Spencer, a beloved golden retriever that gained fame cheering on runners during the Boston Marathon over the years, is certainly wagging his tail from above this weekend.
Hundreds of golden pooches showed up to the Common on Sunday sporting yellow marathon bandanas in honor of Spencer, who died from cancer on Feb. 17, and his sister Penny, who died eight days later from a tumor on her spleen and liver that caused internal bleeding.
“It is just so heartwarming to know he touched what I’d say millions of lives,” said Spencer and Penny’s owner, Richard Powers, of Holliston. “I think we are accomplishing his legacy of bringing awareness to canine cancer and how it affects family members, not just the dog.”
A tribute to Spencer, a massive 5.5-foot-by-5-foot portrait of the golden doggo, is hanging for public viewing until Thursday at the Hopkinton Center for the Arts, close to the marathon starting line. The print, done by Pittsburgh-based artist Tom Mosser, features Spencer in the pose that made him known and loved: sitting down holding a ‘Boston Strong’ flag and another flag of a heart.
Powers has raised more than $32,000 for Morris Animal Foundation’s Golden Retriever Study, one of the most comprehensive prospective canine health studies in the country. He told reporters Sunday that he wants to fund research on cancers that aren’t curable so dogs’ lives can be extended, bettering the lives of families.
MA Golden Meetups, a community of golden retriever families that organized Sunday’s celebration, raised $1,000 in bandana sales that it then donated to Powers.
Spencer beat two bouts of cancer, but Powers learned last fall that the cancer resurfaced in the form of an “aggressive, inoperable mass” in his liver.
“Spencer was a perfect example of fighting it,” he said. “That’s what made him an icon for the Boston Marathon. He faced the odds, he beat the odds. … It doesn’t have to be a death sentence.”
More than 20 runners waited in line at the third-mile mark in Ashland of last year’s 26.2-mile route from Hopkinton to Boylston Street to meet Spencer, sporting an official race bib as the marathon’s official dog.
Dozens of goldens walked to the finish line Sunday morning before the celebration at the common which had a turnout that quadrupled the expectations of Elisha Bussiere, co-founder of MA Golden Meetups.
Bussiere called canine cancer a “pandemic” amongst golden retrievers, with roughly two in three dogs being affected.
“There needs to be more research, and it needs to be a priority,” she said. “It’s not just ‘Oh, they have cancer. That’s it.’ There needs to be an answer, there needs to be a cure.”
Franklin residents Patty Walsh and her husband Michael brought their four-month-old golden Bentley to take in the fun at the common. The Walshes had lost two previous goldens to cancer, with the most recent, Colby dying from lymphoma the same week as Spencer and Penny.
Bentley is a therapy dog, following in the footsteps of Spencer, who visited hospitals, schools and assisted living centers. The Walshs brought Bentley to the Powers’ home last week.
“It was a good time for them to see another dog that is going to hopefully be something like Spencer was,” Patty said. “We’ll never measure up to Spencer, but we hope we will make him proud.”
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April 17, 2023 at 07:07AM
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Golden galore at Boston Common: Hundreds of golden retrievers gather in honor of Spencer, the Boston Marathon dog - Boston Herald
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