BIDDEFORD — They say every dog has its day, and it appears for the Labrador Retriever, that day has passed ”“ at least in Maine.

The state Senate voted 24-10 Thursday morning in favor of killing a bill sponsored by Sen. David Dutremble, D-Biddeford, which would’ve made the Lab Maine’s official state dog.

Before the bill went to the Senate, the Joint Select Committee on State and Local Government voted it “ought not to pass,” Ericka Dodge, the communications director for the Maine Senate Democrats, said in an email Thursday.

Now it will go to the House, but unless there is some “very unusual circumstance,” state representatives won’t even vote on the bill, she said. “They will just accept the committee’s report and place it as a ”˜dead’ bill.”

Stacy Gile, who lives in Arundel, suggested the bill to Dutremble months ago. Since then, she has campaigned passionately for it to pass, gaining supporters ”“ as well as opponents ”“ along the way.

In a January interview with the Journal, Gile said that she and her husband have owned Labs since they moved to Maine in 1995.

Originally known as the St. John’s Water Dog, Labs were first bred in Newfoundland to help fishermen haul in nets and retrieve fish, and Gile said that’s one reason she thinks they would be the perfect breed to represent the state.

“They are the perfect symbol of all that’s good about Maine,” she said. “You see them on lobster boats, in trucks, at hunting camps and in every L. L. Bean catalog ever printed.”

But unfortunately for Gile, her efforts were stamped out by the Senate this week.

“It’s a little frustrating that (the Senate) didn’t listen to the factual arguments behind the logic for this, and that they sort of focused on the idea that we were almost running a popularity contest,” Gile said Thursday, just hours after the vote.

She said one senator even asked, “How could I look my Golden Retreiver in the eyes and say I voted for the Lab?”

Gile said it’s unlikely she’ll continue to fight for the cause. “I think it’s a one-and-done effort on my part,” she said.

Although she was dissapointed in Thursday’s outcome, Gile said she wanted to thank Dutremble for being “nothing but fantastic” over the last few months.

“He wasn’t necessarily personally in favor of (the bill), but he was able to give me the opportunity to have it heard,” she said of the senator, adding that in the end, “he kind of came around and said, ”˜I’m going to fight hard for her.’”

In an email Thursday, Dutremble said that while he’s “disappointed” the bill didn’t pass, he’s glad he was able to at least get 10 votes in favor of it.

“While people may say we have better things to do, I still believe it’s our job to represent our constituents. … I did not find the bill as ridiculous as some made it out to be,” he said.

In an editorial published in the Journal Monday, Dutremble said that the bill’s real success shouldn’t be measured by whether it passed or failed.

“Its success is that Stacy Gile made her mark in our state’s government,” he said. “She participated in our democracy. She advocated for what was important to her. In grade-school civics class, we learned that government is run by those who show up. Ms. Gile showed up.”

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].