Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Madra Dog makes the Christmas scene

Rottweiler statue pulls donations for live brethren (and...cats)

Janet Mika (left, with Frankie) and Rick Albin (right, with Clancy) welcomed donations from Danielle and Angelique.
Janet Mika (left, with Frankie) and Rick Albin (right, with Clancy) welcomed donations from Danielle and Angelique.

Last week on Madra Avenue, Madra Dog was decked out in a green and red cap, oversized sunglasses with red frames, and a large red bow. The 30-inch-tall rottweiler statue belongs to Janet Mika. Since she placed it at the bottom of her driveway in 2012, it's become a minor celebrity and mascot for philanthropy.

Madra Dog's time-change outfit

Dogs and cats are the focus of Madra Dog’s 2017 holiday collection drive, which continues through December 15. Food and toys for dogs and cats will be distributed by Meals on Wheels after items are sorted and organized by the Helen Woodward Animal Center. The organizations collaborate on AniMeals, a program that started in 1984 and is now in 300 cities, said Debbie Case, Meals on Wheels San Diego County CEO. Meals on Wheels delivered meals to almost 3300 seniors, 160 dogs, and 120 cats during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017, she said on December 7.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Donors last week included Kris Jacobson-Dill and her daughters Danielle and Angelique. They brought a box of Meow Mix and bag of Blue Buffalo cat food.

Kris, whose red sweatshirt bore the greeting “Feliz Navidog,” shared a song that the trio sings when driving past the statue: “Madra Dog, Madra Dog, He'll be there in a hurry. Madra Dog, Madra Dog, You don't have to worry.”

Receiving the donation was Mika and her brother Rick Albin...also golden retrievers Frankie and Clancy. Friends Paul McGurgan and Jodi Bay, photographer for Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas were also there.

Following the 2013 campaign to recall former mayor Bob Filner, “We don't do politics now," said Janet Mika.

Madra Dog displays started after Mika bought two statues that Albin identified as rottweilers. He painted them, using his late dog Gracie as a model. One dog was placed at the end of the driveway, and Mika put a hat on it to mark the location of an August 2012 party. That led to displays including patriotic holiday tributes and a time-change reminder featuring Madra Dog wearing a yellow smiley-face mask. Mika said the other statue is used to try on costumes during display planning.

Mika said the “biggest response” was to the campaign to recall San Diego mayor Bob Filner. In August 2013, he faced allegations of sexual harassment. A petition drive was launched, and Filner resigned on August 30 that year. “We had the petitions; then we did the Madra Dog for Mayor [display]. People loved it.”

As for the 2016 election, she said, “We don't do politics now.”

Furthermore, there were changes to displays saluting sports teams. “He wore a crown when the Chargers won and a scream face [mask] when the Chargers lost. We no longer cheer for the Chargers.”

Madra Dog on St. Patrick's Day

Mika asked the public which football team that Madra Dog should promote instead. While Mika considered the Broncos, “the highest vote was for the Aztecs. We always supported them, but do more [in displays] now.”

Mika is often asked, “What gets stolen?”

In 2016, someone stole Madra Dog’s St. Patrick's Day costume. "Someone must have had a party to go to," Mika said. More interesting to her is what’s added to displays. Someone left a full bottle of tequila in a “festive Cinco de Mayo display.” People leave hats and put toy dog bones in Halloween pumpkins.

By the end of 2013, Mika’s entourage included flat Madra Dog a life-sized photograph of the statue. The image was inspired by the Flat Stanley Project and the books by Jeff Brown. Flat Madra Dog snowboarded in Utah, attended a Straight No Chaser a capella concert in Las Vegas, and posed with the Cardiff Kook.

Jodi Bay photographed the photo when it toured Rancho Coastal Human Society. The tour commemorated three-dimensional Madra Dog’s promotion of pet adoptions.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Janet Mika (left, with Frankie) and Rick Albin (right, with Clancy) welcomed donations from Danielle and Angelique.
Janet Mika (left, with Frankie) and Rick Albin (right, with Clancy) welcomed donations from Danielle and Angelique.

Last week on Madra Avenue, Madra Dog was decked out in a green and red cap, oversized sunglasses with red frames, and a large red bow. The 30-inch-tall rottweiler statue belongs to Janet Mika. Since she placed it at the bottom of her driveway in 2012, it's become a minor celebrity and mascot for philanthropy.

Madra Dog's time-change outfit

Dogs and cats are the focus of Madra Dog’s 2017 holiday collection drive, which continues through December 15. Food and toys for dogs and cats will be distributed by Meals on Wheels after items are sorted and organized by the Helen Woodward Animal Center. The organizations collaborate on AniMeals, a program that started in 1984 and is now in 300 cities, said Debbie Case, Meals on Wheels San Diego County CEO. Meals on Wheels delivered meals to almost 3300 seniors, 160 dogs, and 120 cats during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017, she said on December 7.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Donors last week included Kris Jacobson-Dill and her daughters Danielle and Angelique. They brought a box of Meow Mix and bag of Blue Buffalo cat food.

Kris, whose red sweatshirt bore the greeting “Feliz Navidog,” shared a song that the trio sings when driving past the statue: “Madra Dog, Madra Dog, He'll be there in a hurry. Madra Dog, Madra Dog, You don't have to worry.”

Receiving the donation was Mika and her brother Rick Albin...also golden retrievers Frankie and Clancy. Friends Paul McGurgan and Jodi Bay, photographer for Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas were also there.

Following the 2013 campaign to recall former mayor Bob Filner, “We don't do politics now," said Janet Mika.

Madra Dog displays started after Mika bought two statues that Albin identified as rottweilers. He painted them, using his late dog Gracie as a model. One dog was placed at the end of the driveway, and Mika put a hat on it to mark the location of an August 2012 party. That led to displays including patriotic holiday tributes and a time-change reminder featuring Madra Dog wearing a yellow smiley-face mask. Mika said the other statue is used to try on costumes during display planning.

Mika said the “biggest response” was to the campaign to recall San Diego mayor Bob Filner. In August 2013, he faced allegations of sexual harassment. A petition drive was launched, and Filner resigned on August 30 that year. “We had the petitions; then we did the Madra Dog for Mayor [display]. People loved it.”

As for the 2016 election, she said, “We don't do politics now.”

Furthermore, there were changes to displays saluting sports teams. “He wore a crown when the Chargers won and a scream face [mask] when the Chargers lost. We no longer cheer for the Chargers.”

Madra Dog on St. Patrick's Day

Mika asked the public which football team that Madra Dog should promote instead. While Mika considered the Broncos, “the highest vote was for the Aztecs. We always supported them, but do more [in displays] now.”

Mika is often asked, “What gets stolen?”

In 2016, someone stole Madra Dog’s St. Patrick's Day costume. "Someone must have had a party to go to," Mika said. More interesting to her is what’s added to displays. Someone left a full bottle of tequila in a “festive Cinco de Mayo display.” People leave hats and put toy dog bones in Halloween pumpkins.

By the end of 2013, Mika’s entourage included flat Madra Dog a life-sized photograph of the statue. The image was inspired by the Flat Stanley Project and the books by Jeff Brown. Flat Madra Dog snowboarded in Utah, attended a Straight No Chaser a capella concert in Las Vegas, and posed with the Cardiff Kook.

Jodi Bay photographed the photo when it toured Rancho Coastal Human Society. The tour commemorated three-dimensional Madra Dog’s promotion of pet adoptions.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Syrian treat maker Hakmi Sweets makes Dubai chocolate bars

Look for the counter shop inside a Mediterranean grill in El Cajon
Next Article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader