Politics & Government

Barking news: A rescue dog has joined NC governor Roy Cooper’s family

North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper, left, and Gov. Roy Cooper, right, welcomed a new first pet to the family, a rescue dog named Violet.
North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper, left, and Gov. Roy Cooper, right, welcomed a new first pet to the family, a rescue dog named Violet.

There’s a new furry First Friend at the North Carolina Executive Mansion: a rescue dog named Violet.

Gov. Roy Cooper’s barking news was announced Friday on the First Pets of North Carolina social media accounts and then retweeted on the governor’s official and campaign Twitter accounts.

Cooper and his wife, Kristin Cooper, are pictured with the latest addition to the first family. The post explains that they brought Violet home from the Wake County SPCA a month ago.

“Violet was having seizures and problems with her back legs and no one knew why. Because of her condition, she was having trouble getting adopted,” the post says.

The Coopers took Violet to a neurologist for a diagnosis but have not received one yet.

But the family knew that Violet was meant to be with them.

“We all quickly fell in love with her. The initially shrinking Violet continues to blossom and grew every day,” they said.

North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper, left, and Gov. Roy Cooper, right, welcomed a new first pet to the family, a rescue dog named Violet.
North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper, left, and Gov. Roy Cooper, right, welcomed a new first pet to the family, a rescue dog named Violet. Gov. Roy Cooper

The Coopers said they love watching Violet “frolicking in the garden, playing with the sprinklers, and napping anywhere she sees fits.”

And while she struggled with stairs at first, “she’s started handling them like a champ,” the Facebook post says. “The only thing is that she needs to be lifted into cars and has a little trouble getting up after lying down.”

She joins a growing brood of first pets. Their Dalmatian, Sadie, can been seen frolicking on the mansion grounds, too. There’s also Charlie, another family dog who visits.

The Coopers’ family dog Ben, who belonged to daughter Hilary, died in October.

Gov. Roy Cooper with his “grand-dog” Ben, who enjoys “sitting on his loved one’s feet and licking himself,” according to a Facebook page created for the governor’s pets.
Gov. Roy Cooper with his “grand-dog” Ben, who enjoys “sitting on his loved one’s feet and licking himself,” according to a Facebook page created for the governor’s pets. First Pets of North Carolina Facebook

They also have several cats. Darcy, Aria, Gimli, Jenny, Forrest and Addy have also been featured on the first pets social media.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Pandora, Spotify. Apple Podcasts. Stitcher. iHeartRadio. Amazon Music, Megaphone or wherever you get your podcasts.

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 3:32 PM.

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Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
The News & Observer
Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan covers North Carolina state government and politics at The News & Observer. She previously covered Durham, and has received the McClatchy President’s Award and 12 North Carolina Press Association awards, including an award for investigative reporting.
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