A small Alaska town has lost its feline mayor after nearly two decades. The sad news is published by Deutsche Welle. Until he died at just over 20 years old, Mayor Stubbs liked to drink a cocktail of water and catnip from a margarita glass.
Stubbs, the honorary feline mayor of the Alaska town of Talkeetna, died in his sleep late last week at the age of 20 years and 3 months, the family with whom he lived announced in a statement released over the weekend.
Talkeetna, a 900-person town about 60 miles (95 kilometers) north of Anchorage and near the Denali National Park, elected the yellow cat as its honorary – and only – mayor in a write-in campaign in 1997.
“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,” the Spones family announced in the statement. “Thank you, Stubbs, for coming into our lives for the past 31 months; you are a remarkable cat and we will dearly miss you. We loved the time we were allowed to spend with you.”
Talkeetna, which has no human municipal administration, has not announced plans to replace the mayor. However, the Spones have nominated one of their kittens to take the town’s reins.
