WASHINGTON — Sen.-elect Jim Justice knew that his canine companion, Babydog, would not be allowed on the Senate floor, but much of the rest of the Capitol building is dog-friendly — and has been for years.
“Senator-Elect Bernie Moreno jokingly asked about dogs and mentioned Babydog in jest. I told them they do not have to worry about Babydog on the Senate floor. I knew and was aware, in fact I said it during the campaign, that Babydog cannot be on the floor of the U.S. Senate,” Justice, R-W.Va., said in a statement on Tuesday. “Babydog will be with me frequently in Washington, and we welcome everyone to come by my office and say hello and meet Babydog when she is there.”
Justice will be far from the first senator with a dog roaming the halls of the Senate office buildings and the Capitol. Former North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad’s beloved Bichon Frise, Dakota, was a fixture just off the Senate floor during votes, and staffers and reporters alike would sometimes be drafted to keep an eye on the dog.
And the late Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s Portuguese water dog Splash even had a children’s book.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina has regularly brought his dogs to work. When senators have been around for the holiday, his office has organized a Halloween costume contest in the Hart Senate Office Building, with the canines parading past Alexander Calder’s “Mountain.”
But the Senate’s rules preclude dogs on the floor of the chamber itself, with exceptions granted for service animals. And of course, it being the Senate, a senator could receive permission by unanimous consent. That happened, for instance, on April 14, 1997, when Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked that a service dog for a visually impaired staffer be allowed floor privileges.
“I ask unanimous consent that Ms. Moira Shea, a congressional fellow in my office who is visually impaired, be granted floor access during the course of debate on S 104, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, and that Ms. Shea’s guide dog also be granted floor access,” Wyden said that day.
And it’s not just the Senate that connects with canines. Wait outside the right elevator and one might encounter Zoey, Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Susan Wild’s pup, who also has her own social media accounts. Or head out to the East Front steps after votes and check out Deco, the companion of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
