Happy Presidents Day! Tucson Tails wondered what Presidents had pets.

Did you know there is a Presidential Pet Museum website?

Most Presidents had pets of some kind, dogs being the most popular. Many had birds, cats, horses, goats, sheep, and cows. Martin Van Buren had tiger cubs until he was forced by Congress to give them to a zoo and John Quincy Adams had an alligator; it was gift.  James Buchanan hosted a herd of elephants from the King of Siam and a pair of bald eagles. Jimmy Carter’s daughter Amy’s cat was named Misty Malarky Ying Yang. Our first President, George Washington, named some of his dogs after drunkards.

Teddy Roosevelt had a slew of animals including a lion, hyena, wildcat, coyote, five bears, two parrots, zebra, barn owl, snakes, lizards, rats, raccoon, and roosters.

Many dog breeds prevailed including police dogs, Irish Setter, Great Dane, Cocker Spaniel, Dachshund, coon hounds, collies, Airedales and many more. According to Wikipedia, Woodrow Wilson owned a greyhound.

Millard Fillmore was a founding member and president of the Buffalo chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Unfortunately the Presidential Pet Museum blog is not kept to date (another abandoned blog) and the most recent blog post is March 21, 2010

On the news page, there’s a headline, “Presidential Pet Museum Relocates To Williamsburg, Virginia, January 1, 2008”

“I am now absolutely thrilled to announce that the Presidential Pet Museum has found a new home and will go on to bigger and better things. The Presidential Pet Museum has moved to Williamsburg, Virginia to become a part of the Presidents Park.”

But when you click on the link – it goes to a Viagra page. One has to wonder what happened to the Presidents Park?

“If you want a friend in Washington, buy a dog.” ~ President Harry S. Truman

(Forget about buying a dog – rescue one instead.)