The Best Pets in Politics
On the Cicero team, we spend our days gathering and updating information on elected officials at the federal, state, and local level in the U.S. and internationally. That means we spend hours pouring over thousands of official photos and social media accounts. Through the years we’ve stumbled upon some interesting officials with hidden talents, amazing dance skills, and lots and lots of pets.
Pets are not new to politics. Presidents’ dogs have been the subject of national attention (and sometimes obsession) since Teddy Roosevelt’s dog Skip. With the increasing influence of social media, a new wave of young people in politics, and the rise of viral feel-good animal accounts such as We Rate Dogs, Thoughts of Dog, Grumpy Cat, I’ve pet that dog, etc., we’ve seen an uptick of politicians at every level using pets in their social media posts, and even some in their official photos on their legislative chamber’s website. Perhaps this is just a savvy political tactic to win over voters. Or perhaps it’s a genuine attempt to relate to their constituents.
Regardless, the Cicero team has enjoyed the proliferation of pet photos that have populated our screens in the past few months of post-election updates. We’ve compiled our favorites here. Please enjoy the best pets in politics:
Best official photo
This is the photo that started the project. As soon as we realized that Andrew Johnson’s official photo on the Minneapolis City Council website included his doggo, we knew we had to look for more. Thank you, Andrew, for the inspiration, and please keep pup the good work!
Best official website presence
California has always had a reputation as a progressive state with cutting edge policies. Their policy around dogs-on-official-websites is no different. Jerry Brown, Governor from 2011 to 2019, ensured that his dogs all had a home on ca.gov and lovingly dubbed them First Dog or Deputy First Dog. First Dog Colusa Brown is enjoying her retirement on Twitter.
Best ears
Unfortunately, most official offices do not encourage pets to be a part of an elected official’s photo or website. (Sidenote: whoever makes this a part of their presidential platform has our vote in 2020!) Many make up for it by sharing pet content on social media. This is Wendy McNamara of the Indiana House of Representatives with her dog in her Facebook profile picture. Honestly, we’d do the same thing if (1) we had a team dog and (2) he had ears like that 😍
Best door greeter
Elizabeth Warren, US Senator from Massachusetts and 2020 presidential hopeful, recently adopted a golden retriever. Bailey has been a huge boost on the campaign trail — he features in fundraising videos, shared the stage at her campaign launch, and even has his own selfie lines at events. As this video shows, he is clearly obsessed with Senator Warren and wants the rest of America to be as well.
Best smile
Peoria, Illinois City Council member Sid Paul Ruckriegel uses his cheerful pup to gain attention on his Facebook page. In the last election, he donned the coveted “I voted” sticker in an effort to get out the vote.
Best political newcomer
Jeff Davison, a city councillor in Calgary, has been on the political scene for a few years. But his recently adopted puppy is bringing fresh eyes and a pink button nose to local Canadian politics. Don’t be surprised if she joins the Reasonable Pups Caucus and calls for more belly rubs at the next council meeting.
Best dog-as-meme
Pete Buttigieg is the Mayor of South Bend and another 2020 presidential hopeful. This millennial politician has had his dogs at the forefront of his campaigns and mayoral office. The First Dogs of South Bend have their own Twitter and Instagram, and they feature prominently on the “First Gent of South Bend’s”’ Twitter as well. Since Mayor Pete announced his presidential campaign, the dogs’ notoriety has exploded, inspiring Buzzfeed quizzes and fan accounts (that produced the above meme). No matter what happens after his term as mayor ends, we hope Pete and his dogs stay on the political scene because we are here for this content!
Best bird, heavyweight division
It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…no, it’s just a bird. But whoa, that’s a big bird. This is Scott Simms, a Canadian MP, seen on his Twitter with what we assume is the House of Commons’ mascot.
Best flock
If we took note of the last politician because of his bird’s size, we quickly screenshot this Facebook cover photo because of this politician’s bird count. This is State Representative Dwight Kiefert of North Dakota and he has…a lot of parrots.
Best homesteaders
Speaking of flock…this politician has so many pets he had to get a farm! Indiana State Representative Justin Moed has an urban farm, Moed Acres, complete with sheep, goats, ducks, turkeys, chickens, dogs, a cat, etc. Justin, please let us know if your goats need a playground expansion — they are welcome to climb on our desks any time!
Best animal advocates
Finally, we have TJ Thomson of the Boise City Council and his 3 Finnish Lapphunds. He shares photos of his pets on all of his social media accounts, primarily on Instagram. As seen in the above caption, he uses his power, platform, and gorgeous photos to advocate for improved animal protections and improved animal ordinances. We can’t think of a more beautiful way for a politician to put their pet photos to use.
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