Starlite wins pooch contest
Four-year-old husky chosen mascot for city's Scoop the Poop Campaign
Jessica Phillips
Northern News Services
Monday, March 28, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After trying to get dog owners to clean up after their pets by issuing fines, the City of Yellowknife is trying something new.
Paulina Lambert holds husky Starlite who won the City of Yellowknife's Scoop the Poop Campaign mascot contest. Starlite will receive a photoshoot and represent the city in relevant advertising. - Jessica Phillips/NNSL photo |
A city Facebook contest posted photos of Yellowknifers' dogs and asked people to vote with a 'like' for the pooch they prefer. Last week, four-year-old husky Starlite emerged the winner and will be the new face of the city's Scoop the Poop Campaign. The dog, owned by Yellowknifer Paulina Lambert, received the honour after winning the most votes in the contest.
Starlite will now get a photoshoot and be featured prominently on advertising and promotional material that reminds dog owners to pick up after their pets.
City spokesperson Vimala Jeevanandam said this is the first time the city has held such a competition.
"We got the word out so everyone would know how important it is to scoop your dog's poop," Jeevanandam said.
She said 163 pictures of dogs were submitted and the Facebook page got 20,900 shares and likes.
Lambert was overjoyed when she found out on March 21 that Starlite won.
According to Lambert, Starlite spent a year sick with a skin condition at the animal hospital after spending the first six months of her life abandoned on the streets.
Lambert brought Starlite home from the hospital and has had her for
about three years.
During the competition, which ran for about a week, Lambert got a message from a friend asking if she knew Starlite was in second place in the online polls. She got excited.
"Before that I didn't ask people to vote," Lambert said. "But then I started asking people on Facebook to vote for Starlite."
She messaged her 374 friends on Facebook, getting blocked twice for sending a copy-and-paste message too many times, suggesting her friends vote for Starlite.
"I then started joining a bunch of dog groups on Facebook asking them to vote for her," she said. "People wrote about what a beautiful dog she is."
Lambert said she voted for other dogs as well but is still glad Starlite won.
"It was nice that a husky won for a little Northern town."
Currently, a dog owner can be issued a $100 fine for not picking up after their dog.
