The World's 12 Most Famous Pets

Here they are in no particular order - our favourite pets from over the years:

Bo Obama - A gift from Senator Ted Kennedy, this Portugese Water Dog has garnered much attention and even has his own baseball card complete with his official portrait and stats!

Bubbles the Monkey - Belonging to the late Michael Jackson, Bubbles slept in a crib in Jackson's very own bedroom, followed him on tour, and even learned to moonwalk!  Bubbles is said to have been donated to a sanctuary as it was rumoured that he was getting violent with Jackson's son, Prince Michael. 

Tinkerbell Hilton - Said to set the trend for "accessory dogs," Tinkerbell has been a constant companion to her socialite owner, Paris Hilton.

The Taco Bell Dog - Gidget the Chihuahua rocked it to fame for her "!Yo quiero Taco Bell!" (I love Taco Bell) campaign.  After starring in many, many Taco Bell commercials, and even having stuffed toys fly off the shelf in her image, Gidget succumbed to a stroke in 2009 and now lives in our memories.  

Mr. Ed - Most of us talk to our pets, but Mr. Ed captured the imagination of a nation when he opened those giant lips of his and finally spoke back. After six seasons of fame on the Mr. Ed show, Bamboo Harvester (his real name) retired, leaving many Mr. Ed admirers crushed!  Rumours of Mr. Ed's "final retirement" are varied, but the fact that he remains in America's heart is truth.  

Spuds MacKenzie - Spuds MacKenzie was the original party animal. In the mid ‘80s you couldn’t spit without hitting a magazine, billboard or television showing an ad of that wild and crazy Budweiser front man living it up with beers and babes. Scandal hit when it was discovered that he was in fact a she. Spuds was actually a female dog by the name of Honey Tree Evil Eye.  Crazy!

Eddie the Dog - So often the animals in television shows are treated like just another bit of scenery. But Eddie the Dog was too big to be pushed into the background. This little Jack Russell Terrier stole so much spotlight that he became a star in his own right on the hit TV sitcom Frasier. Eddie, named Moose in real life, was famous for his head tilts and quizzical looks. 

Dolly the Sheep - Dolly’s entrance into the world was probably the first and only time the world at large will care about the birth of one sheep. She was the first ever animal cloned from the cell of another adult animal, through a process called somatic cell nuclear transfer. She got the name Dolly because the cell she was cloned from came from the mammary gland of another sheep.  Who else has big mammary glands again?  Oh yeah.  Anyway, it was discovered that Dolly was aging rapidly and with arthritis and progressive lung disease, at the age of five, Dolly was euthanized (2003).   She is survived, though, by her six children, Sally, Rosie, Bonnie, Lucy, Cotton, and Darcy. If you’d like to visit her, Dolly is stuffed and on display at the Royal Museum of Scotland. 

Socks the Cat - Even though presidents are famous for their dogs, after Socks the Cat jumped into the arms of Chelsea Clinton as she was leaving a piano lesson, he enjoyed six years as the official White House pet.  Socks even had an avatar on the White House website that led visitors around the site. When Buddy, a Labrador Retriever, moved in in 1997, they loathed each other. Bill Clinton joked that he had better luck mediating the Israelies and the Palestinians.  When the Clintons moved out of the White House in 2001, they took Buddy with them and gave socks to Clinton's secretary.  Ouch.  

Punxsatawny Phil - Despite the fact that a groundhog has an average life span or 10 years and Punxsutawny Phil has been around for 120 years, the Inner Circle insists that the Phil that predicted spring in 2009 is the same one that predicted spring over a century ago. When asked why Phil has survived 12 times longer than any other groundhog in history, the Inner Circle said that they have a beverage called "Groundhog Punch" that extends Phil’s life span. They also claim that they are able to understand Phil’s predictions because the club President speaks “groundhogese.”

Shamu the Orca - Shamu was the second female orca ever captured and only the third ever orca put on display for the public. Since she was captured from the wild, we don’t know exactly how old Shamu was but by best guesses she was born in 1961. Though Shamu was originally meant to be a companion for an orca named Namu in a Seattle aquarium, the two didn’t hit it off and she was moved to Sea World in San Diego in 1965. Shamu starred in a number of Sea World Shows but was forced into retirement. The real Shamu died from a blood infection in 1971 at the estimated age of 10—much earlier than the average female orca which lives to about 50. Sea World has since turned the name Shamu into a stage name for a number of the killer whales that perform in the parks. 

Montecore the Tiger - Montecore the Tiger isn’t so much famous as infamous. The seven-year-old tiger was hit by the media’s glare after mauling Roy Horn, half of the famous duo Siegfried and Roy, during a 2003 show at The Mirage.  Show footage later revealed that the tiger snapped when one of his testicles got trapped in a stage door. Media sources claims that as he was being dragged away by paramedics, Horn shouted out to witnesses not to “shoot the cat.” Due to his injuries Horn suffered a stroke and partial paralysis. Montecore was quarantined for 10 days but was not harmed. He appeared briefly in the 2009 Siegfried and Roy Comeback/Farewell show.

Though we wouldn't recommend it necessarily for that special Shamu in your life, or for your own dear Punxsatawny Phil, we would recommend it for the Bos, the Eddies, the Socks, and the Spuds in your lives - the Earth Smart Pet Wash (ESSH).  Give your pet both the presidential and the everyday treatment with this one great product!!