On the cusp of her 13th birthday, Tara Mitrovic was diagnosed with brain cancer. Make-A-Wish, learning of Tara’s situation, reached out to Stargate Productions. The result was Boomer the Dog’s appearance at the end of Stargate SG-1’s “Singularity.” Now, Tara joins us to share her amazing story.

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Timecodes
0:00 – A Surprise Face!
0:21 – Opening Credits
00:46 – Welcome and Episode Outline
02:28 – Welcoming Tara and Hanzo
03:33 – Tara’s Stargate Story
08:00 – Updates to Tara’s Health
09:20 – Make-A-Wish and the Stargate fandom
12:00 – Memories of Boomer
23:31 – Working with Make-A-Wish
26:36 – Wrapping up with Tara
31:58 – Post Interview Housekeeping
33:04 – End Credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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David Read
Hello dog. [dog in front of camera]

Tara Mitrovic
Hello David.

David Read
How’s dog? Tara that’s too funny. [30 second break in audio for intro sequence]

David Read
Hello everyone, welcome to Dial the Gate, the Stargate Oral History Project. My name is David Read, thank you so much for joining me for this episode. I have someone very special I want you to meet. Tara Mitrovic who was the first Stargate Make A Wish kid is joining us for this episode. She was never on Stargate, that wasn’t her wish. Her wish was for her dog to have a roll. Boomer cameoed as Cassandra’s new dog in the season one episode Singularity. We lost Boomer a few years ago, he lived to be 18, but Tara’s Make A Wish lives on in that Stargate episode. I would like to bring her on to share her Stargate story. Before we bring her in, if you want more content like this on YouTube click that like button. It makes a difference, it will help the show continue to grow. Please also consider sharing this video with the Stargate friend and if you want to get notified about future episodes, click the Subscribe icon. Giving the bell icon a click will notify you the moment a new video drops and you’ll get my notifications of any last minute guests changes. Clips from this pre-recorded episode will be released over the course of the next few weeks on both the Dial the Gate and GateWorld.net YouTube channels. That’s correct, this is a pre-recorded episode so there won’t be any questions for Tara. She and I recorded this earlier, for you that is, and I’d like you to meet her. So who is this?

Tara Mitrovic
So this is Hanzo.

David Read
Hanzo.

Tara Mitrovic
H A N Z O,

David Read
Hello Hanzo. Ooh, hello.

Tara Mitrovic
Good boy.

David Read
He’s a good boy. Is he named after Alvar Hanzo from Lost?

Tara Mitrovic
Um, honestly I’m not sure. He came with the name from the humane society. I looked it up and it means second life and boy. He’s getting a little camera shy now.

David Read
Well he’s a beauty.

Tara Mitrovic
Yes. So he has a new beginning but that’s perfect for us.

David Read
Absolutely. Ooh, what’s that? Oh yummy.

Tara Mitrovic
Yeah, carbs. Anything carbs he loves and cheese.

David Read
Oh, absolutely. Well thank you for coming on Hanzo.

Tara Mitrovic
Yeah, okay. Good boy. He says it was lovely to meet everyone.

David Read
Ah, good to meet you. You be good for mom. Thank you for agreeing to come on. I have been wanting to sit down and talk with you for a really long time because your Stargate story is amazing. It’s one of those that has always stuck with me and I have been looking forward to you sharing it with my audience. Would you mind telling it to me?

Tara Mitrovic
First of all, thank you so very much for having me here.

Tara Mitrovic
My involvement with Stargate began and hopefully has never ended. I unfortunately got very sick and I was diagnosed a day before my 13th birthday with brain cancer. [Un]Fortunately the odds were not very good so a wonderful organization called Make A Wish said I had a wish to make, one wish. After we clarified I couldn’t wish for more wishes I decided I wanted to make my current dog, Boomer, a star. I wanted him to star in a major motion action video/film/a movie, or across Canada, a television show or something similar. Honestly, the Make A Wish volunteer looked at me and said, “think of a backup wish” because nobody really wishes for their dog to become famous except for me. They weren’t really sure it was possible. As far as I know they reached out to the wonderful people at Stargate and magical things happened. My dog Boomer was in the episode, I’m going blank right now…

David Read
Absolutely.

David Read
Singularity.

Tara Mitrovic
Yeah, Singularity. Yes. He was carried around by Richard Dean Anderson and adored by everyone. He seemed to be born for it. So after the filming, which was fantastic being on the set with absolutely everybody involved, he got to meet people, get valued scratches from everyone, treats and everything. I didn’t get any valued scratches though, but that’s okay. So, my wish was absolutely fantastic and it just wasn’t a one time thing. We got invited to Stargate conventions, Gatecon. We did a few of those and he even had a little stamp to his autograph because he hated his paws getting dirty. Yeah, he became a big celebrity. It’s been a wonderful never ending wish because I still see reruns on TV and I have friends messaging me and phoning you “hey, Boomer was on TV today.” Even though he’s no longer with me I still think of him because of the wish. Thank you so much.

David Read
Oh, absolutely. Did you have him from when he was a puppy or was he also a rescue?

Tara Mitrovic
Yes, Boomer I had since he was a puppy, eight weeks old. He was with us until just before he was 18 years old. He had a good lifem he was very spoiled.

David Read
It’s pretty good for a Shiba Inu.

Tara Mitrovic
Especially being a celebrity.

David Read
Absolutely. For sure. There are not that many celebrity dogs.

Tara Mitrovic
Not that many. Only Lassie, probably.

David Read
Ah. Are you healthy?

Tara Mitrovic
I’m happy. I’m happy.

David Read
I mean, are you healthy?

Tara Mitrovic
Oh, healthy? Sorry, that’s a good one. Um, well, I have many side effects from the brain surgery. I had the surgery on my 13th birthday, what a gift! The chemo, the radiation and surgery gave me many health, what would you say, complications. My biggest problem now is I have pretty much severe hearing loss. Apart from that I seem to be doing pretty well. I do have a second tumor who I’ve named Tiny Tim because I want him to say small and crippled. In general I’m healthy except for consuming a little bit too much chocolate.

David Read
So you’re keeping an eye on that tumor?

Tara Mitrovic
Yeah, I’m being monitored for the tumors, not the chocolate consumption.

David Read
Live a little Tara, live a little.

Tara Mitrovic
Yes. Definitely enjoy life.

David Read
What can you say about the experience of Make A Wish and what it did for you? Did it contribute to your optimism to your fighting of your illness?

Tara Mitrovic
That’s a very deep question. After the surgery I didn’t know my name, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk. I didn’t know my birthday and honestly, I still have days regarding my birthday, but I’m doing much better. I escaped the wheelchair and everything many, many years ago, 15, 20 years ago. I was really depressed and being able to come out to such a wonderful, wonderful group of people that are so supportive and friendly; it was uplifting. Truthfully, I don’t think I’d be where I am today if I didn’t have that wonderful experience with Gatecon and Stargate and I’m truly thankful for everything and everyone. It was such a nice thing to meet everyone whether it was the cast, the members of the team and of course all the fans to.

David Read
Stargate fandom is a really special group of people and Gatecon, especially, I feel very much that you and I are inextricably linked through that convention. Those people are family and the amount of good that they have done for the charity community; tens of thousands of dollars, to make a wish included, is extraordinary. They are an amazing group of people.

Tara Mitrovic
That is so true and so blessed that I’m still in contact with some of them today.

David Read
Absolutely. I told them that I was going to be interviewing you and they were like, “it’s about time.” I’m like, “Yes, this is true.” Wow. So tell me a little bit about who Boomer was. We saw him on screen as Cassandra’s dog, who was Boomer to you for those 18 years? What were his likes? What were his dislikes? Did he dislike cats? Did he like going for runs? Did he like the water? Tell me about this dog.

Tara Mitrovic
Well, Boomer was a Shiba Inu and typically they’re a cat stuck in a dog’s body. He hated water with a passion, it’s a breed trait. If it was raining he would refuse to go to the bathroom. It could be raining for three days or four days because I lived just outside of Vancouver. You had to carry him out and even then he’d protest. We even had a raincoat custom made for him because we thought that would solve the problem. No, there is no way in hell he was going to wear that coat. He loved cats. Basically, all they wanted to do was kill him but he was very friendly to cats. He wanted to have cat friends but it didn’t quite work out well, it never worked out well. He loved his walks. We used to do competitive obedience which is unheard of for the breed. A few times we nearly got, the top score is 200 out of 200. We nearly got that but I was the one that was messing up in the obedience ring. I’d be screwing things up, not Boomer. He also did agility too, so that’s like running, jumping through tunnels and everything. Again, it was always me getting in trouble because I couldn’t keep up. He’d go up the big A-frame, the big six foot A-frame and he’d get to the top and I wasn’t fast enough telling him where to go so he’d just bark, bark, bark, bark bark at me; it was a comedic thing. When I was training him for agility, instead of going through the tunnel, he jumped on top of the tunnel or he jumped over the tunnel. Boomer knew exactly what he was doing, his owner, not so much.

David Read
Not so much. “Come on ma, catch up. Ma. I’m right here.” That’s a cat thing, going over the tunnel. That’s a cat thing for sure. That’s funny.

Tara Mitrovic
Definitely. When I kind of tried a different time, instead of him going and running over the tunnel, along the top of it, he jumped over it. Like “okay, just you watch.”

David Read
This is not a tall dog to be pulling this off. The fact that he could jump!

Tara Mitrovic
Yeah, he was a feisty little thing but we loved him.

David Read
How old were you when you got him?

Tara Mitrovic
When I got him? I believe it was 1994 so I was seven.

David Read
Okay. Was he your first dog?

Tara Mitrovic
Yes, he was my first dog ever.

David Read
That’s a big deal.

Tara Mitrovic
I was protesting for many years. I used to have a dog on wheels, a toy on a rope. That was my hint to the parents, I needed a dog. My dad’s like, “yeah, we’ll get you a dog” but when we move. That move that was supposed to happen never quite happened and my mom’s like, “that’s it, we’ll just get [inaudible].” We went to go and see the puppies just to see what they’re like because we never met the breed before. Of course, yeah, we happened to put an order in for one of the dogs. Who can resist a puppy?

David Read
Did you name him?

Tara Mitrovic
I named Boomer, Boomer. It was up in the air whether he was going to be Phantom or Boomer but he was more of a Boomer than anything else.

David Read
Any particular reason for Boomer?

Tara Mitrovic
I just thought it was a nice name. The name Phantom popped in because I had just seen Phantom of the Opera. I just thought Boomer was more of a fun name than Phantom.

David Read
No, absolutely.

Tara Mitrovic
Actually, his name was Boomer, short for Boomerang, because it was like an inside joke. The breed is not good with recall so I just said that he’s a broken boomerang.

David Read
Aaah. I can’t imagine how much he aided in your recovery. Dogs…

Tara Mitrovic
The best thing apart from Gatecon and Stargate.

David Read
We don’t deserve them, they are better than us. As someone who has owned four or five, six, they represent the best qualities of us. They are loyal, they are selfless, under the right circumstances they’ll die for us. To have one for 18 years, that’s really special. You must have been, I don’t even want to think about it, you must have been devastated when he finally went. But man, that dog had a good life and he was a star.

Tara Mitrovic
It was. I was totally devastated for a long, long time after and I swore I’d never get another dog.

Tara Mitrovic
I found a dog, a Shiba actually, the same breed, that needed help and this was probably four years, five years after. I just intended on rescuing him and sending him to a breed rescue because I thought I wouldn’t handle it. My mum was away when I took him in and when she got home she was like “what better home than ours.” His name was Frankie, he was named after my uncle who passed away. Unfortunately Frankie got quite ill. We only had him for six years but it was a really good six years.

David Read
Yep.

David Read
So Hanzo is dog three.

Tara Mitrovic
He’s number three. Hanzo was at the Humane Society homeless. He’d been roaming around for four or five months alone and apparently with a giant Saint Bernard surviving in the wilderness.

David Read
Wow.

Tara Mitrovic
It was caught and taken in and he popped up on the internet and because I have an obsession with the breed, he came home with me.

David Read
Wow, his forever home. Do you know what happened to the Saint Bernard by any chance?

Tara Mitrovic
I tried to find him. Hanzo was being, we were checking him out, but the Saint Bernard was nowhere to be found. Hanzo came in with some health care problems so I am assuming the Saint Bernard was adopted before Hanzo was able to be adopted.

David Read
Well let’s hope so. Absolutely. Wow.

Tara Mitrovic
I could only see mom’s face bringing home the two dogs.

David Read
I know, and a Saint Bernard is no small order. Not that a Shiba Inu is but you know, man.

Tara Mitrovic
More to love.

David Read
There is something that bothers me about dog owners. This is just me and there may be people out there who will be frustrated or upset with me saying so. I know people who post that their dog has passed and the next day or the day after, “here’s our new dog.” For me, it’s not like swapping out a set of tires on your car. I think that the memory of the animal, being a part of your family and a part of your household, deserves some space to mourn. For some people it may take years, if ever, that they get another one again and it’s always just bothered me a little bit that there are some folks like that. But on the other hand, I understand the pain can be too great; that there is a hole that you can’t really fill. In some cases, if you bring another one in, you’ll only just make room in your heart, really. But I get that. I get not being able to just go out and immediately get another one. You have to wait for your heart to be ready.

Tara Mitrovic
That’s very, very true. I truly don’t understand people going out right away but I think maybe they just have holes in their heart they need to fill. I just hope they’re finding animals that truly need them forever.

David Read
Yeah, absolutely. There is a blessing that comes with taking in a stray. My family has taken in, I’ve lost count. I am a believer and I do believe that God, or whatever you want to call it, does put people and animals in our path who need us. I think that it’s great that he was there for you through a huge chunk of your life when you really needed him. I have no doubt that that helped in speeding along your recovery and your optimism and what it was that he did with for you and with you with this show.

Tara Mitrovic
Thank you, I truly believe that to. Without him and of course without Stargate and Gatecon, I truly don’t think I’d be where I am right now, I’d be here and I wouldn’t be at this point in my life.

David Read
How was it working with Make A Wish?

Tara Mitrovic
It was absolutely so much fun. It was out of this world if you could say that. I had so much fun with my Make A Wish worker/volunteer. I had a few other experiences. We did across Canada ad campaign. I went to Stars on Ice, a few shows and a few other things. It seemed almost never ending at one point. It was such a wonderful experience and Make a Wish is such a fantastic organization that helps so many families and individuals. I can’t thank them enough for everything they did for me, and of course Boomer too because he needed that. It was just an amazing experience, not only for me, not only for Boomer, my family too. It was a break from everyday stress, sadness; it made life almost worth living again.

David Read
There is something to be said for you. I think it’s really special that your wish wasn’t about you, but about him. I think that’s really cool Tara. What you wanted most, you could do anything within reason, not like a million dollars. You could have gone to Disneyland, you could do any of these typical things. Instead you wanted to do something for your pal and I’ve never gotten over it. That is so cool. That is so cool that that was what you wanted to do, I think that that’s really special. I think that that says what is special about you because you don’t put yourself first when you could have, even at 13 when we’re all wild and crazy.

Tara Mitrovic
He was so special to me, even before I got ill so I wanted to give back to him in a way. I could imagine him being a star even before he became one so having my wish fulfilled and what I really wanted was a dream come true. That’s basically how it happened. It’s true, with Make A Wish wishes “I want to go to Hawaii or Disneyland or a computer,” those are very valid wishes.

David Read
Of course.

Tara Mitrovic
I just wanted to think outside the box.

David Read
Absolutely. Did you meet Katie Stuart on set that day? Did you meet her?

Tara Mitrovic
Yes, I did. She was a lovely young lady and she actually was holding Boomer on the set on those scenes. She took him for a little walk too, after. She was a lovely lady.

David Read
Oh good. Good. Did you continue to watch Stargate?

Tara Mitrovic
I do. Honestly, not religiously. I’m still catching up, I have the seasons at home. Honestly, I’m not a sci-fi person but I’m starting to get into it in my old age.

David Read
Well it’s not going anywhere. As you get older the messages of science fiction do become more easy to interpret and understand. I turned 40 a couple of months ago and I am always finding new truths in the material. It’s an art form that perpetually regenerates itself, both in my life and in watching the world develop around me. It’s kind of wild actually, some of the things that that they anticipated that are coming to pass.

Tara Mitrovic
Oh my goodness. Oh, happy birthday. I’m sorry, did you say 40? Me to.

David Read
You?

Tara Mitrovic
Yes, I turned 40 in August.

David Read
You and I are the same age?

Tara Mitrovic
Apparently so. We could be long lost twins.

David Read
July 1983.

Tara Mitrovic
August 28 1983.

David Read
I did not know. Tara, I didn’t even think of that. Of course, yeah, of course you would be. Wow. Well happy birthday. Happy belated birthday to you.

Tara Mitrovic
And happy happy birthday to you.

David Read
Thank you. That’s really cool.

Tara Mitrovic
Can we do a group birthday next year?

David Read
You know what? That’s not a bad idea. I’d love to be in Vancouver late July, early August, as a birthday wish. This year I’m going to the Panama Canal in a month or so for my birthday. But yeah, it’s a date. One of these birthdays we will do that.

Tara Mitrovic
That sounds wonderful.

David Read
Absolutely. It is so awesome to have you on and to share your story.

Tara Mitrovic
I just wanted to say thank you so much for letting me be on the show with you and thank you so much for being involved with me in the past. I greatly appreciate it and I look forward to our group birthday whenever that happens, any time of year.

David Read
Absolutely. We will definitely do that. What’s your favorite dessert? Well, okay, chocolate I guess is the answer.

Tara Mitrovic
It’s only chocolate until the pants don’t fit. Oh, and I also wanted to say Richard Dean Anderson was hanging out with Boomer. First of all they brought me a birthday cake because when I was on set it was my birthday when they were doing the filming. Richard Dean Anderson was having cake and hanging out with Boomer and we were just casually talking. I said, “oh, would you like to see Boomer’s business card?” Richard Dean Anderson was so hurt because he didn’t have a business card. I gave him the business card qnd then I’m like, “what about his resume? Would you like to see it?” He’s like, “what! I don’t have a resume.” So it was kind of comedic for Richard Dean Anderson. I think it was the last Gatecon i had, we actually had business cards so we could hand them out for Boomer to everybody that was attending.

David Read
I might have one somewhere in a box.

Tara Mitrovic
You better frame it.

David Read
I felt so lucky to get to meet him. Dogs, they come into our lives and they go. You never know how old the dog is when you see one on TV. When I came around that corner and I saw that dog I was like, “I know exactly who that dog is” when I came to my first Gatecon convention, this was 2003. Getting to see you there, getting to meet you; you have never been far from my thoughts in doing this. I am really, really happy to have you part of the Oral History Project now so thank you for coming on.

Tara Mitrovic
Thank you so very much David.

David Read
A big thanks to Tara Mitrovic and Hanzo for joining me in this episode of Dial the Gate. The Stargate folks were amazing people and Gatecon is a huge component to that, especially including Tara in all of their festivities, years and years. It is really an oversight of mine that it has taken this long to bring her in so Tara I do apologize for that but it was always my intent. I’m so thrilled that you joined me for this episode. We have a number of different shows heading your way as we close out season three of Dial the Gate so keep it on dialthegate.com for that information. We’re going to be packing them full of jam before we get to our season finale with Michael Shanks on October 29th. You’re going to see some episodes drop, you’re going to see some live episodes appear, just keep it on dialthegate.com for the complete and current schedule as we approach the season finale of Dial the Gate. My name is David Read and I’ll see you on the other side.