He’s a living football legend who just happens to call Point Cook home.
And while he may not get a hefty pay cheque like some of the other big names in AFL, this stalwart of the game gets more attention than most.
Sid is the official mascot of the Western Bulldogs Football Club and attends all home games, making up part of the guard of honour for players and mixing with fans.
His owners, Jerome and Emma Murnane, of Murlane Kennels in Point Cook, said that since becoming one of only two live mascots in the AFL five years ago, the British bulldog had lapped up his celebrity status.
“It’s been great. He’s certainly very well known,” Mr Murnane said. “I’d like to say we’ve trained him to act the way he does, but the truth is that he does it all by himself.
“He plays it up for the cameras and if someone is posing for a photo he’ll raise a paw to try to get a pat.” Mr Murnane said a dog like Sid could cost up to $4000.
“The reason they cost so much is that it costs a lot to breed them,” he said.
“They’re man-made dogs; they couldn’t really exist in the wild. We have to use artificial insemination to get the female pregnant and they have to be delivered by caesarean.”
The only other club to have a living mascot is the West Coast Eagles, who have a wedge-tailed eagle called Auzzie.
Mr Murnane said the dog was named after actor and comedian Sid James from the Carry On films, and he hoped he could provide the successor as the Bulldogs’ mascot when Sid retired.
