Kinshasa Dog Names

With 11 million people, you would think there would be a significant movie scene in Kinshasa, but stars are few and far between. However, there are two dogs in pop culture that connect quite well with Kinshasa on many levels - Henry and George.  

Henry is the name of a traveling dog but is also the name of the person who founded Kinshasa and called it Leopoldville. Henry the dog is a mix of a Husky, Staffy, Aussie, Boxer, and German Shepherd. The result is a high-energy dog that loves being outside. Fortunately, that’s the life Henry gets to lead.

His owners, Cynthia and Andre moved to Colorado to take advantage of the beautiful landscapes that make for exciting hiking opportunities. Once they settled in, they adopted Henry and included him in the adventures as well. Henry goes everywhere the pair go.

Because their social media accounts were taken over by photos of Henry, they opened an Instagram account for him, building up a following of 30,000 fans in three years.

However, whenever Cynthia and Andre leave Henry on his own, he stresses, frets, doesn’t eat and doesn’t drink. They decided to adopt a cat - but not just any cat. They needed one that could love hiking too and become Henry’s best friend.

They adopted Baloo the Siamese mix and the pair hit it off. Henry and Baloo now travel everywhere together, updating their half a million followers on Instagram with every trip.

Henry Morton Stanley, who founded Kinshasa, is an adventurer as well. Henry was a Welsh journalist who explored central Africa and underwent several successful exploration trips. His pioneering even helped King Leopold II of Belgium plunder the Congo Basin region - an act that saw him knighted in 1899. When he founded Kinshasa as a trading post, he called it Leopold after the King.

Another dog in pop culture is George, from the 1972 film of the same name. The movie follows a Saint Bernard called George who causes a lot of mischief in his neighborhood. When his owner gives him to a relative, the new owner then passes him over to a monastery until the original owner collects him. However, George escapes and ends up trapped. The only way to save him is for the second owner to want to save him.

The name of the dog, George, relates to George Foreman, the boxer. George fought Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle event held in Kinshasa in 1974. George lost and Muhammad Ali regained his World Heavyweight title.