Stubbs (April 12, 1997 - July 21, 2017) was a cat who was the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska from July 1997 until his death.
Stubbs was described as a tourist attraction, having been flooded with cards and letters, and drawing 30 to 40 tourists each day (most of whom were en route to other Alaska destinations, such as Denali) who hoped to meet "the mayor". Stubbs's position was honorary, as the town is only a historic district.
Every afternoon, Stubbs went to a nearby restaurant and drank water laden with catnip out of a wineglass or margarita glass.
At least one opinion writer for the Alaska Dispatch News insisted that the whole story was false, and that Talkeetna did not in fact have a cat mayor. Stubbs died on July 21, 2017, at the age of 20 years and 3 months.
Video Stubbs (cat)
Early life and election
In 1997, Lauri Stec, manager of Nagley's General Store, found Stubbs in a box full of kittens in her parking lot. The owners were giving the kittens away; Stec chose "Stubbs" because he did not have a tail.
Stubbs was widely described as having been elected after a write-in campaign by voters who opposed the human candidates, but National Public Radio pointed out that this could not have happened because "the tiny town has no real mayor, so there was no election." Nagley's General Store was used as Stubbs's "mayoral office" during his tenure.
Stubbs was featured in an effort to protest the 2014 U.S. Senate race in Alaska when people urged voters to write Stubbs in on the ballot. Stubbs was featured in a video criticizing both the Democratic and Republican candidates for Senate.
Stubbs's owners have suggested that another family cat, Denali, may assume Talkeetna's "mayoralty".
Maps Stubbs (cat)
Injuries
On August 31, 2013, Stubbs was attacked by a dog. He was placed under heavy sedation at a veterinary hospital 70 miles away in Wasilla, having suffered a punctured lung, a fractured sternum, and a deep cut in his side. A crowd-funding page was set up to help pay his medical bills. Stubbs remained in the veterinary hospital for nine days before returning to the upstairs room of the general store; he was subsequently discouraged from roaming. Donations toward his care were received from around the world; the surplus was given to an animal shelter and to the local veterinary clinic.
Other perils Stubbs escaped from included being shot by teenagers with BB guns and falling into a restaurant's deep fryer (which was switched off and cool at the time). Other exploits included having hitched a ride to the outskirts of Talkeetna on a garbage truck.
See also
- List of individual cats
- Non-human electoral candidates
- Tama, a Japanese cat who gained fame for being a station master and operating officer
- Bosco, a dog who defeated two humans to be elected honorary mayor of Sunol, California in 1981, serving until 1994
- Catmando, a cat who served as joint leader of the British Official Monster Raving Loony Party
- Sergeant Stubby, an American dog who was promoted to the rank of Sergeant through combat during World War I
- Nils Olav I, II and III, three king penguins who have been serving as Brigadiers in the army of Norway since 1972
- Wojtek, a bear enlisted in the Polish Army during World War II
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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