BY KELLY MCGRATH
What does it say about human nature when not even an election for dogs is safe from hate and interference?
The New York City Honorary Dog Election kicked off last July with 16 furry candidates from across the five boroughs, all campaigning for the position of New York City’s honorary Dog Mayor.
After 14 rounds of bracket-style eliminations, Bertram the Pomeranian and Enzo the Shih-Zhu emerged as the last dogs standing. That is, until Enzo dropped out of the race Sunday, the night before the election, turning the race for New York City’s Dog Mayor on its side. Because of Enzo’s withdrawal, the New York City Honorary Dog Election announced that the race has been postponed until next Monday, when Bertram will face off against runner-up Simon the basset-cattle dog.
Stephen Calabria, who works in media, founded The New York City Honorary Dog Election in 2022. He was inspired by the honorary dog election of Littleton, Colorado. The New York election’s official mission is to “create something fun and joyful at a time in which many people are struggling” and to “present politics in a positive, educational, and compelling way (for once)”.
But what was supposed to serve as a sweet distraction from the negativity and division of human elections was soured after “crypto-bros”, faceless online traders invested in crypto-currency created $BertCoin, a crypto-currency made in Bertram’s likeness – leading Enzo to leave the race. According to critics, the Dog Mayoral Election platform is now being used as an opportunity to boost the value of $BertCoin. These critics charge that those with a vested interest are skewing the votes in an apparent “pump-and-dump” scheme.
The $BertCoin official X account is offering promotional giveaways of crypto-currency to people who vote for Bertram and encourage their friends and family to vote for Bertram. The total value of $BertCoin at one point hit an estimated value of $3 million.
“A certain group $Bert crypto coin supporters is using the Dog Mayor platform to pump their valueless shitcoin,” wrote Enzo’s owner, Olivia Caputo, in the official announcement of Enzo’s withdrawal from the race, “They do not care about the Dog Mayor of NYC and their involvement has compromised the entire election.”
Caputo also said, “What was supposed to be a fun and uplifting contest turned into a catalyst for spreading hate, negativity, and threats of violence towards Enzo.”
A Telegram group chat of over one thousand people invested in $BertCoin was leaked to Caputo. Caputo posted screenshots of the leaked chat to Enzo’s official Instagram that showed investors in $BertCoin saying obscene and violent things about Enzo.
Caputo feels that Calabria has been unsupportive as an “unprecedented” number of hate comments have rolled in. She even alleges that Calabria has been liking hate comments online regarding Enzo, and that the election team never cared for her or her dog.
The NYC Honorary Dog Mayor Election said in an official statement that it does not condone the spread of negativity directed toward anyone, canine or human, and does not want anyone to buy or pay for votes. But “we can’t moderate every conversation on the internet, can’t control whether people in the global crypto marketplace organize for a candidate for dog mayor,”.
“You could say that the introduction of financial interests on the part of candidates and their supporters kind of cheapens the whole thing… but the vast majority of folks still find this to be a joyful and fun and worthwhile endeavor without politics’ normal levels of human corruption,” Calabria said in an interview with Pix11. “If I was to now invest in $BertCoin, that would be corruption.”
Bertram’s owner, Kathy Grayson, has not discouraged trading in $BertCoin. While she has quipped that “dogs shouldn’t be mean to other dogs,” she says her own interactions with $BertCoin investors have been nothing but positive. Grayson emphasizes she has nothing to do with $BertCoin. Instead, she says she was focused on encouraging people to participate in last Tuesday’s human presidential election.
The Dog Election team emphasized that it is not illegal or disqualifying for a candidate to be endorsed by outside groups of people and that disqualifying Bertram from the race due to his crypto-following would be unfair.
With Enzo’s departure from the race in the final hour, Simon steps up to the plate undaunted. His election team said online, “He doesn’t care if he loses to crypto bros next week, he’s a dog and this isn’t a real election.” They also say that Simon’s “smooth-brain” will work to his advantage, as it makes him impervious to hateful online comments.
New York City’s incumbent mayor, Sally Long Dog, as well as her Deputy Mayor, Riley, released a message to the public stating, “Nothing in the way of hate or violence against anyone is ever considered okay with us.”
In response to “surrounding auxiliary crypto interests,” Sally Long Dog’s team went on to reiterate the mission of the Dog Mayor: “To provide a fun, light-hearted, hilarious environment to which people can escape the troubles of the world and bask in what things might look like if loving pups were running things,”.
Sally Long Dog is stepping down as Mayor because as a Basset hound, the job of mayor requires her to go up and down too many flights of stairs. She intends to retire to upstate New York following a peaceful transition of power.
Deborah Lein, a New York City resident and participant in the Dog Mayor election, said she was “deeply saddened by all the recent drama.” She still supports outgoing Dog Mayor, Sally Long Dog, “As my niece would say, ‘this is why we can’t have nice things,’ but I’m happy Sally has remained committed to her mission.”