The Animals of COMSYS

Tiggy was the first and longest serving canine member of staff at COMSYS.  She started with us in 1991, but sadly Tiggy had her last day at the company in May 2001 having served stoically for more than ten years. Her duties primarily consisted of getting through a massive allocation of sleep (which was forced upon her by the consultants who all imposed orders upon her), alerting both the staff and most of Holywell Hill to the fact that someone had just rung the doorbell and making sure that she was introduced to all visitors. Tiggy was often described as Susan's shadow and was widely credited with saving her from nervous breakdowns on several occasions due to the fact that Tiggy really had to go out ..... please ..... NOW!

Tiggy was believed to have been bred for hunting - she was absolutely terrible at it, although very enthusiastic.  The one time she chased a rabbit to submission and it crouched waiting to be torn limb from limb, she prodded it gently with her nose encouraging it to run and continue the great game.  A more gentle and beautiful dog never lived.   I continue to miss her very much.

When Owen joined the company in early 2008, COMSYS gained two more staff members - Bo (Mr) and Loxie (Ms). Both have taken to the strenous working environment well, although Loxie comes with somewhat of a natural nervous disposition and Bo is just pure lazy, no doubt developed from rigorous training. Their full duties have yet to be defined, but mousing, ratting and other-ing things, that most of us would rather not know about, are high on the agenda. Bo loves people and any kind of attention despite his rugged "GI-Joe" looks and Loxie would probably tear a lion apart if it came into the office (not likely, but we're safe if it does), but runs and hides if she sees any human (smart girl huh?!).

No doubt the fact that both Bo and Loxie take better portraits than Owen will not be lost of most viewers - we must try offering Owen a biscuit next time!

Over the past ten years we have had a number of additional members of staff, all with their individual characters. Henri was a Dalmation whose primary duties consisted of enthusiastically welcoming all visitors to COMSYS and checking them for any edible items that they might be trying to smuggle past his customs post. Periodically (during the summer) he attempted to converse with other dogs in the neighbourhood over our back wall. Alfie was as close as you get to a second hand car dealer in the dog world. In fact he is pictured proudly wearing his gold medallion. Cheska was another member who was probably the most enthusiastic of all dogs we have had in the office - she loved everyone regardless. There was also Chi, a stray cat we rescued and then wondered what on earth we were going to do with her. She was passed on to friends up the road where she lives happily, not least because dogs and cats rarely live in complete harmony.

Seriously though, the dogs kept us down to earth and relatively relaxed (and, let's face it, they are great ice-breakers!).  

Here are a few views of these members of COMSYS staff. Everyone always agreed that Tiggy was an extremely cool dog, but then she has the qualifications. It is generally known (although she always refused to confirm or deny) that she attended cute puppy school at an early age and the results served her well. Unfortunately, she had to be rescued from Battersea Dog's Home (the charity which has the responsibility for looking after stray dogs in London) making her a "Battersea Girl", but she took to luxury with an ease usually reserved for those born to it.  Some years ago, we looked after a six week old Staffordshire Bull Terrier for two weeks. His name was Buster and he certainly was - his favourite nibble was printer leads, bringing a new meaning to IT management.

Henri meanwhile had to put up with being framed (see evidence) and goodness knows what other injustices. Due to his aristocratic (pedigree) heritage, certain, nameless, people questioned his intelligence every so often (well almost every day to be honest), but like most of his kind, looking good is more important than his accountancy skills.