Snowdogs by the Sea auction raises £337,900 for local charity

Hundreds of thousands of people tracked the Snowdogs on the trail, more than 400 people an hour flocked to say goodbye at their Farewell event on Sunday 4th and Monday 5th December.

Yesterday (Tuesday December 6) at Brighton Dome Corn Exchange the beautiful sculptures went under the hammer.

The sell-out auction was hosted by acclaimed auctioneer Tim Wonnacott, with bidding hitting the incredible heights of £22,000 for Snowdog Max who was the top dog of the night.

Max was painted by renowned artist Sarah Arnett.

Hot on his heels for the top dog space was Boomer, Norman Cook’s Snowdog. Dog lovers frantically bid against each other to take home what Norman Cook described as “the most overpriced, oversized, ludicrous sound system in the world” Boomer sold for £20,000.

Sarah Harvey said – “Snowdogs by the Sea has been an absolutely phenomenal success; we’ve worked so hard on the project for the last year and the reaction from the public has been incredible. We’ve seen fantastic support for Martlets, I think thanks to the project local people understand what hospicecare is, which is vital, because without support from the local community we wouldn’t exist. The auction was an emotional and nerve racking evening, Tim did an expert job and he helped us raise such an astounding sum of money. £337,900 will make a huge difference to Martlets.”

More than 9.1k people watched the auction live on the Snowdogs by the Sea Facebook page with online bidding provided by local company Bid Logix.

When the dogs left the streets, there was a public outcry, but at least one pooch will remain in Brighton.

One Family successfully bid on their stunning dog Bella, winning her for £8,500.

Her new home will be outside their offices on West Street so passers-by can still drop in to see the sculpture.

Process Pup will also stay in Brighton, after his winning bid came from a local Hanover community group who crowd funded for the dog, a community vote will decide where he’ll make his home.