In honor of National Love Your Pet Day, we decided to take a look back to when Virginia got its own state dog!
In 1966, a bill was proposed that, after being signed into law, made the American Foxhound the state dog of Virginia. You can watch the classic footage and read the original script below!
“While more important matters are holding the spotlight at the General Assembly, some four-footed Virginians who would be affected by one bill seem very unconcerned.
State Sen. Fred Bateman of Northern Virginia recently introduced a bill that would make the American Foxhound the Commonwealth’s state dog.
Bateman’s idea is that the foxhound, a breed that originated in Virginia, is symbolic of a sport pursued by George Washington and other famous Virginians. It is associated, especially by hunters and hound owners, with the gentle manners and courtly living of an earlier era, when brightly-clad horsemen pursued the fox.
The foxhounds, apparently, couldn’t care less."