La Conner, WA

"Dirty Biter" was an odd-looking dog, mostly from a broken jaw he got when he was a pup in the early 1970s. He belonged to Suzie Bacanello, who had purchased Dirty Biter for a few bucks at Clark's Feed and Seed in Bellingham. But he would wander, and one of his favorite hangouts was a First Street watering hole named the 1890s Tavern, where a bar stool was reserved for him. His favorite dish was the broasted chicken, but he never refused an offer of a steak or a burger.

Dirty Biter always came home from his travels, until he was killed in a dogfight in 1982. Heartbroken, the town named a small park on First Street for Dirty Biter, then added a life-size bronze of the little mutt. Dirty Biter sits on a metal bench, his tongue lolled out of his mouth, next to his favorite tavern.

A sign tells his story, and concludes, "Dirty Biter -- Our Hero."