At the heart of South Main Plaza in Mt. Vernon sits an unexpected menagerie: a fountain crowded with painted cast-aluminum dogs, watched over by a cat, a pony, two pairs of birds, and, inexplicably, an apple. At the very center sits a golden bone, and the cat, smart enough to know better, keeps itself perched safely out of the spray.
It all started when Gambier resident Phil Samuell saw photos online of a similar dog fountain in Toronto's Berczy Park, designed by landscape architect Claude Cormier. He liked it enough that he and his wife, Mary, and their golden retriever, Sandy, made the trip to Toronto to meet Cormier and see the real thing. That visit is what got the idea rolling to bring one home to Ohio.
The fountain doesn't take itself too seriously. It's just a bunch of dogs (plus a cat, a pony, some birds, and that apple) caught mid-splash around a big golden bone, and it's become the kind of spot where people linger, trying to spot every animal hiding in the water.