Toronto miniature pinscher owner Lindsay Yates is gunning for an underdog win.
Yates’ pup, Innis, is currently in second place in a contest that could see him immortalized on a limited edition beer can at Toronto’s Halo Brewery.
“This is our dream,” Yates told TorontoToday. “He has such a special little face.”
The contest Innis’ has entered is run by Canadian charity Veterinarians Without Borders.
Aiming to raise funds for its veterinary work domestically and abroad, the charity has partnered with 48 breweries across North America, including five in Toronto. The animal that wins each competition will get its face on a limited-run beer can.
To enter Halo’s contest, one of five happening simultaneously citywide, Yates picked her favourite photo of Innis, wrote up a brief description of the pup, and then got to work hustling up donations from friends, family and members of various group chats.
For every dollar donated in his name on the charity’s fundraising platform, Innis is one vote closer to immortalization.
But his victory is far from assured.
Just four days before the competition’s end, the hound is trailing Patti, a rescue from Costa Rica, by 35 votes ($35).
A spotted pup with a strong underbite, Patti is a formidable rival.
Her owner Katherine Belanger, told TorontoToday, she, too, wants her hound to be top dog.
“No matter what, the money’s going to a good cause,” she said. “But I want Patti to win.”
Helping thousands of animals worldwide
Belanger said the veterinary support Patti received when she was a stray is part of what motivated her to participate in the competition.
Even though Patti didn’t have a family to support her when she was back in Costa Rica, she still received veterinary care to repair an achilles tendon, Belanger said.
Such support is what the west end Toronto dog owner hopes the competition could enable for others.
Globally, Veterinarians Without Boarders supports animal health and welfare by offering mobile vet clinics, vaccinations, spaying and neutering surgeries, and education for local providers.
The charity’s senior director of partnerships Rebeckah Piotrowski said this work is essential in communities where veterinary care is limited, including Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
In the north, Piotrowski said vet clinics are few and far between. Rabies rates are also higher because of increased interaction between pets and wild animals.
Last year in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, the charity provided care for more than 12,000 animals across 11 different communities, according to Piotrowski.
The fight for top dog
At Halo, Yates and Belanger said both Innis and Patti are well known entities.
Innis is there about once per week with his owner, while she reads or works on her laptop at the bar.
Patti, too, has a special connection with the place.
Though anxious after being adopted in Toronto, her social skills have improved upon frequent visits to Halo’s brewery and bar on Wallace Avenue, near Lansdowne Street.
“It was the very first place that she ever felt comfortable,” Belanger said.
For the first time last week, the two dogs met each other at the local watering hole.
Though they’re embattled in a fierce competition, the hounds’ owners told TorontoToday there was little animosity between them — and that the pair actually share several common traits.
Neither is particularly bright and both are strongly food motivated, according to their owners.
“[Innis] doesn’t know words. He’s not that smart,” said Yates. “But the second I open the fridge and touch cheese, he’s there. It’s impressive.”
Voting ends Monday
At breweries across Toronto, battles just like this are playing out.
At Halo on Friday, head brewer Jacob Monson said he’s excited to see which animal comes out on top — Patti, Innis, or one of the dozen others in the race.
To celebrate the victor, the team may develop a new beer for the limited-edition labels or may do a smaller batch of a popular beer with the winning animal’s mug emblazoned on it, he said.
Those interested in entering their animal in this or one of Toronto’s four other competitions can do so anytime until the donation window closes on Monday night.
The other Toronto breweries participating are Blood Brothers Brewing, Radical Road Brewing, Rainhard Brewing and Woodhouse Brewing.
Named after Scottish beer Innus & Gun, Yates said Innis is made for a competition of this kind.
Still, she acknowledged, a win isn’t in the bag.
Yates said she cursed when she saw Patti at Halo last week.
“Dammit, she’s so cute,” she recalled saying, wondering aloud if perhaps both could be immortalized on the label together.
