By Denise Richardson
Staff Writer
May 20, 2009 04:00 am Kiely, with her bright, brown eyes and silky-looking black hair, has won $5,000 and will appear on packaging for vacuum products. A photograph of the Morris dog, a 2-year-old border collie mix, was among six submitted to the Bissell cleaning products company this year for the Most Valuable Pet Photo Contest. Kiely earned second place out of about 80,000 entries. Kiely is part of the Glen Highland Farm family, said owner Lillie Goodrich of Morris, the farm co-founder with her husband, John Anderson, ``We were really amazed,'' said Goodrich. ``We were very happy.'' Kiely weighs about 30 pounds and has a white coat with black and rust-colored markings. She arrived at the farm as a 3-month-old puppy rescued from a shelter in Pittsburgh. First place was awarded to a Labrador retriever named Norman from Columbus, Ohio, according to the Bissell website and information provided about the contest. Winners were chosen by a company panel from finalists determined by online voting. Five winners will be on future Bissell product packaging, and will be given Bissell pet products and able to choose their favorite pet cause for awards of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place and $1,000 for the other three winners. The Morris farm has vacation programs for dogs and people, and it has placed 1,100 border collies into homes through its Sweet Border Collie Rescue program since the farm was started in 2001. The rescue program will get the $5,000 donation, Goodrich said. Goodrich said she carried Kiely, a smart, energetic dog, cradled in her arms during summer camp programs, asking if participants wanted to give the pup a home. But there were no takers, she said, and Kiely became one of the family's 17 dogs. ``I ended up falling in love, so she stayed,'' Goodrich said. ``She's our sweet, most wonderful character.'' Kiely, also called "a $5,000 puppy,'' has more than earned her keep, becoming eligible for steak dinners, she said, laughing. Sidney photographer took pictures Tami Barrows, a photographer in Sidney, said the love between Goodrich and Kiely was evident during the photography session done for Bissell. She hadn't met the Goodrichs or her dog, Barrows said. Bissell found her Creative Life Imagery business through her website, www.creativelifeimagery.com, which includes photographs of pets. Barrows, a 1999 graduate of Gilbertsville-Mount Upton Central School, said she started her design and photography business about two years ago, but the Bissell assignment was her first major commercial photography project. Joy Weykamp, a Bissell representative, traveled from Grand Rapids, Mich., to orchestrate a two-hour photography session last week. Barrows said her photo of Kiely will be on the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser hand vacuum and shipped worldwide starting in September. ``It's pretty exciting for this to happen,'' she said. ___ If you have good news you'd like to share, call Managing Editor Cary Brunswick at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000, ext. 217; fax him at 432-5707; e-mail him at cary@thedailystar.com; or write to him at P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820.
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Photos
Kiely, a 2-year-old border collie mix, placed second in the Most Valuable Pet Photo Contest presented by Bissell.