Rick Michel's Blog

Earlier this week our fifteen-year-old pup, Angel, was diagnosed with a mass on her spleen and if you’ve ever had a beloved pet of your own, I don’t need to tell you that made us nervous. She is going back for another sonogram to see if the mass has gotten at least 20% larger in order to determine whether we need to address taking out her spleen all together. Thankfully Angel is doing great and is back home enjoying her favorite toys, but it did get me thinking about the similarities apparent in my love of animals and the same fondness Frank Sinatra showed for all creatures great and small throughout his life.

It doesn’t matter who you’re hearing from, be it Frank’s wife Barbara, his daughters Nancy or Tina, or anyone else that knew him for that matter, Ol’ Blue Eyes had a soft spot in his heart for critters.  Barbara once said, “He liked animals, period. Particularly underdogs.”  To anyone with even a tiny bit of knowledge about his life, this will come as no surprise.

Barbara also shared a story about how he saved a snake that was found in his yard from being killed and told how, “When he was sick in his room, he'd have the cats on one side of the bed, and the dogs on the other. And he would pet them both.”  And apparently there were many of both.

With the 100th anniversary of Sinatra’s birth, we were privileged to be able to share in some of the more intimate previously unreleased photographs from the family archives and many show loving moments with his dog, Ringo.

While Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were often associated with him, most of the pups and cats were apparently rescues from pounds or shelters.  The Humane Society of the United States even has an article on their site highlighting Frank’s love of animals and shares daughter Tina’s story about how she asked him as a little girl where Heaven was and her dad replied, “Heaven is where all the animals go.”

When people were placing mementos in Sinatra’s casket after he died, Tina disclosed, “My contribution was a small dog biscuit, for Dad's love of little critters.”

Pets are a big deal in our home and we’re glad we’re going to have Angel around a while.