Ho, ho – ouch!

You may have seen a news story this past week about the volunteer Santa who got bit by a large cat – a very large cat. The animal is supposedly a type of domesticated cat cross-bred from a house cat and a bobcat. It’s a gorgeous animal, but apparently it got nervous and bit the guy playing Santa. Now, I know that the real Santa would not have had a problem, but sometimes the people who help out do have some problems.

I imagine that a cat with a big bite really hurts. Whether such a large cat should have been there or not, that is one of the risks. I’ve done it myself – played Santa, not bitten one. The last couple of times (before I got sick) were at a PetSmart for a charity, just like this guy. At one point I had a very large bulldog who was friendly, but did not want to stay on the bench with me. I was pretty strong at the time, but it was a little tricky. The dog eventually cooperated some after I became more insistent. At least I didn’t get bit. I did get peed on by one dog, but that wasn’t at a PetSmart. Then there were the guys who brought their five chihuahuas, all of them dressed up for their photos. That was a riot, and it worked out just fine.

Mostly you get a good a range of cats and dogs of all sizes, including some very small but cute dogs. Sometimes the animals come in costume. Some of them cooperate, some don’t want to sit still, some of the little ones you have to hold and they can get squirmy. But nothing really strange happens. Though there was an unusual (for a Santa picture) animal the last time I was Santa. These events are advertised in advance so people have time to make plans, and someone really wanted a picture of their pet with Santa. So they brought their horse. Yep, their horse.

They parked right by the door and just brought their horse right into the store. It was pretty cool. It was a small horse, probably best described as a pony. I stood next to it with my arm around its neck, and even though it was a little nervous about being in the store, it was well behaved. A little fidgeting, but no biting. I think once it figured out that I wasn’t trying to do anything, just stand there, and that no one else was going to do anything too weird, it settled down. It even looked at the camera. I got a kick out of it – OK, poor choice of words – it was cool. I was really glad that I got to be the Santa for the pony.

Playing Santa can be a lot of fun, even if all you do is have your picture taken with pets. It can also be very gratifying as some people and some families are very involved with their pets. Getting that picture of their pet with Santa can be a big deal, and not just for the kids. And I always did my best to be in character as Santa since there were children in the store.

But there can be more than that. If you’re lucky enough to be Santa in the right place at the right time, you can have a really rewarding experience – and I’m going to leave that as a teaser for another post to come very soon.