How a dog became a town’s mayor

Mayor Max III is the latest in a three-generation dynasty of Idyllwild mayors. Photos: Tribune News Service

Most politicians caught with their tail between their legs are voted out of office or run out of town, but not the mayor of Idyllwild, California, a small mountain community about 25 miles (40km) south of Banning.

Here, the top dog is an actual dog – a one-year-old, full grown American purebred Golden Retriever with the legal name of Maximus Mighty-Dog Mueller III. People call him Mayor Max.