It’s a contest where nobody particularly cares who wins, as long as it’s everyone.
Patty, a 3-year-old female Shih Tzu, waits on her handler's lap backstage during the Animal Foundation's 8th annual Best in Show event at the Orleans Arena May 1, 2011.
The Animal Foundation’s “8th Annual Best in Show” doggie adoption event crowned one official champ among 53 other winners today at Orleans Arena. A total of 54 dogs -- including two three-legged pooches and a Tibetan Spaniel that fetched a $5,000 price -- were up for adoption. All found homes, which is not uncommon at an event that tugs both the heartstrings and purse strings with equal persuasion.
The winner happened to be a 4-year-old Bloodhound named Alabama, a female (spayed). Alabama is a classically beautiful animal who, I understand, hired an agent just minutes after being named Best in Show and is said to be the subject of a new reality TV series on Bravo.
A joke, that.
The goal of the event, where more than 100 volunteers helped stage the show and care for the canines, was to raise $200,000 for Lied Animal Shelter. The total take is achieved through donated silent auction items, ticket sales and bids on the doggies themselves.
This year’s silent auction items included accommodations for people (two nights at Rumor, valued at $350) and canines (a custom-designed dog house dubbed The Cottontail Club, handmade by artist Lois Esparza, with no established value).
The event is the largest of the year for Lied Animal Shelter, which takes in about 50,000 animals per year, or 136 per day. During one particularly busy June day in 2010, the shelter welcomed 234 dogs.
Noted canine enthusiast Rita Rudner hosted. Robin Leach provided emcee duties. “Peepshow’s” Josh Strickland sang the national anthem and was joined by Holly Madison during the Special Needs class dog parade. Jace Crispin and Juan DeAngelo of "Chippendales" were seen but not heard during the show.
Local media were well represented, too. Denise Valdez of KLAS Channel 8, Kim Wagner of KSNV Channel 3, Nina Radetich of KTNV Channel 13, John Huck from Fox 5 and Luis Felipe Godinez of Univision helped introduce the dogs. The show’s co-chairs were Mayor Oscar Goodman and his wife, mayoral candidate Carolyn Goodman (who is now passing out casino chip business cards), and Jeff and Jane Gale.
In an event packed with misfit pooches, two dogs who were adopted had a total of six legs. Pogo, a 3-year-old female Chihuahua, was the last dog to be taken. Pogo was born with a deformed right front leg. She has a tough time going down stairs but has no trouble lifting your heart (cue the harpist). Another three-legged wonder, Jack Jack, is a year-old Queensland Heeler who lost his left front leg after an injury and unsuccessful surgery to save the limb.
As for the $5,000 dog, Madison bid on a Tibetan Spaniel mix named Sam. This 2-year-old male looks a lot like Holly’s adopted dog Napoleon -- the two doggies could be siblings, they are so alike. She made a winning bid of $300 on the dog, then rounded up.
To $5,000.
Sam has already been renamed something French-like, to keep with Mad Maddy’s cultural theme. The name is Louis Le Premier.
Say this for the Canine Formerly Known as Sam: That’s one lucky dog.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.
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