PAM BONDI did not kidnap a dog, exactly. But the 20-year-old custody battle, fought over a St Bernard named Noah (né Master Tank), did not look great for America’s probable next attorney-general. In 2005, during Hurricane Katrina, the dog was separated from its family in Louisiana. Ms Bondi, then a Florida prosecutor, adopted the mutt from a charity that rescued him. When Noah’s original family found him in 2006, she refused to part with him until a 16-month legal fight forced her hand. She had suggested that the dog had previously been neglected. The story attracted local attention when Ms Bondi ran to be Florida’s attorney-general. She lost the dog, but won the election and served for eight years.