Legendary screen dog Lassie has won a spot on the first-ever Dog Walk of Fame, organizers announced Monday during a ceremony to unveil the new London landmark.
Other canine stars honored with a bench and a plaque at London’s Battersea Park include Gromit, of the Oscar-winning animated “Wallace and Gromit” films, Fang from the “Harry Potter” films, Bullseye from “Oliver!,” Toto from “The Wizard Of Oz,” and Chance and Shadow of “Homeward Bound.”
The British public picked the six inaugural honorees from a list of 15 dogs chosen by an international panel of film and dog experts.
“It is fantastic to see that this is felt the world over through the recognition given by the film industry, and the number of these films that are box office hits prove how much love the public has for dogs in general,” said Kennel Club secretary Caroline Kisko at the unveiling of the new landmark, which is situated near the famous Battersea Dogs’ Home, Britain’s largest home for abandoned dogs.
New canine inductees will be added each year. Popular screen dogs absent from this year’s honors include Pongo and Perdita from “101 Dalmatians” and the four-legged stars of “Lady and the Tramp.”