Actual Cat Mayor, Dead at 20

The mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska has died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 20. He was a cat.

According to the AP, Stubbs the feline was elected to hold office in the 900-person Alaskan town following a write-in vote in 1998.

 

Stubbs Chilln #stubsmayorcat #cats #stubbsmayor

A post shared by Stubbs Mayor Cat (@stubbsmayorcat) on Jun 6, 2015 at 9:38am PDT

"He was a trooper until the very last day of his life; meowing at us throughout the day to pet him or to come sit on the bed with him and let him snuggle and purr for hours in our lap," his family wrote in a statement.

In case you thought Stubbs was just some kind of proxy mayor—a puppet installed by an all-powerful human overlord, or a dog—that was not the case. Stubbs ruled with no human overseer, and was apparently very popular in his electorate.

Stubbs reportedly survived an assassination attempt by canine in 2013.

 

Huff post article #stubbsmayorcat

A post shared by Stubbs Mayor Cat (@stubbsmayorcat) on Jun 6, 2015 at 2:25pm PDT

He is expected to be replaced as mayor by Denali, a kitten.

In a further stunning below to cat/dog relations, Duke, the dog-mayor of Cormorant, Minnesota, is yet to release a statement on Stubbs' death.

Photo: Instagram (stubbsmayorcat)