We tread on DCist's turf ever so lightly: Proving that even though war, disaster, and domestic issues are broiling, there's also time for cute animals, the President and First Lady introduced their new puppy, a Scottish terrier named Miss Beazley (after a character in The Enormous Egg), to the world. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced the arrival during today's press briefing, saying, "Then, following [a meeting about class action lawsuits], the President and Mrs. Bush and Barney look forward to welcoming Miss Beazley to the White House. And you all will be there for coverage of that at 2:15 p.m." Then a reporter asked, "Is this a state arrival?" Gothamist thinks that the Mayor should get a pet, just to break things up a bit for the press corps here. Miss Beazley joins White House cats India and Willie, as well as half uncle Barney who misbehaves on a regular basis (with Miss Beazley in a Reuters photo at left) and cow Ofelia in Crawford. See a video of Miss Beazley's arrival at the White House website. And to be fair, there is a long history of pets in the White House that garner press attention, like Caroline Kennedy's pony Macaroni. And who knew that Eisenhower's dog Heidi was banished after "soiling the rug in the Diplomatic Room"?
Miss Beazley is a purebred dog, but there are tons of wonderful animals out there up for adoption. Check out the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, or your local pet shelters, like the ASPCA. And if you want to train your dog, check out this listing of various NYC dog trainers. Other pet news around the NY-metro area, a Perth Amboy, NJ man was charged for sodomizing his neighbor's Rottweiler. People, please don't do things like that. That's just wrong.
