Once upon a time (about 7 years ago) in a little village in Southwest Missouri (Monett), a young lady (Kristi) was taking an evening walk, enjoying the scenery and the company of her neighbors. Out of the corner of her eye, Kristi kept seeing movement on top of a pile of bricks and concrete, so she decided to explore and see what she would see. There – huddled under the pile of crumbled cement, scared and hungry – was a ball of gray and black fur covered in dirt and oil. It was a puppy.  Kristi quickly scooped up the puppy, brought it back to her home where she bathed, fed and comforted the scared puppy. Kristi searched for the puppy's owner, but quickly realized that this puppy had been abandoned and left to fend for herself. Kristi quickly became attached and decided that this puppy (a Catahoula/mixed breed) now named Sophie, would have a home with her where she would be loved and cared for forever.

Sophie's story may not have had the happiest of beginnings, but Kristi has done everything humanly possible to make sure her life from that point on was filled with comfort and contentment. Despite not being a big fan of riding in the car, Sophie has been a "world" traveler, living in Missouri, Minnesota, Florida, and now Lenexa, Kansas. She fills her days with naps, yard patrol, more naps, barking at neighborhood cats and squirrels, a few more naps, and most importantly … yummy snacks! (Her favorite snack is a Jumbone.) Sophie doesn't really do exciting tricks, but she can curl her tongue and always looks like she is smiling. Her view on the game of fetch is: "Why should I bring the ball back when you're just going to throw it again? And besides, you're going to give me a treat anyway." Sometimes she does forget her manners and gets a little personal upon meeting a new friend, but always makes up for the "faux paw" with lots of kisses! Kristi thinks Sophie sometimes acts like a small dog – but in a big dog's body – because she likes to be a lap dog (especially during thunderstorms – scary!), but she will always be Kristi's "sugar bear" and "snuggle bug", even when she is being a total "bed hog"!!!! Many people say that Sophie was a lucky dog because of Kristi finding her and taking her in, but truly, Kristi feels that she was the lucky one to find such a sweet, loyal friend that provides her unconditional love each and every day.

Sophie and Kristi have found a "happily ever after" together, but unfortunately there are people and pets in the Kansas City area that are struggling to find theirs. Fuzzy Fotos KC is a partnership between the Kansas City Free Health Clinic and Heartland SPCA to raise money to provide basic health care services to both people and animals in our community. It's only $5 to cast your vote, and that money will go towards things like providing medicines and doctor services for Free Health Clinic patients or vaccinations and care for shelter pets. (Of course a vote for Team Sophie will help them win the contest, too….)

Please vote for Sophie and Kristi today (and tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that…) and help them to help others live happy, healthy lives in Kansas City!

FuzzyFotosKC
benefits these
local organizations:

Photo Credit: All contest photos were provided by Elaina of Photography by Elaina.
You can see more of Elaina's work at www.elainag.com.