San Francisco dog owner encourages voting through canine community
By Lauren Toms
SAN FRANCISCO -- Election Day is right around the corner, and a recent community event in San Francisco encouraged voter participation through their dogs.
M Rocket has lived in San Francisco for 23 years, and they've found a niche helping fellow dog owners engage in the electoral process.
"We can connect with our dogs pretty easily because they're so loving and so kind and they don't have agendas," Rocket told KPIX 5. "If we can expand that concept to try to see things as they see them without judgment but we can expand that to other people and new encounters that we have."
It's a common phrase in San Francisco that there are more dogs living in the city than children. And it's true: according to the Department of Animal Care and Control there are up to 150,000 dogs living in the city, while there are an estimated 115,000 minors who call San Francisco home, per to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"I believe dogs have so much power here because, it's expensive to live here," said Rocket. "But people need companionship and love and kindness and dogs are really a gateway to that."
During the 2018 midterm elections, Rocket used the city's large dog owner population to encourage more people to get out and vote.
"I didn't know what to do. I was fraught in the 2018 midterms and I felt like I could us my connections in the dog community with the intention to get them registered so they could vote in the midterms and take some action," said Rocket.
So they launched Bark the Vote, a nonpartisan event that brings together local dog advocacy organizations and voter registration groups in Alamo Square, encouraging participation not only in this election, but also in their dog costume contest.
"I believe that it opens the heart, people connect with each other, other humans when they are out with their dogs and for that reason to have advocacy organizations and pro voting organizations here it can kind of bring people together in a loving and kind way rather than people yelling at each other how they should or shouldn't vote," they said.
While dogs may not be able to choose their political preference, people can. Rocket says that voting, and dogs, are they key to greater understanding of people who may be different than ourselves.
"Dogs bring us back to the heart and to be able to expand through them to see other people as they see them maybe helps us accept ourselves better too," said Rocket. "If we can connect better with dogs maybe we can too with each other."
At the end of the event held this past weekend, Rocket was presented with a certificate of honor from District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, highlighting their dedication to the dogs and dog lovers of San Francisco and encouragement of civic engagement.
Voter registration concluded on October 24, but people can still register in person at voting sites throughout the city. Election Day is two weeks away on November 8.
