Surfing pets have carved out their own niche in the worlds of competitive and free surfing.
There’s even a few big names in the pet surfing circuit, the canine Kelly Slaters and Carissa Moores. Hawaii’s beloved surfing dog, Luna, passed away in October. California’s Skyler the Surfing Dog retired from competitive surfing in August and surfs for fun at Slater’s Surf Ranch. And don’t forget the annual World Dog Surfing Championships in California that draws hundreds of surfing dogs each year.
But the surfing pets don’t stop there. There’s also surfing snakes, pigs, cats, goats, and even a surfing rat. Yup, you read that right.
But it’s the late Surf Dog Ricochet who may be immortalized through sculpture at California’s Del Mar Dog Beach–if $145,000 can be raised to cover the cost.
CBS8 posted the story above yesterday and captioned it:
“A famous animal sculptor is hoping to raise the funding needed to create a life-size bronze statue of Ricochet the Surf Dog.”
Ricochet was a female golden retriever and pioneer in canine surfing who passed away in March of this year. She started surfing competitively at 15 months old and also worked as a therapy dog for people with disabilities.
According to CBS8, Ricochet’s owner, Judy Fridono, asked world-renowned animal sculptor Susan Bahary to create a statue of the surf dog. Then unexpectedly, Fridono also died.
Bahary, who also sculpted President George H.W. Bush’s service dog “Sully,” is now on a mission to memorialize Ricochet.
“We need 145,000 dollars,” Bahary told CBS8.
The money would pay for the statue, Bahary’s time, and support funding for the National Service Animals Memorial.
“Yes, I really feel the memorial for Ricochet needs to happen. It’s been in my mind and heart. I can’t get it out I just feel like it needs to be born,” said Susan.
The fundraiser for the Ricochet Surf Dog Statue can be found here.
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