Statue of Alaskan Malamute Dino stands in the centre of small square in Donovaly, mountain resort in central Slovakia.
Dino (1990 - 1996) was the first nordic dog in Donovaly and basically the iniciator of
first race in dog sledding, a sport that became extremelly popular since 1992 in this mountain resort.
Donovaly hosted many important races in dog sledding since, including
FISTC European Championship (1996, 2002, 2008, 2010) and FISTC World Championships (2011).
Dino is arguably only
third statue of nordic dog in the world and the first one in Europe.
Statues of first two nordic dogs are both in North America, and both are dedicated to same incident.
In 1925 it was vital to deliver diphteria vaccines from Anchorage, Alaska to village of Nome, which was more than 1000 miles distant.
Only dog sled managed to overcome such distance in 46-degrees Celsius frost within 127.5 hours.
Two dogs took decisive part in this dog sled -
Balto, who's statue is in New York Central Park and
Togo, his statue is in Anchorage, Alaska.
From Togo's statue are starting the worlds' longest dog sledding races each year.
Bronze statue of Dino is more than 100 kilograms heavy, created by academic sculptor
Oto Bachorik in 2006.
Slovak description:
Na namesti v centre Donoval mozete vidiet krasnu bronzovu sochu psa.
Ide o aljasskeho malamuta Dina (1990 - 1996), ktory bol vlastne iniciatorom prvych pretekov psich zaprahov na Donovaloch v roku 1992.
Odvtedy sa zacala pisat bohata tradicia pretekov, Donovali boli dejiskom viacerych Majstrovstiev Europy (1996, 2002, 2008, 2010) a dokonca aj Majstrovstiev sveta (2011) v tomto sporte.
Zaujimavostou je, ze Dino je len tretou sochou severskeho plemena na svete a prvou mimo americkeho kontinentu.
Prve dve patria psom, ktore boli v roku 1925 sucastou zaprahu s vakcinou zaskrtu, ktory prekonal 1000-milovu vzdialenost z Anchorage do eskimackej osady Nome za 127.5 hodiny.
Zachranili tak mnozstvo zivotov. Zasluzili sa o to hlavne dvaja psi - Balto, ktoreho socha stoji v Central Parku v New Yorku a Togo so sochou v Anchorage na Aljaske.
Prave pri soche Toga zacinaju kazdorocne najdlhsie preteky psich zaprahov na svete.
Autorom stokilogramovej bronzovej sochy je akademicky sochar Oto Bachorik, ktory ju odlial v roku 2006.