Quick Take
Bowie, a 6-month-old Dalmatian from Watsonville, won a Purina contest and was named “chief snuggle officer" for Puppy Chow. The honor included a $25,000 “salary” prize and an additional $10,000 that was donated to the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter.
Watsonville’s latest heartthrob has four paws, two different-colored eyes – one caramel-brown and one glacier-blue – and warm, fuzzy spots all over. At just 6 months old, she’s already secured her first job: chief snuggle officer.
Bowie, a Dalmatian puppy who loves to swim in creeks, run around Santa Cruz County forests and chase squeaky toys, won Purina Puppy Chow’s contest last week, earning a $25,000 “salary” prize and securing a $10,000 donation for the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter.
Kimmy Bonnema, Bowie’s owner, is still in shock.
“We just entered because it was cute and we love our puppy. I mean, you enter sweepstakes all the time. So, then, when we found out we were even a finalist, it was crazy,” Bonnema said.
Purina let the public vote on contestants in August, in search of two honorary brand ambassadors – one feline and one canine – both younger than 12 months old. Winners were notified last week but announced Wednesday. Each will take home a $25,000 “salary” and bring a $10,000 donation to an animal shelter in their area.
For Bonnema, the shelter donation made the win especially meaningful.
“I don’t think we would ever be in the financial position where we could donate that much, but I wanted to, and the fact that we even had a little part in being able to bring so much good to the community feels amazing. We’re so thankful,” Bonnema said.
“Purina gets to choose where the money goes, so we just kept being like, ‘Well, we really, really, really like the animal shelter in Santa Cruz.’ We just kept putting it in their ear and hoping that they would let us donate there,” she said.
Amber Rowland, general manager of the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter, said the donation could help fund a long-awaited improvement at the facility.
“One of the things we’re talking about using this money for is to put in some more sturdy gates for our volunteers to be able to access the shelter,” Rowland said.
“It’s a project that we’ve kind of had on our wishlist for a while; it seems kind of like a weird thing, but it actually serves a purpose. We have hundreds of volunteers who help us care for the animals, and so our dogs pass through those gates countless times each day. It’s a high-use area and could be a super impactful thing.”
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