Dog Names Meaning Freedom

This lovable mixed breed was a shelter dog turned into a movie star back in 1972 with the film, Benji, about a homeless pup who lives in an abandoned building and becomes friends with the children of a prominent doctor who dislikes dogs. However, the maid, Mary, gives Benji food and water and brushes him before sending him on his way. Benji is a clever pooch that knows how to get what he wants, and he makes friends easily. In fact, he has a daily routine of visiting Bill the butcher, police officer Tuttle, and others who enjoy seeing him every day. 

One day, Benji sees a pretty little white dog digging through the trash and gives her the bone he got from Bill. She decides she likes him, and they go and visit Mary, who gives them some food and brushes them both, giving Benji’s girlfriend the name of Tiffany, after the jewelry store. The two new friends play in the park, and Benji takes Tiffany to meet his friends Bill and Officer Tuttle. 

When they go back to the abandoned home where Benji lives, they find several bad guys staying there who are planning to extort money from Dr. Chapman by threatening his kids. The kidnappers write an extortion note, but it is discarded when they discover that the leader of the group, Mitch, has actually kidnapped the kids instead of just threatening to do it. To warn the Chapmans, Benji grabs the note and heads off to the kids’ house to show them the note. Tiffany is kicked and injured when Benji runs out and cannot follow.

Unfortunately, one of the kidnappers takes the note from Benji, so he has to think of another way to warn the Chapmans. He runs to the Chapman home and finds that one of the kidnappers is already there talking to Mary and pretending to be someone else. He barks at the kidnapper and tries to bite her, and the note falls out of her purse before she leaves. Mary finally sees the note and understands what Benji has been trying to tell her. Mary and the police follow the little fur ball to the abandoned house where the children are saved, and the kidnappers are caught. Benji and Tiffany are taken in by the Chapmans as their new pets. 

Even though this is a fictitious tale, the movie actually helped stray dogs in many ways. Because Benji, whose real name was Higgins, was adopted from the Burbank Animal Shelter, the public realizes how great shelter pets can be. The Humane Society of America reported that over one million stray dogs were adopted in the months after the movie came out in 1974. So, Benji (or Higgins) really was a hero.