Murals for Mutts

By Brad Davis

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Story by Brad Davis of ABC Action News

Georgina Brown arrived with a photograph of two dogs. She was there to have her two dogs Linus and Bobi memorialized on a downtown St. Petersburg wall.

"I lost Linus in '99 and Bobi in '04. And of course I still think of them all the time," said Brown as she handed the photographs to a woman with paint on her hands.

"I think it's a fantastic idea," said Brown, wiping tears from her eyes. Anna Hamilton is the artist behind the brush that helps to keep these memories alive. "I know how much it means to the people. It means so much for them to see it. So I really try to do the best that I can for each one," said Hamilton.

Georgina loves the concept behind Murals for Mutts. "I can't think of a better way, not just to remember our pets and make them immortal; but to help the dogs and cats that need help from people," she said.

Mutts for Murals works like this: A wall space is donated, people pay to have their pets become public art, then much of the proceeds are donated. The St. Pete Pet Project wall will contribute money to Pet Pal Animal Shelter and Friends of Strays.

"It depends on what the neighborhood rescue is basically. We find one that we want to work with, and that's how that works," explained Hamilton.

Angel and Fly Girl were the very first. But others, with names like Lotus, Sammy, Max, Bailey, Peaches, Punkin and Precious helped to complete a large two-walled mural in downtown Dunedin -- nicknamed Dogedin.

"I never had any idea it would turn out to be this big, but people love it. And they still, I started it over a year ago and I still get calls almost everyday about it; people that want to be on it," said Hamilton as she gazed at the mural.

Brenda Bowen already has four dogs painted on the St. Pete wall. Today, she's adding two more.

"It's just amazing. To me, it's the ultimate in city beautification. I can't think of a better way to beautify the city and raise awareness for animal rescue," said Bowen.

Ana says as long as there's animals to be rescued and pets to honor, she'll just keep right on painting.

Originally Posted: 06/16/2011

See original story on ABC Action News.

For more information contact Murals for Mutts @ 727-902-1671

muralsformutts@gmail.com  (Minimum donation prices: Cats and Kittens $75, Small Dogs $100, Medium Dogs $125 & Large Dogs $175) 

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