Pyrenean mountain dog rides the London underground

If you’ve ever watched the film ‘An American Werewolf in London’ you’ll remember the very scary scene where a man is stalked on the London underground by a werewolf, and is pursued through an empty station at night.

Thankfully, that’s just a film, and the chances of seeing a huge four legged creature on the tube are very remote… unless you ride the Bakerloo line from Pinner to Baker Street. If you do ride that line you might have seen Rufus, the giant Pyrenean mountain dog, who rides the tube every day with his owner Michael Stavrides.

Fifty-year-old Stavrides, and his five-year-old giant dog, ride the tube every day and have made quite a few friends on the way.

Michael explains how the reaction to Rufus is always friendly, despite his huge, intimidating frame.

It’s amazing the reaction of people as I take Rufus on the train.
Although he does tend to slump across the carriage floor people absolutely love him,’ says Michael, who owns the Fine Art Gallery in Marylebone.
People actually tell me they get on the train that isn’t their train just to go to the next stop with him.
They tell me it makes their day, particularly as we’re going through a credit crunch.

Rufus isn’t just a giant dog for the people either, he’s mixed with the stars on the tube, including Barbara Windsor, Dale Winton and Little Briton’s Matt Lucas.