Yes Friends, UGA VII is not unique in his role or death as a mascot.

According to Wickipedia, Yale University's "Handsome Dan XIV" also died of a heart attack way back in 1996. saying " unfortunately, he also showed the undesirable effects of inbreeding so often seen with such a rarefied family tree, possessing a temperament so hyperexcitable that he died in office from a heart attack "

I am loathe to stoop to such tawdry and lowbrow comments like: "Symbol of Georgia? Inbred? ... NEVER!" Nor will I draw any parallels between Marc Richt and the term "hyperexcitable". I'll just sit back and observe that the sort of selective breeding done to those poor animals in order to shorten their faces, broaden their shoulders, and narrow their waist is stupid and cruel. Why doesn't the University of Georgia take a progressive step and select an UGA that has been bred in a healthy and sustainable manner - and provide an example for all of the morons who are out buying inbred bulldog puppies from the puppy mill in order to "root" for their team?

Let the flaming begin! And here's a link to a decent article about what inbreeding has done to this once noble breed of dogs:

Bullishly inhumane by design? On bulldog breeding and welfare