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according to the global times, the new british prime minister starmer has been "struggling" with his two children over the issue of a new pet for several months. it is understood that initially, the children wanted to raise a german shepherd, but after many negotiations, the two sides finally reached a compromise and changed to raising a cat. it is reported that starmer's 13-year-old daughter went to choose a cat on his 62nd birthday. in fact, the starmer family already has a pet cat "jojo", and with the addition of "britain's no. 1 cat" and the prime minister's office "chief mouser" larry, the number of cats in the british prime minister's office will increase to 3.

in fact, in addition to starmer, many international politicians also keep pets. for example, russian president vladimir putin owns several pet dogs, and former us president george w. bush's pet dog "barney" once appeared in the white house's new year's film... these "first cute pets" have attracted much attention from the outside world under the spotlight, and their existence also makes these "iron-fisted" figures in the international political arena reveal a hint of tenderness.

putin, a "dog lover", calls the puppy "so cute"

as we all know, russian president putin loves dogs very much. he often appears in public with his dogs, and related photos are often seen in newspapers.

putin has owned many dogs, the most famous of which is the labrador retriever "connie", who has accompanied putin to important political occasions many times. it is reported that "connie" likes to get close to reporters, ask for snacks, and politely wags his tail to "greet" guests. he is called the kremlin's unofficial "diplomat".

photo taken in october 2008, putin's dog "koni" was given a collar with a global satellite navigation device (source: xinhuanet)

in 2008, kony stepped into the spotlight to endorse a collar equipped with russia's glonass global positioning system.

it is worth mentioning that many politicians also choose to give dogs to putin as gifts. in january 2019, putin visited serbia and the serbian president presented putin with a 4-month-old saplaninak dog named "pasha". it is reported that putin loved the puppy and called it "so cute".

the serbian president gave putin a puppy named "pasha" (source: overseas network)

in 2012, the japanese government presented putin with an akita dog named "dream" to thank russia for its help in post-earthquake and tsunami reconstruction.

putin is not only keen on raising dogs, but also never hesitates to give dogs as gifts. in 2004, a 6-year-old russian girl wanted putin to give her a puppy, so putin gave away a labrador puppy that his beloved dog "connie" had just given birth to.

putin with dogs (source: overseas network)

more and more children have discovered this opportunity and have asked putin for dogs. during the new year of 2019, a 12-year-old autistic boy fedorov wrote to putin, asking him to give him a dog. in july of the same year, fedorov received a gift from putin - a golden retriever.

the white house once had a zoo, and early presidents loved to keep "strange" pets

it is reported that since george washington was elected as the first us president in 1789, only four of the 46 presidents of the united states have never kept pets, including former us president trump. he became the first white house owner without a pet in nearly a century.

jennifer pickens, author of "white house pets," once said that pets are "ambassadors" of the white house. costello, a scholar at the white house historical association, believes that "first pets" not only reflect the character of their owners, but sometimes also play an important role in shaping the image of the government. throughout history, the animals that have lived in 1600 pennsylvania avenue in washington, dc, are quite diverse.

the presidential pet museum in the suburbs of washington claims that the total number of american "first pets" has exceeded 400. former president calvin coolidge, as an animal lover, also built a small zoo in the white house.

in the early days, american presidents loved to keep some "strange" pets, such as robins, silkworms and alligators. former president buchanan even kept a group of elephants. in the early 20th century, president wilson simply let sheep roam the lawn of the white house.

however, when it comes to the most bizarre pets in the white house, rebecca the raccoon may be at the top of the list. it was a thanksgiving meal given to coolidge by residents of mississippi in 1926. the former president of the united states, who loves animals, said that he had never and would not eat a raccoon, so he decided to keep it as a pet and named it "rebecca".

bush's beloved dog barney helped him get re-elected and also starred in the white house new year's film

later, white house pets gradually became cats and dogs, and there are many american presidents who brought their pet dogs into the white house.

these "first dogs" are lively and have a strong sense of "camera". former us president obama's two portuguese water dogs, "bo" and "sunny", often appear in public, helping him gain popularity.

obama and his dog (source: huanqiu.com)

in 2012, when obama was running for re-election, he used bo as the protagonist in many of his campaign ads, using bo's innocent and straightforward performance to call on voters to donate to his campaign.

it is worth mentioning that these white house pets also have a large number of fans among the people. "bo" and "sunny" are often asked by fans to take photos with them. bush jr.'s pet dog "barney" was once a "celebrity dog" that was popular all over the united states. it not only has its own website, but also played the "protagonist" in the 2005 white house new year's film.

"barney" was born in 2000. he is a scottish terrier with a reckless personality, easy to get angry, and a particularly loud bark. according to bush jr., he is "more suitable for guarding the home."

bush jr. and his dog (source: huanqiu.com)

when george w. bush ran for reelection, "barney" helped a lot. in 2004, in a campaign short film starring him (the content was to explain bush's political platform through the mouth of a puppy), "barney's" campaign consultant andy held a bag of dog food and asked him: "barney, tell me your opinion on taxes." "barney" turned to kerry's dog (disguised as a white sock and a beret) and barked a few times. the voice-over said: "i want to implement the tax cut policy!" kerry's dog "responded": "i strongly support raising taxes!" after the short film was played, the american people shouted "barney" slogans and supported tax cuts. in the end, bush was successfully re-elected as the 55th president of the united states.

jimu news integrates global times, huanqiu.com, china news service, cctv.com, overseas network, reference news, wenhui daily, xinhuanet, etc.

(source: jimu news)

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