Your dog could be the "Top Dog" in Puerto Vallarta. The SPCA is sponsoring the first annual "Top Dog" contest. You can nominate your dog by sending an email to vallartas.top.dog(at)gmail.com. The SPCA will select the top seven nominees to run for the title of "Vallarta’s Top Dog." Your email nomination needs to contain a picture of your dog, a narrative describing why you believe your dog deserves the title "Top Dog" and your plan to get the most votes for your dog.

So, the first step towards getting your dog the title "Vallarta’s Top Dog" is to have your dog selected as one of the 7 finalists. The SPCA will evaluate your email nomination giving 30% weight to the picture of your dog 30% weight to the reasons you believe your dog is the "Top Dog" and 40% weight to your strategy for getting the most votes.

The residents of Vallarta will vote for their favorite "Top Dog" by donating to the SPCA. For each dollar donated to the SPCA in the name of your dog, your dog will receive one vote. So, for each dollar you raise you’ve bought one vote.

Since this competition is mostly about buying votes there will be special consideration given to a fourth evaluation category in your email nomination that we will refer to as a "mordida." So feel free to include a mordida with your nomination.

Should your dog be selected as one of the seven finalists you will have approximately 6 weeks to campaign for your dog. Email addresses for each dog will be posted, so pledges for donations can be made to you, the owner. Dog owners will be responsible for collecting all pledge monies and then giving the money to the SPCA.

In addition, donation boxes will be placed at various merchants in town for cash donations. Merchant locations will be published later. A third way to elect your favorite dog is by using a credit card to buy votes for your dog, details of how that will work will be provided later. The dog that gets the most votes wins.

Also, 100% of donated monies go directly to the building fund at the SPCA for our new kennel. Thanks to the public’s generosity we have purchased the land we wanted and now we need to build the facility. As usual, there is no administrative overhead when the SPCA receives donations.

A community Facebook page entitled "Vallarta’s Top Dog" has been created to not only track the progress of each dog towards becoming "Vallarta’s Top Dog" but also give the seven competitors and donors a place to post reasons that their dog deserves to win.

Owner’s may use other creative avenues for promoting their "Top Dog." The weekly SPCA page in local newspapers will contain pictures of the 7 finalists and highlights of the progress of the competition.

Contest Rules: Like most elections there really aren’t any rules. Feel free to tell the public what the public wants to hear and smear the other 6 candidates.

SPCA de PV is sponsored by Ron Morgan Real Estate. Morgan, an avid aficionado of Interior design and seasoned Puerto Vallarta real estate agent is joining force with Puerto Vallarta Villas, a luxury boutique property rental and management, concierge and travel services company for over 60 years. Click HERE to learn more.

The mission of SPCA de PV is to help fund and promote sterilization, adoption and healthcare efforts for companion animals in the Puerto Vallarta area, with the goal of eliminating the euthanasia of healthy and adoptable animals. Monies raised will support these various goals in ways that are most feasible within the community. For more information, visit spcapv.com.