Meet CM’s Pet Celebrity of the Year – Owen Leonard

May is National Pet Month, and at CM we wanted to honor all the love, joy, comfort, and friendship our furry companions bring to our days.

At a time when many of us feel isolated or alone, when fear and uncertainty have come to sit with us for a while, our trusted companions are working overtime to show us what matters most and how easy it is to love unconditionally. As part of our much-loved Pet Celebrities feature we run monthly, we ran a pet contest from January through April to find Monmouth County’s cutest pet. With hundreds of submissions to choose from, there is a special bond between Lori Leonard and Owen that needed to be honored. Here is Owen Leonard of Little Silver, the CM Pet Celebrity winner for 2020, as described by his mom, Lori Leonard.

PHOTO: Lori Leonard with Owen

CM: How did Owen come to join your family?

Lori: I got Owen in 2010. I knew I always wanted a Chihuahua, so I just decided to Google ‘Chihuahuas for sale’ one day, and Owen’s picture popped up. It was love at first sight. I called immediately and got him. He was in Florida, so I had him flown here. His birthday is November 22 and he is 10-years-old now. I cannot believe he’s that old already. Out of everyone in my house, I am definitely his favorite! We do EVERYTHING together!

CM: Does Owen have any favorite things?

Lori: It is a toss-up which is his favorite food, either grilled chicken or turkey. He doesn’t have a best friend but loves to watch all the dogs walk by while he sits on the front porch. Of course, he sleeps in bed with us! You have to lift up the blanket and he burrows all the way under it. Sometimes I’m worried he can’t breathe. He loves to take walks. It doesn’t matter where we are going, I swear he could walk for miles if I let him. His favorite toy is a stuffed giraffe. He would make you throw it all day if he could.

CM: What do you love most about Owen?

Lori: There are so many things that he does that make us laugh. Any time we sit down to dinner he turns in circles at 100 miles-per-hour because he knows we will give him something to eat. Sometimes we just look at him and laugh because he’s so cute. He actually hates clothes! Even his little green boots. I’ll put a sweatshirt on him, and I’ll turn around for a second and the sweatshirt will be on one side of the floor and he’ll be on the other.