WASHINGTON, DC (WOWK) – A familiar face from the West Virginia political scene will not appear in the U.S. Senate.
According to AxiosAt an orientation Tuesday, West Virginia Governor and Senator-elect Jim Justice (R) was told that his well-known English bulldog, Babydog, would not be allowed into the Senate. Axios learned the information from three sources who were in the room.
The governor reportedly asked if Babydog could join him and was told it wasn’t possible and that only service dogs were allowed in the Senate, according to Axios. The news agency says that even then an analysis for possible dog allergies must first be carried out.
According to Axios, the rule appears to only apply to the Senate, as other senators’ dogs occasionally stay in their offices and roam the halls with their owners.
Babydog is known for accompanying the governor to many events across the state in recent years. She even had a waterfall named after her, wrote a song about her, a bobblehead, a BeerChristmas decorations and a slightly controversial image in a mural at the State Capitol.
West Virginia Governor and First Lady Cathy Justice received Babydog as a Christmas gift from her children in 2019 when she was just 10 weeks antique.
“She’s just a little 10-week-old puppy, and he (the Justices’ grandson) was running around saying, ‘Where did the baby dog go?’ And so we named her Babydog,” Justice once said of how his pup got her name.
She became a hit at his COVID-19 briefings and then the face of the state’s “Do It For Babydog” COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Babydog came into the national spotlight this summer when she appeared alongside Justice at the Republican National Convention. The 60-pound English bulldog has been featured in articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and television news networks. It was what analysts often call great “political theater.”
Axios contributed to this report.
