This Cat Just Started Working at The San Francisco Airport

There is a literal cat in the hat working at SFO. (SFO Wag Brigade)

On May 31 a new candidate entered the San Francisco political disarray to help set things straight. Duke Ellington Morris joined SFO’s Wag Brigade, making him the first cat to work in those hallowed halls. The Wag Brigade, for those uninitiated, is a therapy animal outfit that patrols the airport to make sure nervous travelers can be slightly-less nervous. And this is good news for many, many reasons, not least of all because there’s now a literal cat in a hat at SFO.

In an Instagram post, the airport’s Wag Brigade wrote Duke was found rail-thin living in a San Francisco feral cat colony. The esteemed diplomat was held by the SF Animal Care and Control, but a generous human saw Duke was bound to lead. Since that fateful day Duke became a certified animal therapist, meaning he’s there for when stressed out travelers can pet his wonderfully-flat head to calm down. He joined the Wag Brigade in its 10th year, no easy feat since SFO representative Doug Yakel told Axios the regiment aims to add 10 new top-tier members in the near future.

This is obviously paramount stuff. While there is a pig and a rabbit in the brigade, adding a deeper level of diversity to the ranks is a wonderful parallel for the political scene in our Baghdad by the Bay. There are plenty of dogs in local government — from city hall to the Board of Supervisors to all our local corruption. It’s cause for celebration when a newcomer enters the fray, so long as that newcomer is as talented and gorgeous as Duke Ellington Morris, of course. As voters look toward the remaining elections in 2023, and perhaps an obvious one in 2024, it’s worth focusing on the bright, the inspiring, the iconic. San Francisco is as ridiculous and amazing as ever, including its newest cat political operative. Don’t give up on a city so rare and so rich just yet. Duke wouldn’t; be like Duke.