Niagara Falls’ new mayor may give you paws.
Pal the German Sheppard was named honorary mayor of the Ontario city at a ceremony on Friday.
“I made him mayor. I deputized him…he was in my office — I say my office, but it’s his now,” actual Mayor Jim Diodati told CTV News Toronto on Friday.
The one-and-a-half-year-old dog has become well known in the Niagara Region and beyond, with nearly 700,000 followers across his social media platforms operated by his owner, Mike Lalicich.
Lalicichis using his dog’s celebrity status to support a local fundraising effort, which hopes to purchase a $25,000 portable ultrasound machine for the Niagara Falls Kidney Clinic, and had Pal formally deputized for the weekend to create some buzz for the cause.
“We just thought this would be a great way to get it out there. We’ve got an objective, we want to raise that money and this is our way of helping,” Lalicichtold CTV News Toronto.
Pal’s paw prints were etched into the Niagara Falls guestbook — which also house the signatures of Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, and Princess Anne — before he dawned the mayoral chain of office.
Lalicich said that Pal was a good boy for the Friday ceremony, but Diodati added that the transition of power come with an “unintended outcome.”
“Pal has ordered that we’re going to build a couple more dog parks, he’s insisted that we add in a bunch of fire hydrants, and apparently he’s banning cats for the weekend so I’m not sure what that’s all about,” Diodati joked.
Niagara Falls residents who may have a bone to pick with the actual mayor will have to wait until Monday morning do so, when Pal steps down as top dog.
