Artist, Merchant to Preserve Dog Mural Pets

Luanne Haver had a vision for her new Main Street business when she took over on June 1.

She was excited to revamp her prime downtown location, situated snugly between and , and immediately sought to unify the three distinct areas at  with a matching theme. This included scaling back on certain inventory and bringing in a new color scheme. 

“I wanted it to be brighter, and I was trying to make the space more unified,” Haver told Dunedin Patch at her Main Street shop on Monday. The wine shop has an outdoor patio, a wine retail area and a pet retail business inside called Paws on Main Street. “People think this is three different businesses.” 

It's in planning for her renovation that she noticed some serious water damage on three dog-adorned wooden panels fronting the outdoor patio.

Water Wreaks Havoc on Some Portraits

The damaged panels contained 18 hand-painted pet portraits that are a part of the iconic , public art project that raised money for Dunedin Doggie Rescue.

Haver immediately contacted the artist: Anna Hamilton.

“When Anna told me why the dogs were there, I said, 'What can we do about it?'” Haver said. 

Hamilton agreed the panels needed to be replaced and told Haver she would have a friend professionally cut the portraits out and return them to their owners. 

A Fresh Look May Mean Moving Other Pets

The women also talked about refreshing the storefront, which contains more than 100 animals, some of which are the original Dogedin dogs. 

“I knew she wanted to paint the walls, so I asked her if we could cut around the animals,” Hamilton said, meaning to paint over just the background and leave the animals. “It was painted eight years ago. It needed to be repainted.” 

The women agreed that roughly 20 of the animals that appear higher in the mural should be relocated.

Hamilton begins the month-long process of painstakingly recreating each of the animals (mostly dogs and some cats) on Tuesday. Some will be repainted lower within the same mural, others may be moved to the one at , Hamilton said.

Haver said she is contributing to any expenses Hamilton incurs during the process. 

Changes Cause Firestorm

Hamilton said she  in trying to get the word out to the people who donated up to $100 years ago to have their animals included in the mural. 

“My goal was to let people know about what was happening before it happened so they wouldn’t freak out,” she said. “But they freaked out anyway.” 

Haver, who previously operated a ladies' boutique in Safety Harbor, said she wants to phase out the Paws on Main Street merchandise and focus more on the wine part of the business. 

"I love dogs ... and I love this city,” Haver said, adding that any leftover pet merchandise will likely be donated to Dunedin Doggie Rescue. 

“I am very happy with the whole thing,” she continued. “When people see this when it’s done ... they’re going to think it’s beautiful.” 

Editor's Note: To find out if your pet is going to be relocated, contact Anna Hamilton at muralsformutts@gmail.com.