Shaggy Dog Story From the RSPCA, Noosa

Australia has one of the highest levels of dog ownership in the world, and one Noosa resident told me that I wouldn’t be a local myself until I got a dog. So I was naturally interested in the ‘Champ Pooch of the Day’ event that was held last Sunday by the Royal Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). They tried to keep it a secret from me, but I noticed a stream of people and dogs of all shapes and sizes parading along the Noosa river and just had to find out what it was all about.

Dog in a Bag

Thank heavens I didn’t miss out on the doggy fun. There were all kinds of competitions being held. The biggest dog contest was a sure win for the lone Great Dane entrant. The smallest dog contest was practically a support group for nominees for the Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves website. For those of you who haven’t yet had the pleasure, check it out. It’s most reassuring to find other people who think that a bull dog wearing a tight polo shirt is tragic, not cute.

I’m happy to say the RSPCA doesn’t condone dressing pets up in clothes either, and the canine winner for smallest dog took it down clad only in its natural fur coat. Good news, even if it was one of those trembling dogs with a really hard to spell name that fashionable girls like to keep in their handbags.

Pampered Costa Rican Cat

But my favourite contest, and the most fiercely contested category, was the “Owner and Dog Most Lookalike Contest”. The winner went to a Jack Russel and his short-haired, pointy-faced, wet-nosed owner. They were almost indistinguishable from each other so congratulations to the undisputed champs.

They didn’t have official contests for these categories but I also identified the hottest dog, the smelliest dog, the dog with the largest testicles and the owner who was most in denial that she looked like her dog. This sounds means but it was just the shaggy orange hair. Hey, maybe I could help with the judging next year or reinvent myself as a canine talent scout.

I hope you like these photos I took for the Pets That Want to Kill Themselves website. They’ve got loads of pics of desperate pets and it’s worth checking out if you need a laugh and don’t mind a teeny bit of cruelty to animals. We certainly don’t. Here’s a photo of one of our long suffering kittens in Costa Rica if you want the proof.

Thanks for reading, feel free to add your comments below.

Good luck with all your travel plans!
,