Let there be a pet in Race Course

What’s common in Fellar, Checkers, Billy, Macaroni, Drunkard, Tipler, Tipsy, White Tips, Millie, Socks…? While this election season it could be mistaken for the list of the people who have hurled a footwear at a leader, the list has nothing to do with the hustings or India. They are the names of the First Pets in the White House in America to which the latest addition is Bo, a Portuguese water dog. Perhaps the most talked about issue during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, after his religious leaning and multi-cultural upbringing, must have been the promised presidential pet. Since the time of its announcement all sorts of speculations have been made about the pedigree and type of canine the Obamas would opt for. All the talk about a dog would seem weird to many but for anyone with a fair smattering of the history of US presidency, knows only too well the importance of a pet in the White House. Pets have known to make and break presidencies. If Richard Nixon’s ‘Checkers Speech’, named after his cocker spaniel, saved him his bid for presidency, it was Fellar, another cocker spaniel, which tarnished President Truman’s image after he decided to do away with the dog.

The point we would like to stress over here and encourage is the idea of inculcating the practise of a first pet for 7, Race Course Road. Not that it would be mimicking the United States but it might bring a certain character and command of respect which, many argue, at present is wanting.

Rumour mills touted that Obama, who breezed through Pennsylvania Avenue with the promise for change, would use the choice of a pet for furthering diplomatic relations. In the same vein it was suggested that Fidel Castro present Obama a Havanese or Felipe Calderón present a Chihuahua or a Xolo, given the preference for a furless breed.

Similarly, the next prime minister of India, who would be decided after the May 16, could further the bilateral relations with our neighbours by adopting a Bully Kutta from Pakistan, a Black Hill from Nepal, a Lhasa Apso from Tibet or a Chow Chow from China.

Pet power is not just a feature that is confined to the US. Britain’s Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s poodles, Pakistani dictator-president General Pervez Musharraf’s Whisky, are only a few of the celebrity First Pets.
Our word of advise for the next incumbent in South Block would be give the nation a first pet and the news-craving media would make it a celebrity. On the brighter side, it could also bark at any opposition whenever required.