Q: When Dr. Finn on "General Hospital" came to Port Charles to treat Tracy, he came with a lizard. Is this the first pet on a soap? — Dale, Key West, Fla.

A: Finn's lizard, Roxy, might be the first service lizard on a soap, but she is not the first animal. In fact, Michael Easton (who plays Finn) could ask his co-star Roger Howarth (Franco) how to work with an animal co-star. On "One Life to Live,"

he had a parrot that served as his conscience and his Iago.

Other soap pets include a dog named Foster who was the Spencer family's dog. Tony Geary (ex-Luke) hated working with that dog. "The humans on the show got one take to get it right. Not the dog — if he ran off or barked we would stop tape and do it over. The time the dog had run off with a steak, it took half of a day to shoot it." Claire Labine, who was a head writer on "General Hospital" at the time, thought pets made characters seem more human. They could show their sensitivity and also bring some comic relief. Yet it was one of Labine's animals that might have been the downfall for "Ryan's Hope." Labine decided to do a "King Kong"-esque plot. Delia (Ilene Kristen) befriended a gorilla at a New York City zoo. The gorilla got loose and abducted Delia. (They didn't use a real gorilla; he was an actor from a popular Broadway pantomime group.)

And "All My Children" had Bonkers the cat. Bonkers was played by executive producer Jackie Babbin's cat. When Babbin's cat went to cat heaven in real life so did the character of Bonkers. Timmy had his dog Harold. Just like Lassie, Harold was a wonder dog. When Janet trapped her twin sister in a well it was Harold who kept yapping at the site of the well and fetching people until they finally figured out someone was stuck. You can be sure Harold got steak that night — and not his usual Alpo. He did not even have to steal it.

Over on "The Young and the Restless," Victor has a dog named Zapato, who shows up from time to time. He saved Victor's life when Victor had a seizure. Since the Newmans live on a ranch there are horses. The nags are never seen but are heard from time to time. Paul's mentally ill sister Patty had a cat. When that cat died, Patty got a stuffed cat. She holds it all the time, petting it and talking to it.

I even got to work with a pair of soap opera dogs once. Louise Sorel's "Santa Barbara" character, Augusta, had a pair of Dobermans. I was doing a guest spot on the show. I was a diner at a Mexican restaurant. In swoops Louise with the dogs. The handler got the dogs to calm down, do their job, make nice and exit. I bet many daytime drama producers would like handlers for their actors!

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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