Zelda Wisdom; Portland, OR, USA
Zelda sits in front of the Heathman a hotel famous for its treatment of pets. Photo: Zelda Wisdom Facebook Page Happy National Dress Up Your Pet Day. Yes, that's an actual day in the United States! I'll be using it as an excuse to talk about the statue of Zelda Wisdom in Portland. If you don’t know Zelda by name you’ll probably recognize her face. Zelda is a bulldog celebrity. Really, she’s a model, famous for her work in greeting cards and calendars, and her manager/publicist/writer is Carol Gardner. It makes the most sense to talk about Carol before we get to Zelda and her statue. Carol Gardner was an advertising executive, who went through a tough divorce at 52 and her lawyer joked that she should either get a therapist or get a dog. She chose the latter and brought Zelda, a four-month-old English bulldog into her home. Zelda proved her worth immediately by improving Carol’s mood, but her appetite was huge. When Carol heard about a contest at a local pet store givi...