Stubbs (cat)

Stubbs the Cat
Mayor Stubbs reclining on a car
The Feline Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska
Honorary Mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska
In office
July 18, 1997 – July 21, 2017
Personal details
Born(1997-04-12)April 12, 1997
Talkeetna, Alaska, U.S.
DiedJuly 21, 2017(2017-07-21) (aged 20)
Talkeetna, Alaska, U.S.

Stubbs (April 12, 1997 – July 21, 2017) was an American cat who was the mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska from July 1997 until his death in July 2017. Until early 2017, Stubbs was still mayor, and has been described as a tourist attraction.

In 2013, Stubbs survived a serious attack by a dog. He was taken to a veterinarian with a punctured lung, a broken sternum, and a deep cut. People from all over the world sent money to help pay for his medical bills. The extra money was given to an animal shelter. Stubbs also survived being shot by teenagers with a BB gun, falling into a restaurant's fryer (which was cold at the time), and accidentally riding on a garbage truck to the edge of town.

At least one opinion writer for the Alaska Dispatch News insisted that the whole story was false, and that Talkeetna, Alaska, did not, in fact, have a cat mayor. According to NPR, the cat could not have been elected as a write-in candidate because "the tiny town has no real mayor, so there was no election."

Stubbs died on July 21, 2017 in Talkeetna at the age of 20 years.

References

  1. ↑ Lamb, Jason (July 13, 2012). "Talkeetna Mayor is a Cat Named Stubbs". KTUU-TV. Archived from the original on 2012-07-19. Retrieved July 19, 2012. cat named Stubbs has been the mayor of Talkeetna for nearly all of his life -- no joke. It's been that way for more than a decade in the small tourist town that boasts nearly 900 residents. The part-manx was named honorary mayor shortly after his birth, and now locals all know the cat as "Mayor Stubbs."
  2. ↑ "Alaska town elects a cat for mayor". United Press International, Inc. July 15, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012. As the story goes, about 15 years ago, some residents of Talkeetna were unhappy with the candidates who were running for mayor, so as a joke, they encouraged others to elect Stubbs the cat as a write-in candidate, and he actually won.
  3. ↑ "Cat marks 15 years as Alaskan mayor". Euronews. July 16, 2012. Archived from the original on April 22, 2013. Retrieved July 19, 2012. He has been a popular tourist attraction ever since in the town of 900 people. 'He was just in the Alaska Magazine, and he's been featured in a few different things,' said Lauri Stec, who works at Nagley's General Store in Talkeetna, where Stubbs hangs out most of the time.
  4. ↑ Duerson, Meena (July 17, 2012). "Cat has been mayor of Alaska town for 15 years". NYDailyNews.com. Daily News, L.P. Retrieved July 19, 2012. Stec manages Stubbs's main haunt, Nagley's General Store, and says the cat has been a good leader when it comes to local small businesses. "He doesn't raise our taxes - we have no sales tax. He doesn't interfere with business," she told CNN. "He's honest." Yet Stubbs has exhibited some diva behavior, such as drinking water out of a wine glass laden with catnip every afternoon.
  5. ↑ D'Oro, Rachel (September 11, 2013). "Honorary feline mayor goes home after dog attack". Associated Press.[permanent dead link]
  6. 1 2 "The Cat Mayor of Talkeetna". Atlas Obscura.
  7. ↑ Yan, Holly (July 17, 2012). "Mayor of Alaska village walks on four paws". CNN.
  8. ↑ "Silly 'Alaska cat mayor' saga spotlights how easily the media can be scammed". ADN.com. 2013-09-11. Archived from the original on 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
  9. ↑ Morning Edition (2012-07-18). "Following Up On Tuesday's Feline Mayor Story". NPR. Retrieved 2013-07-16.
  10. ↑ Stubbs, Talkeetna’s honorary cat mayor, dies Archived 2017-07-23 at the Wayback Machine, by Chris Klint, at KTVA; published July 23, 2017; retrieved July 23, 2017