People often use the saying “this whole place/town/city/country has gone to the dogs,” which signifies how everything is worse than ever. However, this saying has become literally true for one small town in Kentucky where the town has literally gone to a dog.
As the whole world has eyes locked on the 2020 US presidential election, people forget that many small scale elections are also important events unfolding around the country. One important result comes from Kentucky where, as of today, a community known as Rabbit Hash has a dog for its mayor.
The Mayor is a French Bulldog called Wilbur Beast. He received 13,343 votes for him according to the Rabbit Hash Historical Society. that’s not all, it is also the highest winning total for the position in the community.
However, he is not the first four-legged mayor in the country. In Ohio River community, which comprises just a few hundred people, has also elected dog-mayor since 1999 for fundraisers.
The reason for Wilbur’s election is quite noble. The town was famous for a historical store from the 19th century until it was destroyed in fire in 2016. The store has been rebuilt but the “election” for mayor is actually a fundraiser where each donated dollar counts as one vote of the donor’s choice of mayor.
Wilbur’s spokesperson is his human, Amy Noland, who told Fox News that Wilbur has thanked every donor and voter both local or global for their support. In a written statement by the two (Amy and Wilbur), they said, “It’s an exciting adventure and a deeply meaningful cause to preserve the river hamlet town of Rabbit Hash, Ky”.
More than 22,000 votes were cast, which again, is the highest number of votes cast for this position’s election.
The other close-candidates included a beagle named Jack Rabbit and a golden retriever named Poppy. They will now become Rabbit Hash ambassadors. Like all politicians, some public events will be planned for Wilbur where he will make an appearance. He is also seeking any calls on social media.
In California, a dog was elected “mayor for life” in Idyllwild. Whereas a goat named Lincoln defeated a dog named Sammie by two votes to become the mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont in 2019. Many other non-human candidates have been elected to office in other parts of the country.