Santa gives animals head start on holidays

If animals could say what they wanted for Christmas, many would ask to be exempted from future pet pictures with Santa.

But since they can't speak, they were stuck looking adorable -- and maybe a little freaked out -- on St. Nick's lap Saturday at the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri's annual fund-raising event.

Traci Holloway of Cape Girardeau stood behind the photographer, trying to get her two mixed-breed dogs to smile for the camera.

"You want to go bye-bye and see Mee-maw and Pee-paw?" she cooed. Madison and Zoe perked up at the news, the flash went off, and the two tried to scramble down from their perches on either side of Santa.

"They hate it," Holloway admitted. "But we do this for Halloween, Easter ... all the holidays. They're my babies."

Boozer, a 6-month-old Pomeranian, arrived at Sunny Hill Pet Center in Cape Girardeau wearing almost the same style sweater as his owner, Heather Story. A tiny Santa hat completed the look -- for the dog, not Story.

"He will wear anything I want him to," she said. "He has his own wall full of pictures at home. We don't have any kids."

Organizers say they've taken Santa pictures with geese, ducks, hamsters and gerbils over the years. "As far as I know, we've never had any snakes, and that's fine with me," said photographer Julie Grueneberg, who has volunteered for the event on and off for 10 years.

The process goes pretty smoothly, she said, except for that one time a few years ago when a dog-hating cat came on the scene and 12 dogs were lined up for photos.

The pictures, which can be picked up later this month at the animal shelter, raised about $750 this year, organizers said. For more information or to donate, call the Humane Society at 334-5837.