NEW HAVEN — The English bulldog that served as the mascot for Yale athletics for the last nine years has died.
The school said Friday that Handsome Dan XVII was 9 years old. He died on Thursday in Quonochontaug, Rhode Island, while with his caretaker. The cause of death was most likely a heart attack.
The dog’s name away from Yale’s fields and courts was Sherman. He became the bulldog who represented the Bulldogs in 2007 and had met former Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush.
Yale hasn’t yet put together a plan to pick the next mascot.
The first Handsome Dan was picked in 1889, and this iteration was the 17th to hold the position.
