Contest aims to help homeless canines

Friday, May 16, 2003 | 5:05 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: May 17, 2003

What: Best in Show fund-raiser.

When: 5 p.m. June 1.

Where: Orleans Arena.

Cost: $5.

Info: 284-7777, tickets; 384-3333, pets. On the Internet at orleansarena.com for tickets; animalfoundation.com for pets.

Doris has everything a beauty contestant needs: A nice smile, a warm personality and great legs -- all four of them.

Doris is a black Labrador-mix and a potential canine contestant for the Las Vegas Animal Foundation's Best In Show fund-raiser June 1 at the Orleans Arena.

From inside her cage at the foundation's Lied Anmal Shelter, 655 N. Mojave Road, Doris hops up on hind legs and presses her wet nose against the metal frame as if to say, "Pick me, pick me!" But she has a lot of competition from at least 200 other unwanted and neglected dogs who need a home.

"These are very rare breed dogs -- each one is a one of a kind," said Animal Foundation Chairwoman Janie Greenspun Gale, a member of the Greenspun family, which owns the Sun.

"The purpose of this type of event is for people to have a fun time, but also to realize that an animal does not have to be a pedigree to be a wonderful, beautiful dog."

Diane Orgill, Animal Foundation vice president and director of the shelter that serves as the city of Las Vegas pound, said the agency also hopes to encourage adoption of shelter animals and to raise money in the high five figures.

The event targets wealthy patrons and businesses. An entity puts up $500 for a dog, takes it from the pound, grooms it and enters it in the contest. Prizes include trophies, and gold-and-diamond paw-print pins designed by Michael E. Minden and Co. Jewelers.

The business or person then has the choice of keeping the sponsored dog or putting it up for adoption to those attending the show. Adoption costs run between $7 and $117, based on age, breed and length of stay at the shelter, Orgill said.

Through Friday 30 dogs had been sponsored. The agency hopes to get sponsors for 80 to 100 dogs, who will compete in the small, medium and large divisions. There also will be an alumni division for dogs obtained from the pound in prior years.

And it won't be just the pretty ones that have a chance of winning.

"The judges will be looking for the unusual -- a dog that looks like it came out of a Dr. Seuss book would have a good chance of winning," Gale said.

There were plenty of those at the pound last week, such as Felony, an Akita mix whose former owners said is wonderful with children but dislikes cats -- or an unnamed dog with a large Sharpei face and a miniature body that a family recently abandoned in a home after they were evicted.

Each year, about 21,000 animals are brought into the city pound by animal control officers and the public. Of them 7,581 were adopted out last year. Another 7,556 were euthanized because they were too aggressive, old and sick or were feral cats.

The pound used to have a policy of putting down animals unclaimed after 30 days, but that is no longer a practice at the facility, which is privately funded through donations.

"Some of the dogs have been here several months or longer," Orgill said. "It takes considerable funds to feed, clean and otherwise care for them."

The Best in Show competition begins at 5 p.m. on June 1 at the arena. Tickets are $5 and are available by calling 284-7777. Tickets also are available at Coast Casino showrooms or at the Boulevard, Meadows or Galleria at Sunset malls' ticket centers.

American Kennel Club-registered judges will judge the animals, but not by traditional standards, as, unlike competitors in pedigree shows, all Animal Foundation shelter dogs are spayed or neutered to prevent future generations of abandoned animals.