Otis the dog

Otis, the winner of Illinois State’s 2015 Cutest Redbird Pet contest.

Illinois State’s social media team asked for the Cutest Redbird Pets, and boy, did you deliver.

The #RedbirdPet contest, which ran from February 23–March 1, generated more than 200 entries through online submission, Instagram, and Twitter. There were dogs, cats, snakes, hens and roosters, rabbits, skunks and skinks, and even a llama. See our Top 100 entries here. Thanks to all who entered!

There were so, so many cute Redbird pets, and it was very difficult to choose our three winners:

Grand prize: Otis the dog, submitted by Jamie (Peterlin) Rucker ’97. “Otis is part of a family of ISU alums,” Jamie says. “My husband and I adopted him in 2005. He was a shelter dog. He is a mutt, but a very intelligent mutt.”

Runner-up: Larry the llama, submitted by Illinois State junior Drew Herridge. “Larry the Llama loves ISU,” writes Drew.

Runner-up: Belle the dog, submitted by Amy Glueck ’11. “Belle is a 2-year-old golden retriever that loves to chase any kind of bird, especially red birds! She was adopted after her mom got her degree at ISU but she loves to flaunt ISU gear!” Amy says.

There were so many great entries that we wanted to share our Top 10 favorites, including the winners.

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Ryan Denham can be reached at rmdenha@IllinoisState.edu.