Former Shelter Pet Wins Ellington's Top Dog Photo Contest

Tess, a former shelter pet, was the winner of Ellington's Top Dog Photo Contest this year and will receive a new license at no charge.

In order to enter the contest, residents were asked to submit a photo of the dog and a 50 word or less essay about the dog. There were 33 entries who were judged by members of the . 

Tess, who is owned by Joy Senger, won with 13 votes out of a total of 75 votes cast.

Assistant Animal Control Officer Ashlee Leone said that Tess, her litter mates, and their mother came to the on December 31, 2008 and that the guess was that they may have been Christmas puppies.  

The mother, who they named Mary, looked to be a Cattle Dog Mix and fairly young herself. She was very thin and was probably on her own for awhile.  

"It's amazing the puppies were as healthy as they were," Leone said.  

Mary had eight puppies all together, but the staff at the shelter only let her nurse five - the other three were bottle fed to make it easier on her. Leone said that Mary was very skittish and fearful of people at first, but was an excellent mother.  

Leone said that some of the pups looked like their mother, a couple looked more like Pit Bulls, and Tess looked like a wire haired terrier. 

She said that when the puppies were old enough and able to eat solid food, they were adopted out. Tess was adopted on February 23, 2009 at approximately eight weeks old.  

"She was one of kind in the litter of eight," she said. "It was great watching them grow up and see their personalities develop. Tess was always up for playing, but would back down when things got a little rough. She had a great temperament back then and still does."  

Leone said that they enjoy getting visits from Tess - and her mother - periodically. 

"The mom was also adopted out to an Ellington resident," she said. "She was renamed Molly, and was also in the No. 1 dog license contest. She is doing great and also comes to visit us on occasion."