Utterly Bizarre History of Animals as Town Mayors

7 interesting stories of animals who ran as mayors.

The media pounces every time on the news if a cat or dog gets declared a new mayor. No matter how many times one hears about animals holding the office, the idea will remain novel.

No hole of doubt assail that pets can’t pass any decision, but still, they carry immense significance when it comes to raising awareness through campaigns. Such odd elections take place in unincorporated areas — a place without any actual elected official.

Of course, people do not attach their hopes to these elected ones, but they certainly believe a pet would do a better job.

A cow not lowering the taxes, a dog not solving the water shortage and a cat not fixing the construction issue is better than those ineffective leaders who fail to fulfil their role.

Let’s dive into some of the prominent instances in history when people deemed that a four-legged animal would do a better job.

1. A Goat in Lajitas, Texas

In Texas, the Lajitas, an unincorporated community, share an exciting history of having a strong number of animal mayors since 1986.

The three generations of goats served the townspeople, and interestingly all were named Clay Henry. The goat mayors were fond of human beverages, especially beer.

Lasting not for much longer, the tenure of Clay Henry II ended when he had a duel over a nanny, which resulted in Clay Henry III getting the inheritance.

Sadly, even the fate of the new mayor was not much peaceful, as a man named Jim Bob Hargrove penned a hatred against the goat.

Detesting how townsfolks wasted excellent beer on a goat, Bob castrated Clay Henry III and stuffed his testicles in the refrigerator.

2. A Great Pyrenees in Cormorant Village, Minnesota

A Great Pyrenees called Duke probably was the best leader the US ever had in history, as he not only served for one term but four whole terms.

Interestingly, what’s more bizarre is how Duke’s human opponent Richard Sherbrook voted for Duke instead of himself.

Duke came to light when in 2014 he, aged 7, won a mayoral race, earning for himself dog food and an elaborated five-hour grooming session.

People had several reasons for loving the white, shaggy dog, but the leading cause remained Duke being an avid hunter — the townspeople fell in love with the idea of having a canine mayor.

The proof of his commendable tenure was his re-election in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Interestingly, during his third term, he only missed one vote, and that too went to his girlfriend, Lassie.

A year after retiring from the office, the hardworking and dedicated ex-mayor passed away.

3. A Black Labrador-rottweiler in Sunol, California

Fed up with the incompetence of human candidates, people elected Bosco Ramos, a black Labrador-Rottweil.

It all started with the dog owner, Brad Leber, betting on how a furry pal could beat the other candidates. Bosco’s victory proved Leber right, but not everyone appreciated such an outcome and instead criticized the failing democratic system through several newspaper articles.

Chinese students were thrilled by Bosco’s win and invited the paw-litician to a pro-democracy rally near San Francisco’s Chinese Embassy.

People of Sunol loved Bosco, and the proof is of him holding the position for 13 years — his magical campaign slogan of providing cats and bones worked.

When Bosco’s second owner decided to lay him to rest, people constructed a bronze bust in his honor.

4. A Golden Retriever in Idyllwild, California

The people of Idyllwild in Riverside County, California, chose their favorite golden retriever called Max, who won by a considerable margin.

Interestingly, Max’s descendants carried the position after his passing and his bloodline has been relishing the title ever since the mayor’s position became vacant — the leadership seems to run in their blood.

After Max served a term and a half, he died out of old age upon which town’s people brought three of his descendants to light — including the current mayor Max II.

In 2013, people chose Max II as their permanent mayor, proving him to be the twinkle of their eyes. He graces several public events, schools and health institutions with his presence.

The Guardian wrote about Mayor Max II simple mission:

To make the world a better place by conveying unconditional love and doing as many good deeds for others as possible.

5. The Mayors of Rabbit Hash Community, Kentucky

Rabbit Hash, an unincorporated community, holds a colorful history of having several cute mayors. The unusual name of the society reflects their act of cooking hundreds of rabbits hailing from a nearby riverbank.

The community arranges voting events as part of its fundraising campaign; the voters can elect their mayor for a dollar, where the money collected gets used in different rehabilitation and restoration processes.

Mut Goofy Borneman became the first mayor and served for three years. Later, a black Labrador followed, turning into a celebrity by landing himself a tv show on Animal Planet.

In 2008, Lucy Lou, a pretty brown and white Border Collie defeated a donkey, cat and 11 other candidates in elections, becoming the first female mayor to serve the people. After serving for years, she was replaced by a pit bull named Brynneth Paltrow.

6. The Eastsound’s Cow, Washington

When a benevolent brown cow ran in the election twice, it lost to dogs. However, the third time stroke of luck touched her, and she defeated six other candidates, raising the fundraising amount of $5000 for the preschool care initiatives.

The adopted cow from the San Juan County Fair in the 1990s stroke the hearts of Eastsoud’s voters during the five-week election campaign.

Near the end of her year-long term, April passed away, saddening the entire town, who honored her passing by organizing a small ceremony in her remembrance.

7. A Cat, Talkeetna Alaska’s Mayor For Twenty Years

In the late 90s, Talkeetna’s people were dissatisfied with the human options they possessed.

Instead of electing any of the incompetent candidates, the townsfolk staged a protest by writing in the name of a cat residing in one of the town’s general store, making one their next mayor. The feline town mayor served the office the longest, nearly for 20 years.

People from different towns got attracted to Talkeetna and visited the place often to meet the feline in person.

But things didn’t remain pleasant, and in 2013, a canine attack left the cat mayor injured. The cat recovered from deep wounds, a punctured lung and fractured breastbone but died not long after.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-human_electoral_candidates