Puppyganda: The fluffy friends doing politicians’ PR work for them

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A picture with a cute animal? Priceless.

That appears to be the calculation political leaders of various persuasions and nationalities have made over the years.

Almost every president of the United States — a recent exception is Donald Trump, though he’s made somewhat of a career of bucking trends — has understood this piece of received wisdom, and has either brought (or bought) a pet for their stint in the White House.

It’s scientifically proven* that people like pet owners more than pet-less folks. Animals, especially dogs, can make you look kinder, more human, and less like someone guilty of financial fraud.

To give credit where it is rightly due, POLITICO has rounded up the good boys and girls who’ve put in a shift for their political companions — for better or worse.

* Not really.

Silvio Berlusconi and the lambs

The notorious former Italian prime minister has made a lot of faux pas, but getting himself a young lamb (not a euphemism for a teenage girl) was not one of them.

During Easter 2017, shortly before the autumn election, Berlusconi was seen cuddling, kissing, and feeding lambs with a baby’s bottle for a vegetarian video campaign, together with an animal rights activist and fellow Forza Italia parliamentarian Michela Vittoria Brambilla.

The video with lambs had a scrolling message urging viewers to “Be like him. He saved five lambs from the Easter slaughter.” In response, the angry meat lobby called on advertisers to boycott Berlusconi’s media empire.

Italians traditionally eat lamb on Easter Sunday. Consumption has declined over the years, though POLITICO was unable to confirm whether Berlusconi’s campaign had anything to do with it.

Ursula von der Leyen and the pony … and the wolf

Which single pet has had the biggest impact on shaping European Union policy? Dolly, the Commission president’s prized (and, alas, late) pony, is surely up there.

The killing of 30-year-old Dolly by a wolf — less anthropomorphically known as GW950m — in 2022 prompted the start of a years-long battle by the head of the EU executive to avenge her prized pony’s death.

Ursula von der Leyen’s 30-year-old pony, Dolly, was killed by a wolf, now known as GW950m, in 2022. The wolf is still alive (as far as we know). | Photo illustration by Ziyi Wei/POLITICO

Von der Leyen has gone to great lengths to downgrade EU rules on the protection status of wolves, allowing those that threaten livestock to be more easily killed.

As far as we know, the killer wolf is alive despite the bounty on its head. And in another blow to the German politician’s vendetta, an EU court in July ruled that wolves cannot be designated as a huntable species.

As our POLITICO colleagues put it: Wolf 2, von der Leyen 0 — for now.

Gabriel Attal and his dog

The outgoing French prime minister — and occasional gossip reporter — Attal is a proud owner of a black Chow Chow named Volta.

In February, Attal tried to take a leaf out of the pet playbook to diffuse a particularly heated parliamentary session by whipping out his phone to show fellow deputies a picture of his adorable new pup.

Unfortunately, the attempted diversion only served to leave Attal in the doghouse.

“The next time I ask him a question, I’ll bark and scratch my ears with my feet,” said Boris Vallaud, an opposition politician who was, at the time, in the midst of calling for a no-confidence vote in the government.

White House pets — or lack thereof

Most American presidents have had a pet in the White House, except for Andrew Johnson, James K. Polk and Donald Trump. (Joe Biden’s dog died in June.)

Trump’s refusal to get a dog — and the fact he was challenged on the matter several times — shows the importance of a furry friend in the White House. Trump has responded that he would feel “a little phony” for getting a dog, as he “doesn’t have time for it” and his base “likes him anyway.”

A clue to Trump’s lack of affinity for canine companions may be his quickness to compare his opponents to dogs.

Although around 70 percent of American households own a pooch, and the Presidential Pet Museum in Virginia boasts hundreds of artifacts, Trump could be barking up the wrong tree.

President Joe Biden’s dog, Champ. | Win McNamee/Getty Images

Former Czech PM and his rooster

It’s not only cats and dogs putting in the hard yards!

Perhaps tired of making political arguments in the traditional way, former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš used a rooster named Silver to make his case for protecting domestic agricultural produce.

In a Facebook video uploaded in March and seen by over 400,000 people, Babiš introduces Silver as a rooster who doesn’t like “contaminated Ukrainian grain” and only “eats Czech grain.”

Later in April, Babiš said he was looking to buy another rooster, as “Silver no longer had time for him,” as the chicken was cast in a movie.

Moldovan president’s celeb doggo

Moldovan president Maia Sandu’s dog Codruț, who appears regularly on her Instagram account, is something of an online celebrity in Moldova.

Codruț had his moment of fame when he bit the hand of Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen during his visit to Chișinău in November, though any major diplomatic fallout appears to have been averted.

Sandu adopted Codruț, a former stray, in 2023 after he was hit by a car, losing a leg.

Czech president with his cat

Czech President Petr Pavel and his cat Micka, a typical Czech cat name, were often seen together during the presidential campaign.

“The campaign is in full swing, time to bring out the heaviest caliber … Micka!” wrote the current president on X about a month before the election.

The former NATO commander’s bid for office was a resounding success, with Pavel scoring 58 percent of the public vote. POLITICO was unable to confirm or deny whether Micka played a pivotal role.

After the election, Micka lived with the presidential couple in Prague Castle, officially becoming the first presidential cat.

Special mention: Pets with totalitarian owners

Not all pet PR work is created equal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been keen to utilize a wide variety of animals in his propaganda: from frightening then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel with his hound to allegedly saving a television crew from a Siberian tiger.

Russian President Vladimir Putin looks on as his dog Kuni approaches Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel. | Axel Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images

He also — allegedly — once wrestled a bear with his bare hands, though subsequent reports emerged that showed he was, in fact, saved from being eaten by the grizzly by his former bodyguard.

Putin is not the only dictator to dabble with mythical mastery of the animal kingdom. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has released multiple propaganda videos riding all-white horses, one of which — according to state media — shows him scaling up the country’s highest mountain, at 2,750 meters.

However, Kim’s subsequent Pyongyang puppy purge shows he still has some way to go in finessing his doggy directives.