Good Things Happen When Dog, Goat Elected Mayor

It has been a fundraiser to rehabilitate a local playground
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 17, 2021 5:45 PM CST
Good Things Happen When Dog, Goat Elected Mayor
Lincoln, a Nubian goat, stands in her pen in Fair Haven, Vt. A goat and a dog who were each elected mayor of a Vermont town have helped raise money to renovate a community playground.   (AP Photo/Lisa Rathke)

A goat and a dog who were each elected mayor have helped raise money to renovate a Vermont community playground. The oddball idea of pet mayor elections to raise money to rehabilitate the playground and to help get local kids civically involved came from a local town manager, the AP reports. In 2018, Fair Haven residents elected Lincoln the goat as its honorary mayor. Lincoln helped raise about $10,000 while the current mayor, Murfee, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, has raised $20,000, Town Manager Joe Gunter told the Rutland Herald. The town chipped in another $20,000. Murfee’s owner, Linda Barker, said that when she was talked into having Murfee get involved in politics, she thought it would be easy to raise money through T-shirts.

Then the pandemic struck. So she shifted to masks. She's made nearly 1,000 of them, and will be making another round of them for Valentine's Day. She raised more than $5,000 from the masks and a similar amount from basket raffles. The town was also recently awarded a $50,000 grant from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, she said. Ironically, the honorary mayor is not welcome on the playground. Barker said there's a "no dogs allowed" sign. “Murfee is going to take that up with the town,” Barker said Sunday with a chuckle. “He's going to contest that.”

(More weird news stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X