It's not rare in Montana for a business to have an office dog, but I FINALLY got to meet the crown jewel of animal employees - Axle the cat at Belgrade Sales & Service. I have been told about Axle many times...the popular mascot amongst wonderful (human) employees, and a vast selection of lawn mowers and chainsaws.

Axle is a gorgeous, older gentleman cat with shiny black fur. He's a stunning specimen of a feline, literally living his best life usually tucked in the corner of the Belgrade Sales & Service showroom. Out of the dozens of "seats" he could choose from, his cat thrown of choice is an old tractor mower seat that a client left behind years ago.

Have you met Axle the cat? It seems like everyone in the Valley has met him but me (until now, of course). Axle's fanbase amongst my circle is huge. But my circle is oddly obsessed with lawncare and landscaping so it's no surprise they all were very familiar with Belgrade Sales & Service.

To be honest, I don't know if Axle actually lives full time at the shop. This was my first time in there. We had ordered a snow blower belt, and one of the first things you notice after getting a big 'hello' from one of their crew is a proper, fluffy cat bed at the far end of the counter.

This was my chance. We're here. IN the store. Axle should be here. But no cat in the cat bed. I was about to be a weirdo. "Where's Axle? I heard there's a cat here." With nary a raised eyebrow, a nice fellow pointed me to the back of the large showroom. Sure enough, behind the last riding mower on display - was Axle sitting on his tractor seat.

Photo: Michelle Wolfe
Photo: Michelle Wolfe
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Axle was not the least bit impressed to meet me but was gracious enough to allow some photos be taken. I had a brief conversation with him about how locally famous he was, (yes, right in the middle of the store), and left him to his important task of guarding the mowers.

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So this begs the question - aside from my new favorite office cat, what other businesses in the Valley are supervised by a cool animal? Dog, cat, bird, hamster, whatever. I think I'll do a tour to showcase the very best. Let me know where, and I'll stop by personally with the appropriate visitor praise :-)

Photo: Michelle Wolfe
Photo: Michelle Wolfe
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