The Garden State is dotted with an abundance of sculpture dedicated to our perennial devotion to dogs. From a modern look at a Rover that represents music’s past to depictions of bravery cast in bronze, we take look at dog art with virtual visit to New Jersey.
Atlantic City
A bronze depiction of a K9 officer proudly stands between representations of a fireman and a policeman, their gazes forever fixed on the granite and bronze 9/11 memorial they face on the boardwalk at St. James Place.
Dubbed “In the Line of Duty,” the creations of sculptor Brian Hanlon of Hanlon Sculpture Studio have silently saluted Atlantic City’s first responders since December 2014:
Holmdel Township
Created by sculptor Bruce Lindsay, since 2006 the US War Dog Memorial has reminded visitors at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial of the bravery of dog/handler veterans who have served in every war which has included American troops.
NJ Outdoors offers the following look at the statue:
Lafayette
Anyone who has suffered the loss of a beloved fur baby knows that not even death can sever the ties between humans and their animal companions. Grieving pet parents are comforted by a visual reminder of that fact when they see the statue of Professor Ueno and his loyal dog Hachi-kou at Abbey Glen Pet Memorial Park in Lafayette.
A faithful reproduction of a sculpture was erected in 2015 on the campus of the University of Tokyo in Japan to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Hachi’s death. The New Jersey’s life-size replica also captures the friendship between the professor and the Akita Inu who waited patiently every day at the Shibuya train station for his favorite human to return from work. This act of loyalty continued nine years after Ueno’s sudden passing, until March 8, 1935– the day when 11-year-old Hachi was finally reunited with the person he loved.
Celebrating the true 90-year-old story (which US dog lovers may know from the 2005 movie Hachi, which starred Richard Gere), the reproduction of the Japanese statue was unveiled at the memorial park in October 2016. Over 150 people and their four-legged family members attended the ceremony, including the Consul General of Japan in New York City, Ambassador Reiichiro Takahashi, and the author of “Reminiscence of Shibuya,” Mrs. Yumi MacDonald:
Moorestown
When 30 fiberglass Nipper statues were decorated by artists for charity in 2005 to celebrate Moorestown’s ties to the Victor Talking Machine Company the news was music to dog lovers’ ears.
Placed at various locations throughout the city, today “The Roots of Nipper” by Margaret Ingersoll is one of only a few of the Fidos fortunate enough to still be seen by the public.
Morristown
Helping to open the eyes of the world to the limitless abilities of people without sight, Buddy played a vital role in history as the service dog to a visually impaired man with an inner vision of a better tomorrow– Morris Frank, the co-founder of The Seeing Eye. Established in 1929, 16,000 guide dogs teams haver been paired since its start.
Over the years the memory of Buddy’s accomplishments has been celebrated in a number of books, including Morris and Buddy: The Story of the First Seeing Eye Dog, Dog Diaries #2: Buddy and First Lady of the Seeing Eye, which was co-authored by Morris Frank.
The made for TV movie Love Leads the Way: A True Story brought the tale to life for a new generation in the 1980s, and the city of Morristown has honored Buddy and Morris Frank with a statue by John Seward Johnson II that illustrates their special bond.
By Kritzolina – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53992001
Mount Olive
At the Veterans Memorial at Turkey Brook Park in Mount Olive statues salute the four-legged US soldiers who have served their country in wartime, among them:
Sergeant Stubby, who saved the members of the US 102nd Infantry Regiment from mustard gas attacks, tackled a German soldier and provided solace to wounded men during World War I.
Smoky the War Dog, a tiny Yorkshire Terrier who kept 250 soldiers in the Signal Corps from harm’s way during World War II by running a communication cable through a 70-foot-long, 8-inch pipe– a feat which spared the men three days of grueling work which would have exposed them all to enemy bombings.
Nemo, a German Shepherd Dog who bravely protected his handler from the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War in spite of suffering devastating facial wounds which led to the loss of an eye.
West Orange
A statue honoring the estimated 350 search and rescue dogs who looked in vain for survivors of the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon stands at Essex County Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange.
Unveiled less than three months after the 2016 passing of Bretagne, the last 9/11 Ground Zero search dog, the four-foot tall statue has taken its place on the grounds among a number of reverent remembrances of that dark day in 2001, including bronze helmets commemorating the police officers and firefighters who lost their lives trying to save their fellow man.
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