one in their family is a ‘Trekkie’. “We’ve got plates of our own so we thought we’d get one for the dog too. It always brings a smile to people’s faces. One man even asked if Dr. Spock knew we had his car!”

Christine Ballardie wasn’t joking when she picked up a plate for their Khukli Tibetan Mastiffs. 21 KTB is on the car they transport the dogs around in. “We thought it only right that they have their own number plate,” said Christine, “we have ten Mastiffs living with us. We can only hope that it doesn’t end up being 21!”

Similarly, Jerry and Rosita Howell found R8 ROT for their pair of Rottweilers, Royce and Bentley. They show both dogs and Bentley has even been a contender at Crufts. “When we don’t do so well at shows we say the plate reads ‘irate rot’!” said Jerry. “Since we’ve had our ROT plate, we’ve started to see quite a few around. I think we may have started a trend. It’s a shame that Rottweilers have such a bad reputation though; we have three children and the dogs are great with them, like cuddly bears.”

Surrey based Christine Purcell says that for her there are two reasons for acquiring the number plate A9 DOG. “I’m a radio amateur and my call sign is GO DOG. I also love my three rescue dogs, Razzle, Goofie and Monkey,” she said. “People are always making comments about the plate. One person said to me that I should have got K9 DOG instead, and someone else asked if I was from Barking!”

Whatever pet you have, it seems there’s bound to be a plate out there to suit it. You could have CAT 1, P422 OTT or F1 SHS, but you’d better hope your other half doesn’t come home with S11 ARK!