By Hunt Archbold

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla.—As the Hawks’ Josh Smith and Josh Childress hop around the country searching for their next big payday and the WNBA’s Becky Hammon prepares to controversially don Russia’s colors next month in Beijing to earn hers, I find myself lounging on the beach not thinking of hoops and/or fat cash-earning opportunities, but rather of dogs and their fellows in the animal kingdom. Here on this beach, dogs are permitted to be walked on a leash, while next door at Neptune Beach, it’s strictly no canines allowed. Such are society’s differing views of man’s best friend.

A year ago, the TV and radio airwaves were filled with angry rantings about what really went down at Michael Vick’s Bad Newz Kennels. And while the majority of viewpoints were outraged over the cruelty to the pooches, there were those who emphatically countered, “Well, they’re just dogs. Get over it.” And again last week, following the recent passing of Uga VI, the University of Georgia’s beloved mascot, there were those who vented online and on sports talk radio that the English bulldog who was felled by congestive heart failure was, indeed, just a dog.

But don’t tell that to the more than 1,200 people who signed Uga’s online guest book. Or those who gathered at Samford Stadium for his burial, where university president Michael Adams suggested Uga was a symbol “of the tenacity and strength of the university.” No, Uga was much more than just a dog. But Uga is not the first, nor is he the last animal to captivate a sporting audience. Animals have had and always will have a special place in people’s hearts. Not all people, mind you, but a lot of us. It’s been that way since old man Noah gathered up two of each, save for the unicorn, before the greatest flood of all.

Thoroughbred horses in particular have captured the attention of our sporting public. During the Depression, Seabiscuit became a symbol of hope for our country. Racing a half-century apart, both Man o’ War and Secretariat were beloved by millions, while the tragic passings of the great filly Ruffian in 1975 and Kentucky Derby champ Barbaro last year were mourned by countless just the same.

No one enjoys hearing about cruelty to animals. A dozen years ago, the North Carolina Tar Heel nation was both heartbroken and outraged when their ram mascot, Ramsese XXVI, was knifed 10 times in the chest, gutted and ultimately left for dead. Can you imagine what the uproar would be if something like that had happened to Uga or Reveille, the collie so revered at Texas A&M? Former A&M coach Jackie Sherrill was nearly vilified for his early ’90s action at Mississippi State when on the practice field, he had demonstrated for his team how a bull is castrated.

In the early ’80s, baseball Hall of Famer Dave Winfield was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals for intentionally throwing a ball at and killing a seagull on the field in Toronto. Former Georgia Tech golfer Tripp Isenhour was charged this year with animal cruelty after repeatedly hitting golf balls at a protected hawk, whose loud chirps were interrupting the filming of his instructional video, until he killed the bird with a direct shot to the head.

And then there’s the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has all kinds of problems with the way schools and teams handle their live mascots. PETA charges that school--such as LSU (tiger), Memphis (tiger), Baylor (bears), North Alabama (lions) and Southern University (jaguar), among others--that keep exotic animals in enclosures, no matter how elaborate, are inhumane. They feel it’s both unethical and unhealthy to keep animals in captivity for the sole purpose of being a mascot, noting the passing of LSU’s tiger mascot last year as a result of renal failure and the premature death of Southern’s jaguar mascot in 2004.

While we’re not talking blood sports such as dogfighting or bullfighting, there does need to be a balance between human pleasure and animal welfare. That’s something we all should should agree on. But was Uga’s passing made out to be more of a news story than it should’ve been? Based on the outpouring of love that was shown, I’d say no. And as I prepare to walk my own canine, the Deputy D-O-G, down the beach, I think of him and other canines I have both owned and known, and I understand completely when I hear folks say that Uga was a good dawg indeed.

Happy times … and howl at the moon!  SP