Pence gets a puppy

The country let out a collective “awww” nine days ago, when news broke that one of Vice President Mike Pence’s family cats, Oreo, had died.

Oreo was the black-and-white cat; the other cat, Pickle, who is orange and white, is still alive. But with Oreo’s death, that left just two pets at the vice president’s residence, Pickle and Marlon Bundo, a rabbit, who has his own Instagram account.

That all changed this weekend, when the vice president and second lady Karen Pence returned to Indiana for a visit, and picked up two – yes, two – more family members. For Father’s Day, the vice president got a surprise puppy named Harley, an Australian shepherd.

And because Pickle needs a buddy, the Pence’s daughter, Charlotte, went with the second lady to a pet store to adopt a little gray kitten, named Hazel.

If you’re keeping up, the Pence family pet total now stands at four. And just hours ago, a new Instagram account popped up, @hazelnharley, with a fresh pic of Hazel curled in a ball, a snazzy white bow around her neck.

Of course, having a dog at the Naval Observatory grounds, where the vice president lives with his family in Washington, is not unusual. Former Vice President Joe Biden’s best canine friend was Champ, a regal-looking German shepherd who roamed the grounds.

In fact, most of the recent vice presidents have had dogs.

There was Dick Cheney’s two labs, Dave and Jackson:

And Al Gore and family had Shiloh and Daisy.

When George H.W. Bush was vice president, his cocker spaniel, Fred, lived at the Naval Observatory:

President Donald Trump’s family does not have pets as of yet, so there are no sightings like we used to sometimes have of the Obama’s Bo and Sunny, the playful Portuguese water dogs that were often the stars of the family Christmas card.

But thanks to Pence, we at least get to feast our eyes on Harley, who is already getting used to the perks of being a VIP d-o-g.