Socks, the famous Clinton cat, passed away Friday after months of treatment for cancer.

"Socks brought much happiness to Chelsea and us over the years, and enjoyment to kids and cat lovers everywhere," Bill and Hillary Clinton said in a joint statement released by the William J. Clinton Foundation. "We're grateful for those memories, and we especially want to thank our good friend, Betty Currie, for taking such loving care of Socks for so many years."

Veterinarians say he was probably either 19 or 20 years old. RIP Socks.

Sadly, sweet Loki, Mickey Rourke's 18 year old chihuahua and beloved companion passed away on Monday. I don't know about you but I was all teary when Mickey thanked his dogs at the Golden Globes and I was looking forward to seeing them together at the Oscars.

Says Rourke: "Loki is deeply missed but with me in spirit. I feel very blessed that she fell asleep peacefully in my arms."

RIP little Loki.

Here's the list:

      Dogs                    Cats
    1. Max                  1. Max
    2. Bailey               2. Chloe
    3. Bella                3. Tigger
    4. Molly                4. Tiger
    5. Lucy                 5. Lucy
    6. Buddy                6. Smokey
    7. Maggie               7. Oliver
    8. Daisy                8. Bella
    9. Sophie               9. Shadow
    10. Chloe               10. Charlie

"Max" also owned the distinction of the name with the most variations. VPI's database includes such Max-inspired pet names as Maximum Max, Max Power, Max Avalanche, Maximus Gladius Spartacus, Minimax, Sergeant Maxwell T. Steel, Max the Moose, Max Crime Fighter, Cherokee Max, Peanut Max, T.J. Maxx, Duramax, Fatmax, Maxmax, Maxator Midnight and Mad Max McNaughty.

Click here for more names that'll make you lol.

For the 18th consecutive year, the Labrador Retriever is the most popular purebred dog in the US, according to 2008 registration statistics released today by the American Kennel Club (AKC). While more than twice as many Labs were registered last year than any other breed, the Bulldog continues to climb, or should I say snort, its way up the list. The breed made news last year by returning to the AKC’s Top 10 for the first time in more than 70 years and now has jumped 6%, advancing two spots to land in 8th place. Smushy faces represent!

2008 Most Popular Dogs in the US
1. Labrador retriever
2. Yorkshire terrier
3. German shepherd
4. Golden retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Bulldog
9. Poodle
10. Shih tzu

Each year, the AKC looks at the most popular breeds in the 50 largest cities in the U.S.

• The Bulldog continues to climb the national list and is gaining popularity in western cities such as -- Las Vegas, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and San Diego – where it comes in 2nd, right after the Lab.
• Only Honolulu, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Portland, Raleigh, and Salt Lake City snubbed the Bulldog, leaving it off their Top 10.
• Detroit and Miami are the only cities that do not have the Lab in the top spot, both favouring the German Shepherd.
• The Boxer is muscling its way to the top in a few cities, ranking 2nd in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Des Moines, Louisville, Omaha and Kansas City. It’s 3rd in Atlanta, Cleveland, New Orleans, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Philadelphia.
• Californians apparently adore the Miniature Pinscher. Ranked 32nd nationally, it came in 6th (up from 15 last year) in San Diego and also ranked 8th in Sacramento.
• The Vizsla is tied for 10th with the Shih Tzu in Chicago. Ranked 44th nationally, the Vizsla has long been a Chicago favourite and made the local Top 10 list in 2007 and 2003.
• Less common breeds on local Top 10 lists include the Great Dane (10th in St. Louis), the Mastiff (10th in Indianapolis), the Brittany (10th in Minneapolis), the Belgian Malinois (8th in Kansas City) and the Siberian Husky (9th in Long Beach).

Notable recent trends in the past decade include:

• The Bulldog (+69%) and four of its relatives are among the breeds that have increased most significantly over the last decade: Miniature Bull Terrier (+109%), Bull Terrier (+102%), Staffordshire Bull Terrier (+69%) and the Bullmastiff (+22%).
• The French Bulldog (+467%), the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (+209%) and the Brussels Griffon (+73%) continue to be among the breeds with the largest increases.
• The Border Collie saw a significant increase (+50%).
• Lesser known breeds that saw an increase include the Ibizan Hound (+74%), Norwich Terrier (+39%) and Bedlington Terrier (+28%).
• Large dogs with notable increases are two Swiss breeds – the Bernese Mountain Dog (+78%) and the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog (+88%) – as well as the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon (+117%).
• Among breeds on the decline are the Lhasa Apso (-80%), Rottweiler (-76%), Schipperke (-75%) the Basset Hound (-66 %) and, despite its popularity in California, the Miniature Pinscher (-75%).
• Portuguese Water Dogs are currently ranked 64th and have increased 44%. No doubt this will increase significantly if the Obama family choose this breed.

Be sure to tune in on Saturday, January 31, 2009 for the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. The country’s top dogs will compete for $225,000 in prize money and the title of "National Champion". It airs on Animal Planet and  Discovery Channel from 8-11 p.m. (ET/PT). Highlights from the AKC Agility Invitational will air on Animal Planet on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT).

Despite what our opinions may be in regards to US politics over the past 8 years, the Ruby Scoop team would like to send our condolences to the Bush family for the passing of India, the "first cat". The Bush family's 18 year-old cat  passed away just weeks before they were due to leave the White House.

According to a statement from the first lady's office, India died peacefully at home on Sunday January 4th. India, a black American Shorthair, was named after former Texas Rangers player Ruben Sierra, whose nickname was "El Indio", but was often affectionately called "Kitty" by the family.

India was often overshadowed by the family's more high-profile Scottish Terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley. In 2004 angry youths in India burned an effigy of President Bush because they felt that naming his cat India was an insult to their country. Poor kitty!

RIP India.

This isn't the first time Ruby's seen her name in print. She's been in the Mississauga News three times! Most recently we were spotted at Dog Day at the Hershey Center cheering on the St. Michael's Majors. We were also on the cover of The Booster for Doggy Dayz at Benares Museum in Clarkson (we're bottom center, not left) and at the Mississauga Humane Society Walkathon (the picture is of Ruby and our foster dog at the time, Diesel). Ruby also won a Modern Dog Magazine photo contest and was in the Fall 2007 issue  (page 29!). She was in the K9 Rescue Me 2008 Calendar (May) and was in a fashion show at PetPalooza. We were also caught celebrating her 3rd birthday! Ruby is quite the local celebrity!

To celebrate the 4th of July, the beautiful peeps at All-Mighty are inviting you to enjoy 20% OFF everything all holiday weekend long! Click!

People are taking pets into consideration when making large purchasing decisions and according to a recent study by the American Kennel Club some 47% of dog owners think of their pets when buying a car. The market has responded. The Japanese now have more dogs and cats than they do children under 15. Detecting a trend, Honda came up with the W.O.W. concept car at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show designed especially for dogs: detachable, easy-to-clean seats, wooden floors and a netted, built-in pup-crate in the dashboard.

Check out the Honda Dog website.

"It helps to show people exactly how our cars can be canine-friendly," said Tokio Isono, a fellow dog-lover and a chief engineer of Honda's cars.

How cool is that?! I like my Ford Focus wagon but that Honda Freed Flex looks pretty snazzy. In case you don't understand Japanese and want the scoop on the most dog friendly cars in North America - check out DogCars.com.