In the immortal words of George Elliot, “Animals are such agreeable friends. They ask no questions, they pass no criticism.” Having an animal to come home to or around your workplace can really improve your life.
I wanted to know how the WordPress community embraced animals, so I asked several WordPressers in the community to share photos and stories of their own animals. The results were nothing short of adorable.
Bob Dunn’s cat, Rochester
“Rochester came into our lives about two years ago – we call him Chester for short. He’s a rescue cat (our 5th one over the years) that was abandoned after a crack house raid. Rough life for his first year, but he is now the most loving cat, of course with an attitude. Although I don’t think he much cares for WordPress as he doesn’t hang around much in my office.”
Bob Dunn is a blogger and podcaster at BobWP. Connect with him on Twitter.
Jeff Starr’s fish, Spider Man
“Spider Man is a reddish blue betta fish that I rescued from another betta fish. He now lives happily next to my desk in a large bowl of water, just sort of floating around all day. He’s very quiet, relaxed, low maintenance, and good at talking me down when I get stressed out. He may look kinda bored, but really he’s living life to the max. Favorite snack: bloodworms.”
Jeff is a full-stack Web Developer and CEO at Plugin-Planet. Connect with him on Twitter.
Luke Cavanagh’s dog, Flynn
“Here is a photo of myself with our family dog, Flynn. Flynn is six years old and is a cross between a brown Labrador and a beagle pointer. He is an amazing family dog, loves to give hugs and periodically hogs the sofa. He has a fun personality and is very playful.”
Luke is a WooCommerce Specialist at Liquid Web. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Jenni McKinnon’s cat, Girlie
“When I saw her, I decided I couldn’t go home without her. She was so sweet and let me rub her belly. She’s turning 11 this year. I call her by her nickname, Girlie, more than I do her real name nowadays. I’m not sure why. It just sort of stuck, I guess.”
Jenni is the WordPress consultant and course instructor for The Academy and regular contributor at WPMU Dev. Connect with her on Twitter.
Jason Tucker’s dogs, Lincoln and Twinkle
“Pictured are my two dogs Lincoln (in blue) and Twinkle (in pink). Lincoln is our 5-year-old Schnauzer and Twinkle is our 3-year-old Yorkshire Terrier.”
Jason is the creator and show host at WPwatercooler. Connect with him on Twitter.
Mario Peshev’s dog, Mara
“Mara the Beast is the community manager at DevriX. Besides being a brand ambassador, she takes care of the team on a personal level. She has introduced the ‘PET ME NOW’ and ‘SCRATCH HERE’ breaks to our team, helping to relieve stress and double the productivity of our specialists. Mara is also a healthy lifestyle preacher and closely monitors the daily calorie intake at the office. She is a fan of recycling and is strongly opposed to using any kind of plastic bags around her. She is also responsible for our meeting schedules, so if you bring her a treat (omnivorous, but prefers chicken fillet) she would be more likely to squeeze you in.”
Mario is a CEO, Business and Technical Lead at DevriX. Connect with him on Twitter.
Troy Dean’s dog, Lucy
“This is Lucy. She is a Maltese X with some kind of terrier. She is a rescue dog and we’ve had her for about eight years, so we think she is about 10. She keeps me company at work and has been a loyal companion at four different office locations. She is playful and sweet natured and is a great excuse for me to go for a walk in the middle of the day. The whole office loves having her around even if she prefers Drupal over WordPress.”
Troy is the Co-founder of WP Elevation. Connect with him on Twitter.
Bridget Willard’s dog, Sully
“His name is Sully. He was rescued with severe mange and the humane society was going to put him down. Sully, having the determination to survive, kissed [the vet] right when she was going to give him the injection. [The vet] decided to personally foster him. She named him Sully after the Captain who landed on the Hudson: Captain “Sully” Sullenberg. Through a mutual friend, we adopted him May 19, 2009. He is a mix between a Shar Pei and Basset Hound. He loves peanut butter, belly rubs, and naps on the pillows. I call him the Pillow King.”
Bridget is the Marketing Manager for WordImpress, and co-organizer of Women Who WP meetup. Connect with her on Twitter.
Adam Silver’s dog, Wrigley
“We are fostering a dog named Wrigley as our long time beloved Sammy passed away almost two years ago. Fostering helps us fill that little void, but also helps the animal as well as they aren’t stuck in shelters all the time.”
Adam is the WordPress Educator/Podcaster and founder of KitchensinkWP. Connect with him on Twitter.
Sabina Ionescu’s cat, Pisa
“This is Pisa, the friendliest cat I’ve ever met – and it’s not because it’s mine. I’ve had her for nine years now and when I am away from home, my friends take good care of her. That’s why I created a WhatsApp group, so they don’t miss her afterward. It’s called ‘Pisa News’ and I share her adventures over there: sleeping in silly postures and pretending to be sleeping, and just sleeping.”
Sabina is the Operations Manager at Themeisle. Connect with her on Twitter.
Nevena Tomovic’s cat, Gospodarica
“The pet I live with now is a black cat, and I named her after Adriana Lima (the Victoria’s Secret supermodel) because she is such a pretty cat. But, we don’t actually call her Lima, we call her ‘Gospodarica’ in Serbian, which means Mistress, but more in the sense of she will sit and meow until she gets her way. She is the smallest cat and makes the most noise.”
Nevena is the Marketing Coordinator at GoDaddy. Connect with her on Twitter.
Antonio Villegas’ rabbit, Luna
“Luna is the official pet of Nelio Software. She spends the day eating hay, chewing like crazy, and biting our fingers every time when we get close enough. Her dream is to become a soccer star. She trained hard until her teeth destroyed the ball. Still waiting for a call from FC Barcelona.”
Antonio is the Cofounder and CTO Nelio. Connect with him on Twitter.
David Attard’s dog, Cyrus
“Cyrus is an eight-year-old mongrel, who is an extremely energetic and fun dog. He has a bold character and never stops bouncing around or laughing (as you can see in the photo), especially when it’s time for his walks or runs. He’s quite a handful and it’s usually him taking me for walks rather than the other way round, but that’s what makes him so much fun!”
David is the owner at Dart-Creations. Connect with him on Twitter.
Rhys Wynne’s dog, Bonnie
“It’s not technically mine, it’s my mother’s, but Bonnie is a Jack Russell terrier, and is over 10 years old. She was even featured in my book, bbPress Complete.”
Rhys is the Lead Developer at FireCask. Connect with him on Twitter.
Joe Howard’s dog, Marvin
“Marvin is a very loyal and affectionate hound dog. He loves long walks through Rock Creek Park and running around the dog park with his friends. Once he’s done that, he’s usually pretty tuckered out and spends the rest of the day sleeping.”
Joe is the Head Buff at WPBuffs. Connect with him on Twitter.
Steven Watts’ cats, Ruby and Django
“I work from home and my cats, Ruby and Django keep me company which helps with my sanity as I can go for days without really seeing anyone. When they’re not helping me code they like to use my MacBook to watch bird videos, they also enjoy rubbing the side of their mouths on the corners of the MacBook for some bizarre reason.
Ruby likes to bring me her ball at random times during the day, which helps me take a break from my desk to play fetch! Django being the man of the house tends to keep to himself but it’s always nice when he comes into the office to check that I’m still there!”
Steven is the founder of Newt Labs. Connect with him on Twitter.
Jan Koch’s horse, Don Corleone
“Don Corleone is a Hanoverian horse, 15 years old. He used to compete in harness racing when he was younger and now he’s retiring on a willow behind our backyard.”
Jan is a WordPress mentor for online entrepreneurs at WPMastery. Connect with him on Twitter.
Natalie MacLees’s cats, Mabel and Ollie
“My pets are two rescue cats, Mabel and Ollie. They keep me company while I work from home, and keep things entertaining. Ollie usually sleeps curled up between my arms while I’m writing code and Mabel comes along every couple of hours to meow loudly and demand some attention.”
Natalie is the founder of Purple Pen Productions. Connect with her on Twitter.
James Farmer and the Quokkas
“It’s not strictly a ‘pet’, they are actually two Quokkas, found pretty much only on Rottnest Island in Western Australia. I got to meet them while having a weekend away with my daughter, Emi.”
James is the founder of Incsub – A company behind many WordPress projects like WPMU Dev. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Mustaasam Saleem’s, tortoise Mustoise
“Meet Mustoise (Mustaasam + Tortoise). See the smile on my face? He’s the reason for it! No, he doesn’t help me with my tasks (mostly because he’s too slow) but honestly, having him around makes me value time a lot more and I sometimes get a lot of work done in a small time. Just watching him move slowly across the desk makes me feel like Flash, and I constantly thank him for that with lettuce leaves. He loves them!”
Mustaasam is a WordPress Community Manager at Cloudways. Connect with him on Twitter.
Dogs, cats, goldfish, horses, or tortoises, we want to see the pets that light up your life. Leave us a comment below!
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