And the winner is.....

Recently, Red Door held our first Design Contest. 

Entries were posted on our Facebook page, and fans were invited to vote by "liking" their favorite entry.
Click here to view all of the entries

Here is the winning entry, by Claudia Aguilar, which received 176 votes:

A long-time animal lover, Claudia moved to the Ravenswood neighborhood several years ago and learned about Red Door through a co-worker.  " I started by helping out on cleaning days and dog washes. I've continued to volunteer at events and participated in the Holiday Bazaar. By far my favorite thing has been taking part in "Kitty Boot Camp" this year. It helped me establish relationships with the current Red Door residents and see their personalities emerge"

Claudia received her BFA in Fine Arts from Columbia and currently works at PaperSource in the West Loop, designing crafting kits and samples. "It has always been a dream of mine to use my creativity to help others, so I thought the Red Door contest was the perfect opportunity to do so!"

"When I set out to design something for Red Door's contest I knew I wanted to communicate what they do in a simple, bold way. I played around with ways to combine images of the animals that are helped by Red Door most often, with a message about their work. I feel that it is so crucial to really emphasize the importance of adoption. When I sketched out the word adopt, I liked how the roundness of the letter "o" could be turned into an animal. I added details I felt communicated a cat, dog and rabbit in the simplest most universal way. And of course, I made it red to convey the name Red Door."

We're sure that Gizmo, Polo, Tortilla and Eleanor Rigby (cats) and  Franny & Zooey  (african clawed frogs) may have helped a little.  " I am very fortunate that my pets didn't have to experience shelter life, but it makes me more determined to help those who are in shelters"

So congratulations to Claudia, and to all of our designers.  Look for the winning design as well as several others on a new line of Red Door merchandise coming soon.

A Howling Good Time at the K-9 Easter Egg Hunt

Over 50 dogs and their people had a wonderful (and noisy) time at our K-9 Egg-stravaganza! Dog Easter Egg Hunt.

PinkyStinky Horton arrives at Rex's Place

Photos courtesy of  D.O.G. (Dog Obedience Group)

 

More photos from our friends at Chicago Pet Video

 

Check out this great video as well!

Thanks again to Dog Obedience Group, Rex's Place,  and all our volunteers.

Especially Mike!

Egg-citing Event: K-9 Easter Egg Hunt

This Saturday, March 24, marks what Red Door hopes will become an annual tradition: our first K-9 Egg-stravaganza! Dog Easter Egg Hunt. Sponsored by Dog Obedience Group and Rex's Place, this doggy event will be tail-wagging fun.

In the U.S., the best known Easter egg event is probably the White House Easter Egg Roll, which officially started on the South Lawn of the White House in 1878 (although some history references mention a possible egg roll overseen by Dolly Madison). But at the White House, the eggs are rolled--with a spoon or a stick--across the grass. Even First Dog Bo looks pretty excited about the whole idea this year.

I think I found a bug...

Red Door's Egg Hunt will have leashed dogs and their owners searching for eggs along our course. Every owner is given an egg carton and every egg sniffed by his or her dog goes in the carton. Of course, each egg is stuffed with treats--plus there will be many extra prizes for dogs or humans! Prizes include dog toys, bags of dog treats, chocolate bunnies for humans, restaurant gift certificates, coupons for doggy day care, and a pet portrait at Sutton Studios.

There's better be treats for this...

The event is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Dog Obedience Place/Rex's Place, 2120 Ashland, Evanston. Entry fee for the K-9 Egg-stravaganza is $10 per dog. Also, the Easter Bunny will be on hand for instant photo portraits with your pet ($5). All money raised benefits the abandoned rabbits at Red Door.

Permanent Markers

We all know that our pets leave permanent marks on our hearts.  There are those, however, who choose to wear these marks on their skin as well. 


Quite a few Red Door volunteers and adopters sport tattoos of their current or former animal friends.  Rabbit Adoption Coordinator Toni Greetis has a tattoo in memory of Drake, her beloved Big White Bunny who passed away last year.  "It really didn't hurt too much and I'm happy to have something to remember Drake by".

Toni (and others) have gotten their tattoos as part of the Tattoo You events, where the artists at Insight Studios partner with Red Door and all proceeds from tattoos and piercings done during the event go to support the shelter and its programs.  The next event will be held this weekend, February 18th and 19th, at the studio's Wicker Park location.

Since opening in 2005, Insight has contributed more than $62,000 to various local charities through events as well as direct donations.  In fact, the studio's partnership with Red Door stemmed from a volunteer who was getting a tattoo as part of a fundraiser for Tree House Humane Society.  The first Red Door Tattoo You event was held in 2010.

Red Door Volunteer Liz Jakus got her first tattoo at the 2011 Tattoo You event.  "Everyone there is super nice- it was my first tattoo and I walked in there shaking and totally panicked. the staff was really nice and totally calmed me down making it a very good experience"

Like most people, Liz designed her tattoo to have deep personal meaning..  "Every thing in the picture has some meaning to me....the bunny was drawn from photos of my rabbit Ringo- a Red Door alum.  The lily is for my niece whose name is Lily- both of us were born in May and it is our birth flower.   The bee flying across is for my sister Maria who goes by the nick name Bee."

So if you've been thinking about getting a tattoo, or adding another piercing, consider doing good by it as well.
 
February 18 12pm-10pm
February 19 12pm-8pm
This benefit will be a walk in basis only.

Grape Expectations Jan. 27th: Red/White Wine Tasting Fundraiser

You won't want to miss the Red/White Wine Tasting Fundraiser this Thursday, January 27th, at Fine Wine Brokers, 421 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. It runs from 7:30 - 9 pm and your $40 ticket includes wine, hors d'oeuvres, celebration, and a chance to help the animals at Red Door Animal Shelter.

This event usually sells out! And it's well on its way to doing so now. So make your reservation now at
http://www.reddoorshelter.org/events.php