Our 2004 Pet Lover's Star Search Grand Prize winner
is:
Emma
Though Emma is a registered AKC miniature
dachshund, her devoted human reports that she has tiny
feet, tiny ears, and the kind of agility uncharacteristic
of her breed. Whatever her true pedigree, Emma is beloved
and adored by her humans who say that she is the "sunshine"
in their days. Emma will be six in February 2005. Our
judges couldn't resist her great big eyes and adorable
expression. She made us all smile. Congratulations Emma!
See Emma's stamp on our canine pages here.
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Emma's
winning photo and the art work for her rubber stamp
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Our 2004 Pet Lover's Star Search
First Place Winners are (in no particular order):
Cheekers, Kobe, Simkin, Twister, and Carl!
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Cheekers, First Place Winner - 2 1/2 years old. His proud human
boasted that Cheekers has twice been pet of the day at another
site. Cheeker's "blaze" markings and bright eyes make
him a very handsome fellow and won him a place in our judges'
hearts as well. See Cheekers' rubber stamp on our small pets
page here.
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Masahiko Kobe, First Place Winner
- 4 years old; Named for a character on the Japanese cooking
show "Iron Chef", Kobe began his life as an abandoned pup thrown
out on a local Interstate. Fortunately, Kobe was adopted into
a loving home. According to his human, Kobe is a total love
sponge, who loves to kiss, and loves to perform an impressive
repertoire of tricks. We thought he brought a quiet dignity
to his birthday photo. Not every canine has the charisma and
bearing required to look so dashing in that hat. See Kobe's
stamp on our canine page, here.
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Simkin, First Place Winner - 1 year old; Simkin's adoring human
tells us that she was a playful kitten who likes to wake up
her humans in the mornings and sit on their laps whenever they
have thoughtfully provided one (whenever they sit down).
Simkin was named after a Beatrice Potter character and is much
loved by her human and feline family. Our judges found her playful
expression both endearing and a little humorous. See
Simkin's stamp on our feline page, here.
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YES,
there are five first place winner this year... as it was impossible
to stop at three. It was almost impossible to stop at five!
So, last in our random-ordered list - but NOT least in any
way: our fourth and fifth first place winners:
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Twister, first place winner - 15 weeks old. According to his
humans, twister just seems to "defy gravity." Determined
to earn his moniker, Twister spends his days constantly moving:
jumping, bouncing, spinning, and twisting like no other ferret
his humans have ever encountered (and they have plenty of ferrets
in their home). His endless energy made us a bit jealous, but
we were able to get past that and recognize his true talents
- what a beautiful expression of poetry in motion! See
Twister's stamp on our ferrets page, here.
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Carl, first place winner - 6 1/2 years old. Before coming to
live with his devoted humans, Carl lived and worked at a zoo
where it was his job to greet people and educate them about
the characteristics of his breed - specifically that rottweilers
are not "scary". According to his humans, Carl was
born to this task because he is very loveable and playful. Carl
loves to pose for photos and enjoys the friendship of his best
buddy - a dachshund.
Carl is ready for his close-up! See Carl's
stamp on our canine page, here.
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Our 2004 Pet Lover's Star Search
Honorable Mention (these are just a few of
the pets whose most precious of faces made our choice so difficult
this year), in no particular order.
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Caesar - 6 or 7 years old. Caesar was adopted by his adoring
family through an organization which shelters animals via volunteers
until they can be placed. According to his humans, Caesar's
favorite hobbies include: annoying Stormy, his cat buddy; drowning
cat toys in the water bowl and stalking grasshoppers while his
humans are working outdoors.
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Annie - 2 years old. Although Annie is 2 years old now, she
was only 1 day old when this photo was taken. According to her
humans, Annie (properly named, Lady Anne) was born weighing
approximately 25-30 pounds, and about 3' tall. Llamas are up
and walking in minutes at birth. All our judges had to say was,
"Awwww! what a beautiful baby!"
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Lilly - 1 1/2 years old. Lilly began her life under unfortunate
circumstances; she was surrendered to her veterinarian after
losing an eye. Luckily for Lilly, she was rescued by two kind-hearted
strangers. First, by a veterinarian who treated her eye injury
and then and then by her humans who took her to her forever-home
to be loved and adored as she deserved. Lilly is gentle, loving,
gives "sweet" kisses, and loves to snuggle.
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Weasel - 1 year old. A polecat mitt, Weasel was born at a shelter
after his mum was found wandering the streets. Fortunately,
Weasel was adopted, along with his brother Teasel, into a loving
home. According to his human, Weasel's passions include climbing,
stealing cups, and burning off excess energy.
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Nikkita - 12 weeks old here (she's a year old now and out of
that cast!)
According to her humans, Nikkita is a very loved dog and we
believe it - they've helped her through quite an ordeal. At
12 weeks old, she broke her knee, subsequently had several surgeries
with a canine orthopedic specialist, followed by several months
of physical therapy at home with her doting humans in their
spa. Due to her strong will, her humans' loving and patient
care, and the skill of her surgeon, Nikkita is now enjoying
full use of her leg and is happy, healthy and strong. Thanks
to her whole family for being such an inspiration to us all!
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Birdy - 1 year old. Birdy is a pearl cockatiel. His adoring
human reports that he is a cuddly little boy who loves to have
his head scratched. He talks. His favorite phrases include,
"birdy birdy birdy," "good birdy," as well
as the occasional wolf whistle. He enjoys making a running water
noise and calling the cats to tease them. Sounds like a bird
with a happy and full life - not to mention a very photogenic
beak.
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Thank you so much to everyone who participated in our 2004 pet lover's
star search - whether by sending in a beloved photo of your pet or
by voting for your favorite pic. You have all made our star search
both fruitful and exciting (and the judging tortuously difficult -
we were up half the night for days)!
Nearly every entry had some overwhelmingly charming quality. In
fact, there were so many utterly captivating photos and delightful
stories, that we ended up with a FIVE way tie for first place - when
we had originally planned for only three. Unfortunately, we were limited
to one grand prize and FIVE first prize winners - even though many
were deserving. In fact, next year we will be redesigning the judging
and prize categories to accomodate more winners. It is just too hard
to whittle it down to a handful of winners when the entrants are so
deserving.
We also chose 6 entries for honorable mention - though we would
have liked to have chosen many many more for recognition.
All pet photos have been resized to fit this page; many have also
been cropped and a few have been digitally enhanced in other ways
- to better suit this page and our purposes. Our judges made their
choice based on the original photos as submitted (you'll see this
when the art work is finished - drawings will be based on uncropped
photos as well); many factors were considered. Tie-breaking essays
were also considered in a couple of cases - so be sure to include
those next time you enter!
All decisions are final. Prize packages will be shipped out to the
addresses that were included with the winning entries - so if you
have moved, will be moving, etc., please email us and let us know
as soon as possible. We'd hate for your prize packages to end up at
the wrong address. Thanks again!
UPDATE (11-23-04): prize packages will be shipped out this week.
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