West Midlands woman puts photos of her beloved hamster on huge city billboards after taking his ashes around Europe
An animal lover who made headlines for spending £3.5k to scatter her late hamster's ashes in Hawaii has now had his image featured on a giant billboard in her West Midlands home city.
Lisa Murray-Lang, 49, has paid for a photo of her beloved Spud to be displayed on a 100ft-high billboard in Birmingham to help preserve his memory.
Lisa hit the headlines in 2023 when it emerged she flew to Hawaii to have most of his ashes scattered during a ceremony in Honolulu after Spud sadly died in 2022 aged three years and seven months.
Lisa later travelled 1,500 miles with the remaining ashes to visit all his 'favourite places'.'
Lisa was browsing Facebook one night recently and saw an article about allowing the local community to advertise on billboards on the Allsee Innovation Centre in Longbridge, Birmingham, at £1 a picture.
Keen to get involved, Lisa decided to pay to have Spud on the big screen as another way to remember him.
Lisa, a self-employed pet sitter from Birmingham, said: "I was on Facebook one night and saw an article about the video board being set up.
"They were offering the local community to join businesses for a £1 per picture so I thought it would be amazing to see Spud on a giant screen.
"I was over the moon and so proud to see his little face.
"I popped out last night to see him shining brightly like the star he was. He also brightened up others as well who remembered his adventures during lockdown.
"It was good to spread the Spud love!"
Lisa had previously carried Spud in a vial on a necklace to some of Europe's most recognisable sights.
She visited London, Paris and Amsterdam in 2023 - all with Spud hanging around her neck.
Lisa got Spud, who she named after a character in the Irvine Welsh book Trainspotting, in June 2019. She then spent hours during the Covid pandemic making her pet models of famous locations - both real and fictional.
Lisa made dozens of miniature real-life sets including Hogwarts, Coronation Street and 10 Downing Street as well as European cities.
After he died, unable to let him go completely, she kept some of the Syrian hamster's ashes with her.
She spent £3.5k and travelled 7,000 miles to scatter some of his ashes on a beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.
And in 2023 she and Spud toured Europe. They visited the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre in Paris over six days in September. They then went to Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and 10 Downing Street on a two-day trip to London in November before hopping on the Eurostar for a five-day jaunt to Amsterdam at the start of December.
There Spud was taken to the Van Gogh museum and a cat rescue centre - on a canal boat.
Lisa said: "Spud loved the model of Buckingham Palace I made him.
"He used to stick his head over the top next to the flag and give a royal wave.
"And his first adventure was my cardboard model of an art gallery.
"I put works of art all over the walls and he used to stop and look intently at all of them - so it was important to go to the Van Gogh museum and the Louvre."
You can see Spud on the billboards in Longbridge again between December 28 and 31.