English Bulldog Named Babydog Makes Surprise Appearance in Mural on West Virginia History

English Bulldog Named Babydog Makes Surprise Appearance in Mural on West Virginia History
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's English Bulldog, Babydog, depicted in this zoomed-in shot of a new mural unveiled at the West Virginia Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., on June 20, 2024. Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature via AP
|Updated:
0:00

CHARLESTON, W.Va.—The English bulldog had never been featured prominently in West Virginia history. It has now.

Gov. Jim Justice’s 4-year-old pure breed Babydog joined the ranks of Abraham Lincoln, Civil War soldiers, and odes to Appalachian folk music in new murals under the golden dome of the state Capitol last week, alongside other state cultural symbols. Tucked into a mural about artistic traditions, the dog sits placidly between a banjo player and an artist painting the Seneca Rocks, one of the state’s best-known natural landmarks, in West Virginia’s Monongahela National Forest.