LOUISVILLE, Colo. — Politics has gone to the dogs in Louisville! The city is looking to elect its first pet mayor.
The "paw-litical" move is an initiative by the city's Youth Advisory Board as a way to "spread a sense of community and "paw-sitivity,"" the city said.
“Pets are an important part of Louisville, and after all the changes that 2022 brought to our community, we thought it would be fun to elect a furry friend as a positive role model for our city,” YAB Chair Sam Becker said in a statement. “We chose this project because we feel that this election embraces City values, and it is a great opportunity to bring our community together.”
So what are the qualifications for a pet mayor? According to Louisville leaders, the "purr-fect" candidate must:
- Have a good temperament (as should their human spokesperson)
- Be an upstanding and respectable pet in the community
- Represent their constituents equally regardless of breed, species, and/or known tricks
- Be agreeable to having their photo taken and released by the City of Louisville
“The Louisville City Council supports the pet mayor project and is excited to see our younger residents getting involved in municipal government and local politics,” Louisville Mayor Dennis Maloney said in a statement. “This is a really fun, creative idea to engage the community, promote community spirit, and educate both kids and adults about public service and the responsibility of voting. I’m sure the pet mayor will be paw-sitively engaging!”
Candidate submissions are open until 11:59 p.m. on March 31. Voting runs from April 4 through April 18, and the winners will be announced on May 5.
The pet mayor and pet mayor pro tem will be inaugurated during the city's annual pet parade in September.
To submit your candidate, click here.
