ODDLY ENOUGH

ODDLY ENOUGH

Man sought but failed to change his name to Boomer the Dog

PITTSBURGH

A judge on Wednesday denied a man’s petition to legally change his name to Boomer the Dog.

Gary Guy Mathews said he filed for the name change in June because he’s a fan of a short-lived 1980s NBC television series called “Here’s Boomer,” which featured a dog that rescued people.

Common Pleas Judge Ronald Folino denied the request in a 11/2-page ruling late Wednesday. He said it could result in “confusion in the marketplace,” including in business records and public documents, and could have more serious consequences.

If Mathews, 44, were to witness a serious vehicle crash and call for help, for example, the name could confuse an emergency dispatcher, the judge said.

“The dispatcher on the phone queries as to the caller’s identity, and the caller responds, ’This is Boomer the Dog,”’ the judge wrote. “It is not a stretch to imagine the telephone dispatcher concluding that the call is a prank and refusing to send an emergency medical response.”

Mathews’ phone was busy Wednesday night, and he could not immediately be reached for comment on the ruling.

Mathews, of Green Tree, said other kids in high school began to call him Boomer and by adulthood he was dressing as the shaggy-haired dog at conventions and parties, for the last few years in a full-size Boomer suit made of shredded paper.

Mathews also is an enthusiast of Anthrocon, an annual convention of people dedicated to anthropomorphism, the practice of attributing human characteristics to animals. The convention has been held in Pittsburgh for five summers.

After years of thinking about the name change, Mathews early this year began the legal process, which included getting his fingerprints checked through a state police criminal records database.

“It took some time to work up the nerve,” he said. “I treated it like a science project.”

During Wednesday’s hearing, the judge questioned Mathews on if he might just change his first name to Boomer and if he had been paid to perform as the dog.

The unemployed computer technician, who’s single, said he had not been paid “but it would be nice if I would be.”

Associated Press