Pets can pose with Santa at Everett shelter

It’s one of the big social events of the year — for the two-legged as well as the four-legged visitors.

It’s when Santa Paws visits the Everett Animal Shelter.

Every year, the Animal Rescue Foundation of Everett raises money for the Everett Animal Shelter’s veterinary clinic.

They do it by inviting Santa Paws to visit so dogs and cats, and their owners, can come in and have their pictures taken with Santa to send as Christmas cards.

All family members are welcome. And today is the first chance to get your family Christmas card taken care of and help a good cause as well.

Santa Paws will be ready for photos from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdayat the Everett Animal Shelter, 333 Smith Island Road.

Santa Paws will return from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 8 and Dec. 15.

The cost is $20.

For that donation, families receive one hard-copy photo Christmas card in a holiday paper frame. They also will receive a copy of all the photos taken during the photo shoot — sometimes with excited animals it takes a few to get the right one — either on a CD they can take home or in an electronic file emailed to them, whichever is preferred.

This is a great social event with lots of dogs and families eager to visit. It can be quite a menagerie of animal models.

Sometimes the models get a little too excited. One year, a dog took down the shelter’s Christmas tree.

But last year the shelter had something to woof about.

ARF raised more than $2,000 for the shelter’s vet clinic, a record year for the Santa Paws fundraiser.

This year the shelter added a third Saturday to see if last year’s record can be broken. ARF is raising money for an X-ray machine.

Just a simple rule however: All dogs must be on a leash, and all cats and other critters must be in a carrier.

For more information about the Santa Paws event call Dee Cordell, shelter operations coordinator for Everett Animal Service at 425-257-6011.

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424; goffredo@heraldnet.com.