The Connection

“Lucky belongs to my son, Heath Marquardt. We adopted Lucky and he is 2 years old. Lucky lets everyone hold him. I'm Heath's dad, Fred, in this picture,” writes Fred Marquardt of Springfield.

A snuggle moment between Audrey Herod of Springfield and her dog Magic. Audrey received a letter from Santa saying that her Christmas gift was to pick out a canine friend from a shelter. She then went looking for the perfect pal and found Magic at Arlington’s animal shelter. It was love at first sight for both of them!

Lucy lives with the Herod family in Springfield and she is ‘extra special.’ She is a ‘Hemingway Cat' or also known as a ‘Polydactyl’ because she has extra toes on all of her paws! Her paws look like mittens.

Javeria Ijaz, Springfield, student at George Mason and Pink employee. Pet: Mina the cat, 1.5 years old. “Mina is a cuddly girl who loves to play! You can find her under the dining table curled up on the chair cushions, behind doors playing hide and seek or in my arms. She’s a calico kitty and is only a year and a half old and is always scheming to eat a treat. Mina has really taken over all the hearts of everyone she meets and is very friendly. She hates being left alone and will follow you everywhere. My favorite thing about Mina is that she always knows when someone is sad and will cuddle up next to you to make you feel better. Mina is truly a best friend! In fact, come see Mina in all her glory (aka taking naps and trying to hunt small beetles) on her Instagram page @minathecalicocat.” — Photo & story compiled by Basma Humadi

Reem Almasary, Springfield, college student. Pet: Beau, Great Pyrenees, 2 years old “Beau is a two-year-old Great Pyrenees. We named him Beau because it means beautiful in French and we thought it suited him because he’s a really handsome dog! He sheds a lot but he’s very playful and gets attached easily to people. Not too long ago he even ran away from me for about five minutes because he didn’t get to say bye to one of his ‘BFFs,’ who’s my friend. He’s really friendly too and when he likes you he’ll jump up and try to give you a really big hug! Even though he’s a big dog, he’s still not as big as his mom and dad (his owners). He can also notice when someone’s injured — when my mom had a surgery he would help walk her to the bathroom and would sniff the spot she had her surgery and start whimpering because he was sad.” — Photo & story compiled by Basma Humadi

Aziz Alimam, Springfield, Hertz employee. Pet: Nemo, Pomeranian, 2 years old “Nemo is a really feisty, saucy and angry dog even though he’s super tiny. But once he loves you he loves you forever. He’s two years old. He also has a leg condition so sometimes he limps on his back leg and continues to run or walk anyways because he’s so happy and excited to run around. He has a lot of energy and tries barking at everything bigger than him — which is most things. Nemo also has a very squeaky bark so he’s not as intimidating as he tries to be. He tries to be really feisty and angry but underneath he’s a softie. He also really likes eating French fries!” — Photo & story compiled by Basma Humadi