Pets Run This Town (9 Photos)

October 22, 2026

By Vidar

On these streets, the pets are in charge

A lost snail gets a missing poster. Dogs get their own library. A stray cat in Christchurch got a whole building wall, and then a home. Nine places where a pet, real or painted, is the most important resident on the block.

💛 Dog Portrait for a Vet Hospital — By Clara Leff in São Paulo, Brazil 🇧🇷

Clara Leff painted this dog at R. Cipriano Jucá 61 in Vila Madalena, with Colorgin Arte Urbana, for the Vet Domus veterinary hospital. Look at the bottom right: a real dog has taken a seat by the wall, as if it came to approve the likeness.

More: A Tribute to My Olivia, Partner of My Life

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🐈‍⬛ Olive — By SWIFTMANTIS in Christchurch, New Zealand 🇳🇿

Olive was a Christchurch stray waiting at the Cats Protection League of Canterbury when SWIFTMANTIS painted her for the Flare Street Art Festival. The point was to find her a home. The artist’s mural page now carries the update: she has been adopted.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsOliveSWIFTMANTIS · 2022 · Christchurch · New ZealandSWIFTMANTISChristchurchFLARE 20221The artist identifies Olive as a Christchurch stray who stayed at the Cats Protection League of Canterbury.swiftmantis.com2According to AA Directions, the mural helped Olive find a new home.aa.co.nz202214 MarStreet Art Cities record created; photograph date unspecified202220 AprFLARE organisers reported that Olive had been adopted2023AA Directions featured Olive in its Winter 2023 issueRead the full file →

More: Meet Olive, Mural by SWIFTMANTIS in New Zealand

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🐾 Squishee the Alleycat — By SWIFTMANTIS in Palmerston North, New Zealand 🇳🇿

Squishee lived under the artist’s old brick studio a few blocks away, with half an ear and half a tail. SWIFTMANTIS writes that she slowly moved from the junkyard to the doorway and then inside, until she had a real home with them. The mural went up for Street Prints: Papaioea 2020.

💡 Paw Fact: After Squishee died, the artist had her paw print inked and added it to the print of this mural; 10% of every sale goes to the Manawatu Alley Cats Trust.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsSquishee the AlleycatSWIFTMANTIS · 2020 · Palmerston North · New ZealandSWIFTMANTISPapaioea 2020331 Church St1According to SWIFTMANTIS, Squishee lived beneath his studio before finding a home with him.swiftmantis.com2The artist says Squishee’s painted tail wraps around the side of the building.swiftmantis.com2020Created for Street Prints Papaioea202217 JulDigerible published Katherine Ruiz Halkett’s mural photographs202316 JunIncluded in UCOL’s Street Art Papaioea overviewRead the full file →

More: Street (Cat) Art by SWIFTMANTIS in Papaioea, New Zealand

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🐕 Doggie Stick Library

A yellow cabinet, sticks hung on wooden pegs and a sign with red paw prints. This borrower did not wait for help reaching the shelf. Late returns are probably common.

More: Cute Signs (10 Photos)

🐌 “Gary, Come Home”

Someone drew a snail with a pink shell, wrote “Gary, come home” under it and taped it to a tree by the road. The owner is not named and there is no phone number. Gary is expected to know the way.

💡 TV Fact: Gary is SpongeBob’s pet snail, and the poster echoes “Have You Seen This Snail?”, a double-length SpongeBob SquarePants episode that first aired on Nickelodeon on November 11, 2005.

More: Clever Signs (9 Photos)

🐶 Sniffing the Chalk Dog

Someone drew a dog on a brick wall with a few lines of white chalk. A real dog walked by, ignored the face and went straight for the tail end. As far as dogs are concerned, that is a proper introduction.

More: Curious Dog

🏘️ “Pequeño Vecino / Little Neighbour” — By Megan Oldhues in Cancún, Mexico 🇲🇽

A dog sits in front of a parked car with its chin up, painted almost entirely in black, white and gray. Street Art Cities writes that Oldhues made it for the animals of Villas Otoch Paraíso, which residents feed and treat as part of the neighborhood, and that she used a broom head for many of the strokes.

More: Simply Breathtaking (8 Photos)

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👦 Boy with Dog — By Golsa Golchini in Milan, Italy 🇮🇹

Low on a metal panel, a patch of worn paint already looked a bit like a scruffy dog. Golsa Golchini painted a small boy holding the leash, and now the two are out for a walk at knee height.

More: Small Worlds (17 Photos)

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🦮 Guide Dogs — By ACHES in New Brighton, England 🇬🇧

Three dogs overlap in red, rainbow colors and blue across the whole end of a house, in the layered color style ACHES is known for. The mural honors guide dogs, which have deep roots on this stretch of the Wirral coast.

💡 History Fact: Guide Dogs says its story started in 1931, when Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond trained the first four British guide dogs from a lock-up garage in Wallasey, Merseyside, the town New Brighton belongs to.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsGuide DogsACHES · 2021 · New Brighton, EnglandACHESNew BrightonPainted 20211Three guide-dog portraits overlap across one gable.goodnewsliverpool.co.uk2According to Good News Liverpool, the mural honours Wallasey’s guide-dog history.goodnewsliverpool.co.uk202126 AugCreation date recorded by Street Art Cities202127 AugMural unveiling reported202114 DecIncluded in a New Brighton street-art featureRead the full file →