How a caramel-coloured street dog became a Brazilian national symbol

Here is the story of how a common street mongrel became a Brazilian national symbol.

Viral phenomenon

The caramelo rose to virality on the internet in 2019, when social media accounts began posting all kinds of content featuring the cute dog — whether it be a caramelo urinating on stage during a dance show or one playing dead while receiving chest compressions for a CPR training video.

The dog’s antics took Brazil by storm so-much-so that a petition to replace the macaw on Brazil’s 10-reais ($1.65) bill garnered some 50,000 signatures. “The caramelo has established itself as a landmark of the Brazilian people, being well loved and received in all states of the country, being an excellent representative of our culture,” the petition proclaimed. In 2020, another petition to put the dog on the 200-reais note received triple the support.

What drove this sudden virality? For one, dogs have consistently been the internet’s favourite animal. According to Google Trends data, ‘dog’ has always been the most searched animal term, comfortably more than ‘cat’, throughout Google’s history (which is available from 2004 onwards). And search interest peaked in 2018-19 — just when the Brazilian caramelo was becoming viral.

Spirit of Brazil

To the rise of doggos on the internet, add the values that caramelos stand for in Brazilians’ eyes, and you have a perfect storm. Caramelos are seen as kind, gritty survivors. Most importantly, they are mixed-breeds — something that many Brazilians see themselves as.

Once a matter of shame (as the now infamous term “mongrel complex” would suggest), today, many see Brazil’s diverse roots — immigrants, enslaved Africans and Indigenous people — as a source of pride.

Tina Castro, an English teacher in Rio de Janeiro, told the AP that loving a caramelo was analogous to loving the “crazy mixture” of Brazil and its people.“It comes from a marginal place, like Brazil. It has a history of survival and marginalisation… We value the caramelo in the way we value our country, as it is,” Castro said.

Homeless icon

Beyond the Netflix production with a caramelo as a protagonist, others catapulting the dog into the spotlight include Rio’s Sao Clemente samba school, where kids in caramelo costumes will headline the annual carnival.

But according to Lt Col Sidnei Robson Pazini, Brazilians are merely rediscovering long-lost devotion. He pointed to the Rio military police’s museum and archive, and said the “most iconic, most emblematic” piece — more than the muskets, cannon or painting worth almost $1 million — is a taxidermied caramelo that is about 150 years old.

But despite caramelos’ newfound status, the animal still needs help. Volunteers at two shelters told the AP the mutts still get passed over for smaller, fluffier or whiter dogs. Caramelo puppies are inevitably picked last, one shelter worker said.

Freitas said he aims for his film to touch Brazilians’ hearts and transform caramelo affinity into action. Since filming wrapped Nov. 26, six of the film’s once-homeless canines were adopted by crew members and others. “It’s a story that I hope is worthy of the dogs, because they are incredible,” Freitas said, with his own caramelo — the film’s inspiration — at his feet. “They change our lives.”

With inputs from the Associated Press