Pete Buttigieg Talks Rescue Dogs in the White House at The Abbey Fundraiser

EXCLUSIVE

Mayor Pete Buttigieg had an opportunity to use his rescue dogs as a credential in his run for The White House, but he didn’t bite.

We got the Prez candidate Thursday night in WeHo at The Abbey — perhaps the most famous gay bar in the U.S. of A., where he held a fundraiser to a packed house at $25 a pop.

Our photog asked Pete about his 2 rescue dogs — Truman and Buddy — and how it might reflect on him. It’s an opening, right, to talk about compassion for the forgotten, but Pete kinda left it with the fact he and his husband, Chasten, really dig dogs.

Buttigieg was in L.A. for a bunch of fundraisers … after leaving The Abby Pete beelined it for Gwyneth Paltrow‘s digs, starting at $250 a pop. And earlier, he had another fundraiser where tickets started at $250 if you were under 37 — his age — but more if you were older. If you wanted a pic, it was another $2,800 and if you wanted a John Hancock you had to shell out a grand.

Money … the mother’s milk of politics.