Spitz Memorial

When his favorite dog, Snowball, died in 1929, George H. Slappey of Fort Valley, Ga. summoned his friends from far & wide for the Spitz's funeral. Four years later, still grieving, he sat down and wrote a will setting aside the residue of his estate after bequests to relatives for a "Snowball Dog Hospital'' in Macon. Friends tried to persuade him to make it a children's hospital instead, but Dog-lover Slappey said: ''There's always someone who will take care of children. Nobody takes care of sick and injured dogs unless they're special pets. I'm going to give dogs a square deal." In 1934 George Slappey was shot to death.

As an injured husband, the overseer of his big peach plantation was acquitted of the murder. After the Slappey heirs had taken their shares of his estate, there was $60,000 to $75,000 left for the dog hospital. The heirs wanted that too, started action to break the will. As superior court Judge Malcolm D. Jones pondered his decision in Macon last week, Georgia lawyers opined that unless George Slappey was proved crazy when he wrote his will, Snowball would have its memorial.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.