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Winning pets, shelter mascots to grace annual TLC fundraiser calendar
Reprinted from The Homer Horizon November 9, 2006
Editor
Twelve very special pets-one for each
month of the year-are now helping to
raise money for the TLC Animal Shelter in
Homer Glen.
Kiko the cat and Squirt the poodle were among the recently announced winners of TLC's 2007 Favorite Pet Photo contest. With more than 200 photos entered and 4,700 votes cast since June, the top 12 pets will star in the shelter's 2007 calendar, but every single photo will appear in the calendar somewhere, said volunteer Sandi O'Brien.
Squirt, looking dapper in sunglasses, a bandanna and Santa hat in his entry photo, was submitted by Annie Coleman, who said he has brought much joy and happiness to many people.
Squirt, who was abused before being brought to TLC Animal Shelter where Coleman adopted him three years ago, volunteers as a therapy dog for seniors, and he also has brought smiles to the faces of special- needs students, who love to hug and kiss him, said Coleman, who lives in Lemont.
Owner Chris Carlson said that the second place winner, nine-year-old Kiko, is very much a homebody cat. Carlson said Kiko was a stray, then one of the local veterinary clinics where Carlson lives in Wilmington placed Kiko's picture in the newspaper.
"I went to check her out, and she climbed in my arms and started snuggling and purring. She adopted me," Carlson said, laughing.
Kiko must understand that she was chosen as one of the Favorite Pets for the calendar, because ever since then, she "has been acting like quite the prima donna," Carlson said, adding that she hopes the calendar fundraiser will help the shelter out.
The third place winner is Potter, a tabby cat, shown sleeping peacefully in his photo.
"Potter was born in my parents' garage. We took care of the litter and I fell in love with this guy," said owner Paula Bickel.
The other top 12 winners, all of whom can be seen on www.tlcanimalshelter.org, include tiny dogs, big dogs, cats and even a male leopard gecko named Gary whose "hobbies include napping, shedding skin and hunting crickets."
Then there was the cover photo shoot, which was an event in and of itself.
According to O'Brien, one of the permanent shelter residents is a rat terrier named Stinky.
"Stinky started out as a bit of a troublemaker, but she cleaned up her act and now she is a canine good citizen and a VIP therapy dog," she said.
One of the VIP volunteers, Judy Kunkel, has been taking Stinky to visit seniors and nursing homes. She felt that Stinky deserved a better name-so Princess Stinky she became.
When some of the TLC crew were mulling over what to put on the cover of the 2007 pet calendar, a volunteer suggested using a photo of all the mascots, the animals who live at the shelter permanently. O'Brien, shelter coordinator Janine Carter and volunteer Clare Paskiet started brainstorming for "photo shoot" ideas. They thought about just a regular group picture, or portraits, but decided they needed a theme.
Combine the fact that they had a dog named Princess Stinky and a parrot named Merlin among the crowd, and "finally, inspiration hit. - King Arthur, knights of the round table, we were off and running."
"We thought of a role for all of the animals. Princess Stinky was of course a princess, Merlin the parrot took the magician's role, Shorty the white cat made a perfect white knight, Sullivan, the dog that was brought up from a southern shelter and lost his eye, was a regal king, Tiny the cat had one blue eye and one brown eye, making him a perfect jester. That left only Sam, the old Rottweiler. Sam was famous for sleeping and drooling, so we decided that Sam could be dreaming up the cover design," O'Brien said.
The volunteers gathered together medieval props and planned a photo session.
"Clare took lots of photos, and the animals were cooperative for the most part. The tricky one was Merlin the parrot- no way would that bird sit still and have us put a robe and hat on him. The solution was to dress him 'digitally.' Clare took a photo of Merlin, and then took photos of a robe wrapped on to a soda bottle, and a hat perched on a teddy bear. I did some cutting and pasting with my photo software, and Merlin had his robe and hat," O'Brien said.
TLC Pet Calendars are now on sale for $15. They are available at the shelter, 13016 W. 151st St., Homer Glen, which is open from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Calendars also will be on sale at the 21st annual Holiday Magic Craft Show and Bake Sale, which will be held on Saturday, November 11, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Homer Township Hall on Cedar Road, a quarter-block of 159th Street in Homer Glen.
Admission to the sale is free, complementary refreshments will be served, a wide array of baked goods will be on sale, and there also will be a raffle. All the money raised will go to provide food, shelter and medical care for the animals at TLC. The shelter also hopes to have a few of the pet winners at the sale to "pawtograph the calendars," O'Brien said. For more information, call (708) 301-1594 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.