Goin' For the Gold: ASPCA Talent Show

Last Friday, we celebrated I Love NYC Pets Month by giving shelter dogs a chance to take the stage. At the ASPCA’s third annual “Best in Show” competition, ten adoptable dogs displayed their talents to our panel of celebrity judges, including Emmy award-winning Third Rock from the Sun actress Kristen Johnston; legendary actress and singer Maureen McGovern; HOT 97 DJ Angie Martinez; Lonneke Engel, the face of Ralph Lauren’s HOT perfume, and the ASPCA’s Supervisory Special Investigator, Officer Annemarie Lucas.

The feisty contestants─scored on overall presentation, attentiveness to their handlers and creativity of their tricks─really hammed it up for our judges. Honda, a seven-year-old Rottweiler, put all of his toys away. Yankee, an eight-year-old pit bull mix, played "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" on a toy piano to score second place, and one-year-old pit mix Charlie’s kiss-giving expertise earned him third prize. But it was Jazz, a three-year-old mastiff mix, who took top honors when, wearing her special fire-fighting T-shirt, she demonstrated the three rules of fire safety: Stop, Drop and Roll.

All the dogs were rewarded with treats, resounding applause and television coverage, and the following weekend, Jazz really did get first prize─she was adopted! That was the point of the contest after all, to show potential adopters just how snuggly, smart and loveable our shelter dogs are.

“I have never met anyone who’s had a bad experience with a rescue dog,” Kristen Johnston told CBS while scratching her very own ASPCA rescue, Pinky, under the ears. The seven-year-old pit bull mix watched all the action as she basked in her adoptive mom’s adoring touch.

Here we have a video of the talent show, for your viewing pleasure!