Death
On January 14, 1920 the Victoria Red Cross lost Muggins, its most beloved fundraiser. The cause of Muggins’ death was widely attributed to the dog’s two week battle with Pneumonia, which he appeared to had caught from a chill while fundraising just before Christmas. Dr. H. Keown, who was the Veterinary surgeon, did everything within his power to save Muggins life, but sadly this was not enough to save the renowned Spitz. Shortly after his death, Muggins was handed over to the taxidermist for a postmortem. During this process the dog’s hide had been saved and it was to be included in the proposed War Memorial when it was to be constructed and until then he was supposed to be on display in the Parliament Buildings. This did not happen and it is known by the Red Cross that Muggins was given to Mrs. Baker.
Memory
Muggins was seven years old at the time of his passing in 1920 and during these seven years he was able to touch the lives of numerous people in Victoria as well as abroad. Muggins is mostly remembered for his service to the Victoria Red Cross, which he successfully fund-raised over $14,000 for that organization alone. As mentioned earlier, Muggins had actually collected $21,000 during his life which means that the other $7,000 was raised for organizations other than the Red Cross. All of the fundraisers that Muggins contributed to were mentioned in the Daily Colonist in the January 15, 1920 issue and the causes listed were: “the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Protestant Orphanage, the Friendly Help, the Rotary Club (Christmas Fund), Craigdarroch, Esquimalt Hospitals, the I.O.D.E., Widows and Orphans’ Christmas tree fund, the Comrades of the Great War Orphans’ fund, and the Dr. O. M. Jones Chapter Milk fund”. By being involved in so many charitable fundraisers in the city it is hard to deny that Muggins had a tremendous impact on the community and that he touched the lives of many people during his lifetime.
Muggins would be remembered for his outstanding dedication to the Victoria Red Cross at home as well as his ability to gain the attention of foreign admirers. The decorations presented to the dog can be traced to a Victoria Daily Times article on January 15, 1920 and the ones attached to his harness were: a bar from the United States, a medal from the French Red Cross Society, a medal from the Great War Veterans of Canada, a badge from the men of the H.M.S. Lancaster, a gold badge from the military branch of the Y.M.C.A., and the auxiliary workers’ medal from Great Britain. Below this text there is a photograph of the medals Muggins earned during his service during the Great War.
References
“Muggins Career Ended by Pneumonia.” The Daily Colonist (Victoria). “Muggins Career Ended by Pneumonia.” 15 January 1920. http://archive.org/stream/dailycolonist62y27uvic#page/n6/mode/1up/search/red+cross+muggins.
“To Publish Muggins Life.” The Victoria Daily Times. 15 January 1920. http://acitygoestowar.ca/the-archive/documents-by-topic/civilian-life/fundraising-and-war-effort/.