Winners announced in ARF contest

Animal Rescue Friends (ARF) of Idyllwild’s Pets of the Year contest returned this year after about a one-year absence.

This year’s contest raised $8,965, all of which is put into a fund to help with veterinary costs financially challenged local pet owners need. Some of the monies raised also will be used to help with veterinary costs related to ARF senior pets.

Sandii Castleberry and Vern Jaksch’s Hurley exemplifes what ARF represents and was the first-place winner in the dog category. Frightened, stressed and unsure after his loving guardian suddenly died, her daughter-in-law brought Hurley to ARF to find a new forever home. Castleberry and Jaksch agreed to foster him.

They wrote, “After five days, it was obvious Hurley had found his new home — with us! This little 5-pound Chihuahua stole our hearts. After lots of love, patience, changing his diet, stability and time, Hurley came out of his frightened shell and began finding joy not just in our laps, but everyone else’s as well. He learned to get along with other dogs, and his beautiful personality now shines through daily — from his wide grin when you scratch his back, to his high-pitched howling when you sing to him. We thought we rescued Hurley, but Hurley rescued us. He gave us the courage to love another dog again after recently losing two of ours.”

Marcia Waldorf and Jim Crawford’s dog Khaleesi won second place and Kim Fryer’s Hank won third place in the dog category.

Teresa Howe’s Miss Bill Biscuits won first place in the cat category. “Miss Bill Biscuits is a rescue mama kitty from ARF and has been happily playing her cat piano (making biscuits) at home with us in Pine Cove since January 2021,” said Howe.

“Miss Billy was originally found in Beaumont, a wild street kitty, and pregnant. When she was discovered with her babies, ARF kindly took them all in and found them the best fosters on the Hill. Her kittens were promptly adopted out to wonderful homes and she moved to ARF for adoption. As a wild street kitty, just finished raising kittens, she was food insecure and munched down too much kibble. She ended up with an impaction and required surgery! Poor kitty, all of this before turning 1 year old herself.

“We decided to end 2020 on a happy note, so on new year’s eve we brought Miss Billy home to our log cabin in Pine Cove. She was such a wild kitty. She spent the first few days under a couch, only coming out to munch down well portioned kitty food.

“Today, she’s the queen of our cabin. Lounging in the windows, watching the birds and daydreaming of chasing squirrels. She no longer scarfs down all the cat food in sight or makes a mad dash for the door if we accidentally leave it ajar for a minute. While she stays true to her independent calico nature, she still loves a good cuddle session at night on her favorite red blanket. She performs almost nightly on her cat piano.

“Not only is Miss Bill simply the sweetest, most adorable and entertaining kitty, she is an amazing illustration of what ARF does best. They help lost animals, care for them and find them good homes. ARF truly saved her life, more than once. We are so incredibly grateful for this organization. Not just for their life-saving care of our beloved Biscuit, but for all the animals on the Hill they have and will continue to rescue.”

Lorraine Kassarjian’s Zuri won second place and Amy McMahon’s Elvis won third place in the cat category.

Crystal Fountain’s turtle Morla won first place in the other category. “Morla came to us when her family lost their home,” said Fountain. “She loves being able to roam all our land eating all the weeds, but especially likes being hand fed her favorite foods.”

Teri Hardy’s Snowflake won second place and Kathy Dean’s Tina won third place in the other category.

First place winner in each category receives a case of Baily Wines, featuring the pet’s photo on the bottles’ labels and engraved wineglasses. Also, the winners receive a basket filled with donated gifts and are invited to ride on the ARF float in the Idyllwild Fourth of July parade. Photos of first place winners will be displayed in the ARF House for the next year.

All second and third place winners also receive a host of valuable prizes.

More than 30 businesses donated prizes for the nine winners. Their support helps to make this contest a success for pets and humans of the mountain communities.

ARF is a nonprofit animal rescue celebrating its 28th year on the mountain. Dogs and cats that are abandoned or whose owners are forced to re-home them are, whenever possible, taken in by ARF and adopted to loving, caring families. Until adopted, all dogs are cared for by fosters, and cats live comfortably in a cattery in the ARF House. ARF is staffed by volunteers and relies strictly on donations, fund raisers and grants to keep its doors open.