Photo by Vincent Dallmann.

Yup, you read that right. A Wheaten Terrier got elected as the president of the Hillbrook-Tall Oaks Civic Association in Annandale, VA. How exactly did this happen? Well, former president, Mark Crawford, had served as president for three terms and couldn’t run again by the civic association’s bylaws. No one else would step up to run, so Crawford put up his dog, Ms. Beatha Lee, as a candidate and she won. He described her as “a relatively new resident, interested in neighborhood activities and the outdoors, and who had experience in Maine overseeing an estate of 26 acres.”

But oops, Crawford neglected to mention Lee was a dog. Lee lived in Maine with Crawford’s parents before making the move to Virginia. Now the civic association is pretty embarrassed they voted in a dog as their president, but it doesn’t seem they are doing much to overrule the vote. Crawford now serves as vice president under his dog.

A strange ploy for Crawford to retain control via his dog? Or a way to prove that members of the civic association will vote for anyone with a dignified-sounding name?