Morgan McDonald is a Canadian sculptor. This statue was cast at the foundry owned by Morgan, The Newfoundland Bronze Foundry in Logy Bay, Newfoundland; here's McDonald's page on his Gander statue.
Gander was a Newfoundland who served very honorably with the Canadian military in World War II as the mascot of the Royal Canadian Rifles. He was killed when, during the Battle of Hong Kong (which began the day after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor), a Japanese hand grenade was lobbed at his unit; Gander picked the grenade up and ran toward the Japanese when the grenade detonated.
Gander is also the subject of two recent books: Sergeant Gander: A Canadian Hero by Robyn Walker and A Dog Named Gander by Sgt. Major George S. Macdonell and Sue Beard; click the links to go to discussions of these books here at The Cultured Newf.
This statue is part of the Gander Heritage Memorial Park in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. The town is deservedly famous for accommodating, with classic Canadian hospitality, some 7,0000 stranded passengers on September 11, 2001, when air travel in the United States was abruptly suspended after the attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the attempted attack on the White House. The Tony-award-winning musical Come from Away celebrates the town of Gander and the remarkable response of its inhabitants on that day.
Gander has his own Wikipedia page right here. And there's more about Gander here and here and here.
