The most scandalous monument to dogs "Kind Dog Gavryusha" or "Monument to the Stray Dog"

The most scandalous monument to dogs in Saint Petersburg turned out to be the “Kind Dog Gavryusha” or the “Monument to the Stray Dog.” The monument to the stray dog Gavryusha appeared in the courtyard of a house on Malaya Sadovaya Street in 1999. The idea to install this unusual monument belongs to the St. Petersburg Guild of Blacksmiths and Artists. The city residents also call this sculpture the monument to the Kind Dog or the monument to Nyusha. The author of the sculpture based it on his own dog, which he took from the street. At first, he named her Gavrosh, but when it turned out she was a girl, he changed the name to Gavryusha.

The sculpture is made of wrought iron. Its deliberately non-naturalistic style reflects the preference of Viktor Sivakov, director of the regional architectural and artistic foundation, for modernism. Today, Gavryusha lives in the courtyard at house number 11 on Pravda Street. It was moved here on June 1, 2007, from Malaya Sadovaya, where the sculpture was originally installed along with the cats Yenisei and Vasilisa.

The “Stray Dog” was forged by Kuznetsov-Sergeev. Its height is 60 centimeters, and the pedestal raises it another 18 centimeters. Who would have thought that such a small sculpture would spark a whole scandal?

At the unveiling of the Gavryusha monument, which took place a year before the millennium, in 1999, fateful words were spoken that despite the lack of pedigree, the dog is smart and helps fulfill wishes. And since, according to the guests, Gavryusha is considered a literate dog who can read, all the walls of the courtyard where the monument was installed ended up covered with various requests and wishes. The situation with the garbage and the requests on the walls was not resolved even by the special “Mailbox of Dreams” from Yuri Krush’s workshop, which was installed on September 4, 2001. Although there was a place to drop notes containing wishes, many undisciplined citizens continued to write on the walls, which caused dissatisfaction among the residents of the surrounding houses. Therefore, under pressure from local residents, Gavryusha was expelled from Malaya Sadovaya. The last straw contributing to this was vandalism. Due to her popularity, Nyusha’s nose was broken off, her coat was damaged in many places, and inscriptions appeared on the sculpture itself.

After the sculpture was repaired and installed in a new location, the way the message is conveyed changed. Now, for the “Kind Dog” to fulfill your wish, you simply need to whisper it in her ear. To appease her, you can use a coin or a candy, placing it in her mouth.

Sources:

https://peterburg.center/maps/pamyatnik-sobake-gavryushe.html

https://www.ptmap.ru/monuments/2212