Donkey not allowed to run for legislature in Ecuador

Ecuador officials aren't letting it happen, but other towns have animals as mayors and many have run for political office around the world

The town of Talkeetna, Alaska has a cat for mayor so why shouldn't a donkey be able to run for public office in Ecuador?

Ecuador officials have rejected a plan by some citizens to have a donkey run for the legislature. Dozens of people dressed their candidate, Mr. Burro in a tie and paraded him down the streets of Guayaquil to the local council offices, but officials wouldn't let them in the door. The candidate even had a mock voter registration card. Mr. Burro's handler/backer Daniel Molina was hoping the donkey could run to bring attention to the seriousness of the election.

[ Related: Feline Mayor 'Stubbs' a tourist draw in Alaska ]

If that was the goal, Molina may be amazed what has happened elsewhere in the world.

As we mentioned above, a short-tailed cat named Stubbs presides over the tiny town of about 900 residents at the base of Mount McKinley in Alaska. Stubbs was elected 15 years ago after voters decided they didn't like any of the candidates so they put the kitten in as a write-in candidate. The cat isn't very good at sitting still for media interviews but it is one of the longest-serving mayors in the U.S. and helps bring tourists to the town.

Stubbs may be on a short list of animals actually elected, but a bunch have run for office.

[ Related: Dog becomes most qualified cop in U.S. town ]

Hank the Cat, who ran on a pro-feline, job-creation platform, recently finished third in the U.S. senate race getting about 6,000 votes.

A cat named Tuxedo Stan ran for Mayor of Halifax, but was defeated in the October 20 election as Mike Savage easily won. Stan garnered a lot of media attention across Canada during his run and was even endorsed by Ellen DeGeneres and Anderson Cooper. Stan was hoping to bring attention to Halifax's problem with feral cats and encouraging people to use the city's spay and neuter services.

[ Y! Awards: Rob Ford didn't win the year's biggest blunder? ]

According to io9, a pig named Pigasus was endorsed as a candidate at the 1968 Democratic National Convention, a rhinoceros named Cacareco got 100,000 votes in the 1958 Sao Paulo city council election, a chimpanzee named Tiao ran for the Brazilian Banana party in the 1980s and a mule named Boston Curtis won the primary election for committeeman for Milton, Washington in 1938. The people were angry about Boston Curtis winning and handler Kenneth Simmon did it to prove even a mule could win if people weren't informed.

And then there is the town of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky where border collie Lucy Lou is currently the mayor. To get the position, she ran a hard-fought fight against dogs, cats, a mule, an opossum and one human.

As for the Ecuador election, at least there will be one fewer ass in the political sphere. People in that country head to the polls in February.

(CP photo)

With files from The Canadian Press

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