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"In a Tight Race, Will Pets Make a Difference?"
"MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Although the candidates' pets have yet to play a large role in the upcoming election, Ronnie Elmore, associate dean of Kansas State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, says he would be surprised if voters do not get a few glimpses of the candidates with their pets before election day. The Bushes have a black Scottish terrier named Barney that was given to them after moving into the White House, along with a black cat named India. The Bushes also own another cat, Ernie, who was relocated to the family's Texas ranch after he took to scratching the furniture.When George W. Bush was elected into office, the family owned a springer spaniel named Spotty. Spotty was born in the White House, when George H.W. Bush was in office, to Millie, Barbara Bush's dog. "When Spotty was alive, we not only had the son of a former president, but the son of a former first dog in the White House," Elmore says.Scotty died a few months ago.John Kerry and his wife, Teresa, own a German shepherd dog named Cym and a yellow parakeet. Although less is known about Kerry's pets, the candidate remarked about past pets he remembers fondly in a 2004 candidate q. One of the animals Kerry recalled was a dog named VC that belonged to the whole crew when Kerry was serving on a swiftboat in Vietnam."We all took care of him, and he stayed with us and loved riding on the swiftboat deck," Kerry said. "I think he provided us all with a link to home and a few moments of peace and tranquility during a dangerous time."One day as the swiftboat was heading up a river, a mine exploded under the boat; after picking themselves up, the crew discovered that VC was missing. After several minutes of frantic searching, the crew concluded that they had lost him. "We were relieved when another boat called asking if we were missing a dog," Kerry said. "It turns out VC was catapulted from the deck of our boat and landed confused, but unhurt, on the deck of another boat in our patrol."Among Kerry's other past pets are a golden retriever named Winston that belonged to his daughters and a parakeet that he owned in college named Dodi Faustus. Kerry remembers Dodi as "a smart bird who learned a few words of French and Italian, but not smart enough to avoid having to be rescued from a tree once."Elmore says he can't speculate on what role pets will play in the upcoming election, since neither candidate seems to have made a great effort to incorporate pets into their campaigns. And while he hasn't found enough information on Kerry to form a solid opinion, he believes that the Bushes genuinely enjoy their pets. Laura Bush, he notes, incorporated papier-mache likenesses of former presidential pets into the Christmas decorations in 2002."There is just a lot of evidence that they identify with and enjoy their animals," Elmore says."