Denton's new pet mayor: The Denton Spider-Man's dog, Happy
Denton Spider-Man’s dog Happy has a story straight from a comic book.
A mild-mannered black Lab, abandoned by his original owner, is discovered starving in the woods not far from the web slinger’s home. The web slinger nurses him back to health, enters him in the local pet mayor election and helps him win against opponents — who are all just as lovable as Happy — with names like Zero the Patito Toledo, Wizard the Donkey and Gizmo, a therapy dog known to drive a dog-sized Jeep downtown.
On Monday afternoon, Denton Spider-Man, aka Jeremy Sons, learned that Happy the Spider Dog had indeed gotten the most votes in the contest and will spend the next two years as Denton’s pet mayor.
“With the fullest heart possible I’m announcing our boy Happy as the new Pet Mayor of Denton!” Sons wrote in a Monday afternoon post. “I’m in literal tears writing this. Just a short time ago Happy was abandoned and left to starve. But he didn’t give up. He didn’t lose his loving nature. He kept moving until fate brought him to me, my wife, daughter and our 10 other rescue pets. He is a true example of how life can change in a blink of an eye as long as you keep love in your heart.”
It’s an announcement the city has yet to make.
“We’re working on a plan to get photos with the winner ahead of the announcement, so we don’t have a solid date at this time,” Justin Harmon, a city spokesperson, wrote in a Monday email to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
Sons said he had received the email confirmation from the city shortly before he called the Record-Chronicle with news of Happy’s win.
Happy will be taking over from Elvis, a black poodle who served as Denton’s first pet mayor.
Sons said Happy will receive a plaque and a proclamation from Mayor Gerard Hudspeth on July 18. He will also be featured on the city’s website and in a social media post as the new pet mayor and in the Denton’s Resident Update publication.
“I’m going to use this platform and do different events and raise money for the Linda McNatt animal shelter and dog protection agencies and promote and make aware to the public the seriousness of dumping dogs and the felony that it is,” Sons said. “I want to use love and kindness to get money for shelters because it is extremely important. Loving animals is not something that weak people do. It is something that God tells us to do.”
Sons quoted Proverbs 12:10, which reads in the King James Version: “A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
“That’s what we’re called to do,” Sons said. “Whether it is a cricket, a dog or an elephant, we’re supposed to take care of it.”
Nominations for pet mayor opened in early May and ended in early June.
To win, pets simply needed the most “hearts” from people on the Discuss Denton website, where residents uploaded photos of their pets and a brief biography about why their pet would make a great pet mayor.
About 70 pets entered the race. Happy received 477 hearts. Gary from the Bearded Monk came in second with 295, followed by Wizard the Donkey with 47 hearts and border collie Maggie, who earned 57 votes.
The fact that Happy won isn’t a surprise, given the network Sons has built over the past several years. He’s appeared as the Denton Spider-Man at hundreds of birthday celebrations, often only for donations that parents can afford. He has brought joy to sick children in photos on Facebook and appeared like Santa with donated gifts for those who were involved in a mass shooting in Uvalde.
Sons also runs Webs Party Services and understands the power of marketing. He became what appeared to be the perfect campaign manager for Happy. He created magnets and memes with Happy’s mug on them. “Vote for Happy,” they read in a couple of text blasts that also offered step-by-step details for how to vote.
“Hello! I have a favor to ask :) Happy is running for Pet Mayor of Denton and it would mean a lot to us if he could get your vote,” Sons wrote in a May 12 text. “You don’t have to be a Denton resident to vote. And kids can vote as well. Everyone in the house can vote.”
He even got Happy his own Spidey suit, and they began appearing on the Square in Denton and on social media to raise campaign awareness. They also visited local businesses. He said about 50% of the people responded positively to Happy’s story, while the other 50% looked at him like, “Are you serious, a pet mayor?”
Of course, it wouldn’t be an election without some mudslinging, and the pet mayor race was no exception, Sons said. The race had gotten so heated at one point last month that Wizard the Donkey pulled out of the race in a Facebook post on the Denton Downtowners group.
“It was supposed to be a fun contest,” Wizard’s pet owner wrote. “I don’t want to involve my animals in what this has become.”
But despite the election trials and tribulations, Sons said they focused on putting “love and goodness out into the world.” He’s a firm believer, he said, in that when you put goodness out into the world, the world will repay it to you.
Happy, who Sons describes as a smart dog, is currently receiving training from Gizmo’s owner at That Dog Dude to become a service dog and might be appearing around town in a Spidey mobile of his own soon, Sons said.
Sons plans to take Happy with him to the hospitals to visit children who are facing their own battles, as Happy once did.
“It would be fun and inspiring to walk in with Happy the Spider Dog,” Sons said. “Just more smiles. He is already able to do it. We’re just continuing to work with him. The ultimate goal is to share more love and smiles with the people.”
CHRISTIAN McPHATE can be reached at 940-220-4299 and via Twitter at @writerontheedge.