MUSKEGON, Mich. — A West Michigan animal sanctuary is asking for birthday cards to be sent to one of their favorite (and most famous) supporters.
Blackie Dammett is the father of Red Hot Chili Peppers' front man Anthony Kiedis. He also deeply loves wolf dogs. That is how he ended up meeting the folks over at Howling Timbers in Muskegon.
"It was never really meant to be this big, it was never meant to last this long. They started out with a couple wolf dogs. It was kind of just a personal thing," said Kate Johnson of Howling Timbers.
The sanctuary was started by Kate's grandmother, Brenda. In the early 1990s, they ended up adopting out one of their early Wolf Dogs to Blackie. They stayed in touch throughout the years.
Blackie would go on to adopt several more wolf dogs from Howling Timbers: Scarlet Fever, Cowboy and Handsome Devil were their names.
The trio lived with Blackie at his home for several years. Then in 2000 the law changed in Michigan. Wolf dogs could no longer be kept at residential locations. The pups would have to go live at Howling Timbers.
Blackie would stay involved with the Sanctuary. For many years he acted as the president of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' fan club. Through his work with the fan club, he was able to get fans to donate around $70,000 to Howling Timbers.
“Blackie is actually one of the only reasons that we were able to keep the sanctuary open,” Kate Johnson told FOX 17 Thursday.
His time leading the fan club also left him with another hobby: receiving and opening mail. Johnson explained it as, "When he was the head honcho of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' fan club he got all kinds of mail and when he stopped being the head honcho, the mail kind of ended.”
In celebration of Blackie's 80th birthday this Saturday, Howling Timbers is asking their supporters to send him a birthday cards.
If you would like to send Blackie a card, it can be addressed as follows:
Blackie Dammett,
PO Box 426 Ada, MI 49301
