We Let the Dawgs Out

By Alaina Boyden, M&M TIPster

The saying goes “Good things come in small packages.” This time though, the package looks like a giant bull dog.

The "We Let the Dawgs Out" project originated when members of the Athens-Oconee Junior Women's Club learned of the Cow Parade. The Cow Parade is a public art exhibition initially intended to bring publicity or attention to local artists and their work. Now the Cow Parade has visited over fifty cities worldwide, including Paris, Milan, and Tokyo, since it began in the year 1999. The money made from auctioning off the sculptures goes to nonprofit children and arts groups.

In Athens, however, the sculptures are instead bulldogs, which is the mascot for the University of Georgia. Originally, the Junior Women’s Club’s goal was to get enough sponsors and artists to complete twenty-five bulldog statues. Yet the project turned out to be so successful that they ended up with thirty-six instead! The statues’ homes are all around the city and attract attention from tourists and visitors all the time.

“I think everybody who comes here loves them. I can’t even begin to tell you how many people take pictures with them,” says Linda, an employee from Heery’s Clothing Closet, located close to the Bulldog statue called “Bugga,” which has different bugs and leaves painted all over it.
Another example of one of the statues includes “Caesar Dawgustus,” located on 100 College Avenue near Starbucks wearing a red toga, sandals, and a crown.

For many, the statues are symbols of team spirit or even a kind of special trademark. It is said that they are almost like guard dogs watching over the city of Athens.

Alaina Boyden is a 10th grader at Marathon High School in Marathon, Florida.