The Cutest Pet Contest
There was an event that happened at Cuyahoga Community College (Tri C) Western Campus which was The Cutest Pet Contest. How this worked is students would submit a picture of their pets between March 28th through April 1st. Then from April 4th through April 8th, people voted for who they thought was the cutest pet. The winner was announced on National Pet Day which was April 11th.
Jennifer Kubala, the Student life Advisor at Tri C Western Campus, oversaw this contest. There were 31 photos of people’s pets that were submitted for the contest with a total of 32 pets in the pictures which included 20 dogs, nine cats, one skinny pig, one bearded dragon, and one hedgehog. “Over 130 votes were cast both virtually and in-person (in the Galleria at Western campus), and Bentley won by the slimmest of margins, one-vote,” says Kubala. “This truly shows the benefit of networking with fellow students to champion your pet,” says Kubala.
Bentley didn’t only win bragging rights of being voted The Cutest Pet of Tri C Western Campus, but he also won some prizes. “Bentley won a $25 PetSmart gift card and a $50 donation to the organization of his choice. “His mom chose the Medina County Society Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),” says Kubala. The Medina County SPCA is an animal protection organization. There was $50 of kitten food and supplies donated there. Not only did people submit pictures of their pets for The Cutest Pet Contest, but people also made dog toys. “Over 50 dog toys were made which will also be donated to the Medina County SPCA,” says Kubala.
This is not the first time that this contest has happened and now was a perfect time and opportunity to bring this event back to the Western Campus. “Prior to the pandemic and classes being remote, this was an event that had been done on campus with great success,” says Kubala. “I wanted to bring back a slightly larger-scale event that would once again engage our students and encourage student-to-student networking. We all love to brag about our pets, so this seemed like the perfect time and opportunity to bring this event back to Western Campus.”
Many people participated in this event both online and in person. “We included online voting as we know some students are 100% remote in classes and may not be comfortable coming to campus but want to still feel that they are part of the Tri C community,” says Kubala. “About 50% of the votes were submitted in-person, and we had pet-owners campaigning.”
Kubala says she has pets of her own. “Yes, I personally have two dogs: a four-year-old chihuahua mix (Gryffindor) and a one-and-a-half-year-old hound/ poodle named Laszlo,” Kubala said. “I really like animals and enjoyed putting this event together. Many people look forward to this event and it was a great event.”
A lot has come out of this event such as people getting to submit their pets, Bentley winning and receiving a $25 gift card to PetSmart, a $50 donation to the Medina County SPCA, and people making over 50 dogs toys that were donated for animals.
