Muggins, the famed dog who helped raise money for the Red Cross during the First and Second World Wars, will soon have a place of honour at a Victoria legion.
The Trafalgar/Pro Patricia Legion is set to display the stuffed, purebred Spitz to the public on Aug. 30 and Sept. 20.
Muggins’ philanthropic efforts began in 1914.
As Canadian soldiers dodged cannon fire and a never-ending onslaught of bullets, the dog roamed Victoria’s streets unaccompanied, collecting money to help those affected by the brutal fighting that was taking place in Europe.
A stand in front of the Empress Hotel, where Muggins started and ended his frequent fundraising efforts, displayed a sign that read: “I'm not chained to my job; I'm just doing my bit. Have you done yours?”
On his jaunts, the dog sported two donation boxes strapped to his back where passing pedestrians would drop donations.
“He would know when his cans were full by the weight, so when they weighed a certain amount, he would go back home,” said Alice Ross, the Trafalgar/Pro Patricia Legion’s membership and honours and awards chair. “Muggins was a very smart little guy.”
The Red Cross received every cent the dog raised, which, in today’s dollars, amounted to a whopping $400,000.
Thanks to his efforts, Muggins became a minor celebrity.
Legend has it, disembarking cruise ship passengers would ask to meet the fluffy pooch.
Muggins received eight awards for his invaluable efforts, including ones from the American and French Red Cross.
He even met the Prince of Wales, who would later become King Edward VIII, and Canadian general Sir Arthur Currie, who commanded the Canadian Corps from 1917 to 1919.
Owned by wealthy philanthropist G.W. Woodward, the dutiful dog was born in 1913 – just one year before the Great War erupted – and died in 1920 after catching pneumonia.
To preserve him, Muggins was taxidermized and put in storage, until the outbreak of the Second World War when the Red Cross Superfluities Store on Government Street put the dog on display to inspire donations.
After that conflict drew to a close, Muggins' story gets muddy. Nobody knew for sure where he was being kept, until 2021 when a View Royal couple found the dog in their attic.
“He was lost there for a while and they found him again up in the attic where he had been for quite some time,” said Ross. “The house was sold a couple times and nobody bothered to look in the attic and one day they did, and there was Muggins.”
Eventually, the pooch wound up on display at the Lieutenant Governor’s House.
This week, 111-year-old Muggins will be moved again, this time to the Trafalgar/Pro Patricia Legion – the heroic dog's forever home.
