{"id":256021,"date":"2026-01-21T11:16:21","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/256021\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T11:16:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T11:16:21","slug":"celebrity-cat-susie-to-be-honoured-with-dorchester-statue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/256021\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrity cat Susie to be honoured with Dorchester statue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ros TappendenSouth of England<\/p>\n

\"AmaAma Menec<\/p>\n

The statue would be at eye-level for children<\/p>\n

A celebrity cat whose hometown adventures have earned her a worldwide following is to be honoured with a bronze statue.<\/p>\n

Susie the cat is often seen in central Dorchester, Dorset, and a Facebook group dedicated to news and sightings of her has more than 11,000 members.<\/p>\n

Her owner, Jenny Graves, said an anonymous donor had asked permission to create a statue, depicting Susie in the style of a Roman-era cat as a nod to the town’s Roman origins.<\/p>\n

If planning permission is granted, the proposed statue will be cast by Weymouth sculptor Ama Menec and installed in Dorchester’s South Street.<\/p>\n

Susie moved from Upwey to Dorchester with owners Linda and Michael Crow, when they came to stay with Graves, their daughter, in 2023.<\/p>\n

After the move, they were inundated with calls from people concerned the cat was lost, so they changed her name tag to say: “Susie – Not lost, just adventurous.”<\/p>\n

Susie quickly attracted attention when she began wandering into shops and businesses<\/p>\n

Businesses and residents regularly post updates showing Susie making herself at home in pubs, shops and supermarkets.<\/p>\n

Graves, who is a hospital consultant, said: “We have people from all over the world following her so it’s been a nice thing.<\/p>\n

“I get at least two patients in every clinic who mention her.<\/p>\n

“I really like it \u2013 it’s allowed me to meet all sorts of people who I would not have otherwise met.”<\/p>\n

Graves said the donor, who is also project manager, wanted to remain anonymous but was someone with an interest in local ancient history who wanted to raise a statue to her pet.<\/p>\n

She said: “I don’t want to offend anyone but it’s completely crazy\u2026 in a good way.<\/p>\n

“If it increases footfall, it can only be a positive thing.”<\/p>\n

\"MatthewMatthew Darvill<\/p>\n

A calendar of photos taken by Matthew Darvill raised more than \u00a32,600 for Samaritans<\/p>\n

The sculpture will depict Susie wearing a Roman-style cat collar of glass beads. <\/p>\n

At her feet will be a Roman tile bearing her paw prints, similar to those found on a Roman tile in Gloucester.<\/p>\n

The statue will be installed at eye level for small children, on a plinth of Portland stone full of Jurassic Coast fossils.<\/p>\n

In 2024, a children’s book entitled Not Lost was published about Susie to raise money for People First Dorset, a charity helping people with learning disabilities.<\/p>\n

Charity manager Laura Kerr suggested the book after Susie turned up at her fourth-floor flat.<\/p>\n

The book’s authors – Kerry Martin, William Parmiter and Emily Burr, of People First Dorset – worked with Weymouth artist Catherine Owen, and about 100 people turned up to the book launch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Postcards by Catherine Owen have also been sold to raise money for a cat rescue charity.<\/p>\n

In December, a 2026 calendar featuring photos of Susie was created by local resident Matthew Darvill, raising more than \u00a32,600 for Samaritans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ros TappendenSouth of England Ama Menec The statue would be at eye-level for children A celebrity cat whose…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-256021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}