Santa Paws came to town

By Thomas Nelson, tnelson@charlescitypress.com

Pet owners could bring their furry friends to meet Santa Paws at Otto’s Oasis Sunday.

Santa sat in the greenhouse part of the business and greeted pets of different sizes and breeds. Some pets owners also took the opportunity to dress their pets in holiday garb.

PAWS had a photographer on hand to take photos of the animals with Santa.

“It’s really just a fun event for people who like to have their animals in cute pictures for the holidays,” said Julie Taylor, PAWS shelter manager. “Some people use it for christmas cards.”

The event has been going on for seven to eight years.

“We just ask for a freewill donation that goes back to the animals,” Taylor said.

PAWS worked with Hy-Vee to get the pictures, and every pet that had its photo taken got one free print back.

“If they want to purchase more they can,” Taylor said.

“The most fun for me is to see animals that we’ve adopted out come back,” Taylor said. “Just in general it’s fun to see people celebrating the holidays with their pet and that animals means enough to them that they make the effort to come and get a picture taken.”

“The focus is on being a fun community event,” Taylor said. “We appreciate the donations, too.”

Donations for PAWS can be given through the organization’s website, mailed to the shelter or dropped off in person at the shelter on the weekends.