A crowd bleeding red and black cheered last month at the University of Georgia’s annual G-Day scrimmage as two purebred English bulldogs, one a 10-month-old puppy, and one a seasoned veteran of UGA’s football games, came onto the field.
After a long 8-year reign from Uga X, also called Que, who was in his spikes for two national championships, the English bulldog is retiring, and a 10-month-old puppy named Boom is taking his place.
With Boom’s legacy beginning, there is a long history of the mascots who came before him.
An era of switch-ups
The now iconic, once-titled by Sports Illustrated as the “all-time greatest mascot,” has not always been the figurehead for the University of Georgia’s football games. As the birthplace of public higher education, established in 1785, UGA has had hundreds of years to see a dramatic change in its mascot.
It all started with a goat. On February 22, 1892, the University introduced the goat for its first football game against Auburn University. While not much is known about the goat, old newspaper pieces show the goat wore a black coat with red “U.G.” letters on both sides and a hat and ribbons that decorated his high horns.
During the game, Auburn fans yelled “Shoot the billy-goat,” according to an article from the University of Georgia’s Small Business Development Center.
The goat did not last long, but there are many stories of how the name of the “bulldog” came to life. One version involves a female bull terrier, Trilby, who was owned by a student.
In 1894, Trilby, a solid white female bull terrier, was known for going to Herty Field daily with her owner. One day, Trilby failed to abide by her routine, and after a long search for the terrier, she was found with 13 newborn puppies.
“‘Well,’ suggested one of the players, ‘Trilby has brought us a name, Bulldogs.’ …Every time a game was played on Herty Field, the boys would floss Trilby and her 13 offerings up with red and black ribbons, and so attired they have gone down in history as perhaps the first ‘sponsors’ in southern football,” according to an interview with Ruth Stanton Cogill in the Atlanta newspaper.
Between the era of Trilby and the famous line of Ugas, three different English bulldogs served in the interim – Mr. Angel, Butch and Mike. Mike, a brindled English bulldog, has a statue located at the entrance of Memorial Hall.
“After the reign of Trilby and her family, chaos developed in the mascot department at the university. Many games had several, depending on which alumnus got his dog to the game first,” according to a quote from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in November 1962.
Once a bulldog, always a bulldog
In 1956, the line of solid white English bulldogs began when Sonny Seiler, a UGA law student at the time, and his wife, Cecelia Seiler, decided to bring their recently gifted dog out for a game day.
”We took him to the Sigma Chi fraternity house before the first home game,” Seiler said in an interview with CBS News. “Cecelia had made a shirt for him to wear out of a child’s T-shirt and sewed a ‘G’ on the front made from felt. We took him over there never intending to take him to the game. But after several iced teas — you know how that goes — everybody’s just, ‘Let’s take him to the game!’”
After the game, the dog was asked to be UGA’s mascot, and the legacy of the Seiler family’s bulldogs has lived on for 67 years now. The family shares their dogs with the University unpaid.
Since Uga I, known as Hood’s Ole Dan, who served from 1956-66, there have been 10 other Ugas, including the recently collared Boom.
Uga II, known as Ole Dan’s Uga served from 1966-1972. The next Uga was known as “Seiler’s Uga Three,” serving from 1972 to 1980 and taking the Bulldogs to the 1980 National Championship.
Vince Dooley’s “Dog of the Decade” served next from 1981 to 1989 and was the first mascot ever invited to a Heisman trophy presentation. Additionally, he was the first and only dog to ever attend a bowl game every year in his role. His official name was Seiler’s Uga Four or Uga IV.
Uga IV’s Magillicuddy II, also known as Uga V, was given the title of best college mascot in the nation. Serving from 1990 to 1999, he was not only a movie star but also featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Next served UGA’s heftiest live mascot, Uga V’s Whatchagot Loran. He weighed 65 pounds and had the biggest winning percentage until Uga X during his reign from 1999 to 2008.
From 2008-2009, Uga VII, Loran’s best, served a short term before passing away unexpectedly. Football players had Uga VII decals on their helmets in remembrance, and a wreath was placed on his dog house in the absence of the live mascot. Uga VII was known for enjoying taking pictures with fans.
Big Bad Bruce, Uga VIII, also served a short term from 2010-2011 after being diagnosed with lymphoma and later passing away from heart failure. He was named after Dr. Bruce Hollett of UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, who played a key role in the care of the Ugas throughout the years.
Uga IX, “Russ,” was the half-brother of Uga VII and served from 2012 to 2015. He reigned during two SEC Eastern Division Championships, as well as the wins of the Belk Bowl and the Capital One Bowl.
“Que,” Uga X, is the most recent mascot besides Boom, who reigned from 2015-2023. Uga X has the most wins in Georgia history and led UGA to two national championships.
The Seiler family line of Ugas holds a special place in UGA fans’ and students’ hearts.
“I think having a live mascot means it’s real,” said John James, sports editor at The Red & Black. “Like, anyone can be in a costume, but to have that live mascot is something that you can point to and say, ‘Yeah, he is our guy.’ … Any dude could wear a suit, but you have to be Uga to be Uga.”
Allie Jones, a UGA freshman and G-Day attendee, said she likes the variations the University has of the bulldog mascot.
“[Uga] is just so cute,” Jones said. “And I like the different takes off of, like, the bulldog. Like, you have Uga, and then you have Hairy Dawg, and then you have…Spike. So, I like that they’re all obviously bulldogs, but they’re all like different.”
How ethical is an English bulldog?
With there being 11 different Ugas in 67 years, there has been a call to question whether the pure-bred, white English bulldog is an ethical option as the University’s live mascot.
After UGA’s win against Texas Christian University in the national championship earlier this year, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to President Jere W. Morehead asking to retire Uga as a live mascot.
According to the letter from PETA, English bulldogs, along with other breeds, are breathing-impaired breeds. This breed is troubled with brachycephalic syndrome, a respiratory disorder that is the leading cause of death for bulldogs.
“Please be a champion not just in football but also for dogs. We hope you’ll consider replacing Uga with a willing human mascot, like the ones at many other universities,” Emily Trunell, a UGA alum and senior scientist at PETA, said in the letter.
This letter was a follow-up to another message sent in 2019 on behalf of PETA to get rid of the live mascot.
PETA has also tweeted about the situation multiple times, in both 2019 and 2023.
Most recently, PETA tweeted on April 12, four days before Uga XI took control, calling UGA the “losingest” school in the country for its use of the live mascot.
Dr. Christy Hand, a small animal veterinarian and UGA College of Veterinary Medicine alum, said that while English bulldogs and similar breeds struggle with a lot of health problems, there is a corrective surgery to fix their breathing problems specifically.
The procedure is known as an elongated, soft palate surgery for the mouth and stenotic nares repair. However, despite breathing problems being able to be fixed, the English bulldog is not the ideal breed for the average pet owner, according to Dr. Hand.
Dr. Hand also said that despite there being ethical concerns about the English bulldog, the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine uses all of the resources available to make sure the Ugas are taken care of.
“ I think the university has a lot of pressure from both sides,” Dr. Hand said. “I think they have a ton of pressure to maintain their history of having a live mascot. I mean, that is our that’s our history for hundreds of years.”
“I think they also have a lot of pressure from the way society is changing and viewing animal treatment, ethics, morals, PETA, that kind of thing. So I think they’re in a really tough spot, like they, you know, how do they decide what the right answer is?”