The Best of the Best – Eugene Weekly

Between 9 July and 8 August Eugene Weekly received photos of 59 local pets, from birds to lizards to pigs to dogs. I had the pleasure of looking at each photo as it arrived and your animals really made my month. Thank you, dear readers!

Since we are EW Because we firmly believe in our democracy, we put your pets to the vote.

However, since this is a pet photography contest and not a presidential election, we selected pets for three categories, but we did not advertise those categories.

We asked our readers to submit photos of their cutest, best posed, and ugliest pets. Only one of you was brave enough to submit in the “Ugliest” category, and that pet won in the “Best Posed” category instead! In the end, we had to change course and create a top-secret replacement category: “Best Late Submission.”

That’s right. One of our lucky readers’ tardiness will be rewarded. This will definitely not set a bad precedent in the future.

Of course, there are some honorable mentions too. Lucky, the European mongrel, wins the award for the most thoughtful look, Sammy, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, wins the best smile and Ruthie, the Labrador Retriever, wins the award for the best former intern.

You know what else we haven’t advertised? Prices!

We have partnered with Eugene Animal Hospital, a local veterinarian who is a constant friend of the Weekly and our own pets to provide the two four-legged winners with a free health check-up and a chicken-themed gift basket for our two-legged winner through August 15, 2025. Congratulations!

Enough of the digressions, it’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for: the animals.

The cutest: Moki, the Siamese cat

When Adriana Reppell sent a photo of Moki to EWshe introduced her as “the cutest Siamese in South Eugene.” In our professional opinion, Reppell was right. We were all mesmerized by Moki’s bright blue eyes, ombre face, and strategically placed blinks.

Moki is just a kitten, Reppell says, only a year and a half old. He has been with Reppell for a year and two months now. Reppell’s mother fosters cats, and she helped Moki, his littermates and his birth kitten mother recover from a bad upper respiratory infection. Reppell’s mother and partner “planned,” she says, to surprise them with the kitten.

“I was overjoyed,” says Reppell, “because I had wanted a kitten for about a year.”

For Mars, Reppell’s tuxedo cat, Moki is the “annoying little brother of another cat mother,” she says. “Mars didn’t like that at first,” Reppell says. “He suffered from only child syndrome. But he soon learned that it’s fun to have a playmate.”

You may be wondering, what is the cutest thing about Moki, aside from her looks?

“When he meows when he’s tired, no sound comes out,” Reppell says. “So he just keeps opening his mouth in the sweetest way possible.”

Best posed: Maisie, the blind hen

When you hear the word “pet,” a chicken probably isn’t the first animal that springs to mind. But for Destinee Thornton, Maisie is a cherished member of the family. With a life expectancy of 5 to 10 years, Maisie is a proud 8 years old. Even so, Thornton says, she’s just as lively as the youngest of the flock.

Thornton and her family have two shelter cats and six rescued chickens, all of whom treat Maisie with the kindness and care she deserves.

“Maisie’s adopted sister Beatrice takes special care of her, following her everywhere and making sure she’s safe,” says Thornton. “The other chickens definitely understand that she’s different in some ways, because even the most dominant hens allow Maisie to walk right into them and walk on them all the time without pecking at them.”

Thornton adopted Maisie as a baby chicken after seeing an ad for a blind hen on Craigslist.

“All of our chickens are rescues who needed a new home for a variety of reasons,” says Thornton. “We don’t keep chickens for their eggs, they’re just pets.”

Despite her blindness, Maisie can get by with little to no additional assistance, Thornton says. Maisie goes in and out of the coop on her own, lies down on her roost and explores the world with as much curiosity and excitement as any other chicken.

“Maisie has definitely shown me how intelligent chickens really are,” says Thornton, “compared to how society views them.”

Check out @MaisieTheBlindHen on Instagram for updates on this relatively flightless, blind bird!

Best Addendum: Cherry, the Afghan Hound

Although her submission was late, Cherry showed up on time. For us and for EW and for the paw rental Sebastiane Power.

A friend of Power’s who works as a foster for Wiggly Tails Animal Rescue asked if she could take Cherry in October 2023, as she was surrendered to the rescue by her previous owner. Cherry had been rehomed twice in her early years, but she should be welcomed into her forever home soon.

“We joined a great group of neighbors who have been walking together for years. They have been very welcoming to both of us, and these daily walks have allowed Cherry’s personality to blossom while teaching her good dog behavior,” says Power. “Everyone in my walking group joked that she should really stay with me, while I insisted that I was just ‘grooming’ her. I’m glad they were right.”

Power officially adopted Cherry this February, and now the lanky beauty lives alongside two of Power’s “little ones,” Sophie and Genie, who are dachshund mixes.

“Cherry demands a lot of attention, so the little girls get their own walks and ‘mommy and me’ time separate from Cherry,” says Power, “and they are clingy in every way, which Cherry is not.”

Cherry is catlike in both her slenderness and her personality. Power describes her as “aloof, not particularly cuddly, but endlessly entertaining.” Despite her long, luscious locks, she also doesn’t particularly like being groomed, so Power only does it in moderation.

The efforts made to make Cherry’s grooming experience as comfortable as possible, the number of photos Cherry has shared, and the detail of her responses to questions about Cherry make it clear that Power is offering the dog a loving forever home.

“I am committed to making mine their last and best home,” she says.

Honorable Mentions

Lucky, the European mongrel, wins the award for the most thoughtful look

Sammy, the Pembroke Welsh Corgi, wins the award for best smile

The Labrador Retriever Ruthie wins the award for the best former intern dog.

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