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Community Corner

Coveted Prize in Killingworth

Town's Top Dog contest offers incentive to register your dog, which happens to be required by law.

He may only be a 15-year-old dog, Miss America, but Scamp feels your pain.

Like you, he has relished the glory of wearing the crown – in his case, as Killingworth’s 2010 Top Dog – and, like you, he has endured the heart-wrenching need to give it back after a one-year reign that was all too short.

But Scamp has something you don’t have, Miss America: a second shot at the title.

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In Killingworth, the “Top Dog” is the lucky canine to win the dog tag that carries the number one in Town Clerk Linda Dudek’s annual lottery to encourage residents to register their dogs during the month of June.

When you register your dog in the town clerk’s office this month, your dog will receive any license but those that carry the number one, two, or three, which Dudek reserves for the “Top Dog” lottery.

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Dudek and her staff register the dog, issue the license, and drop a slip of paper with the dog’s name in the “Top Dog” dog house, from which town animal control officer Marion Smith eventually will draw the names of the dogs who will be able to exchange the numbers they’ve been given for numbers one, two, or three.

The winner also receives small gift certificates from Petco that Dudek purchases herself and a photo opportunity, but all dogs who visit the town clerk’s office receive a dog biscuit. “It’s kinda like going to the bank,” Dudek says.

Dudek says residents started coming to her office in late May, hoping to get a jump on registering their dog for the contest. “They want those low numbers, even though their dog doesn’t have a clue what it’s wearing.”

“People are watching for it, they think it’s fun” she says of the contest. “Now they have a chance to get those coveted low numbers.”

Shirley Stifel’s 15-year-old dog Scamp has been the town’s number one dog for 2010. “She was beside herself when Scamp won,” Dudek said. 

Referring to her pet’s advanced years, “She said, ’I think he can make it in’” to receive his prize, but on the day, Scamp declared his entrance to town hall with a bark and sporting a new leash and collar for the occasion.

In the three years since the contest began, dog registrations for the month have jumped from about 700 to more than 800 – although 400 or so additional procrastinators will register their pets after the June 30 deadline.

Dudek says residents enjoy bringing their dogs into town hall for registration. “Some dogs come in on leashes, some in arms, and one on his owner’s shoulders.”

The dog who employs that last mode of transportation was there near the end of the first day of registration Wednesday. Assistant Town Clerk Dawn Mooney reported, “I have someone standing at the counter right now with their dog on their shoulders, and that is going to be number 28.”

Editor's Note: The State of Connecticut requires that all dogs over the age of six months be licensed in the town in which their owners reside. To obtain a dog license you must have a current rabies certificate and pay a license fee of $8.00 for a spayed/neutered dog or $19.00 for an intact dog.

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