Corgi influencer wins R-C pet contest

A dog with a social media presence was the winner of The Record-Courier’s third annual Cutest Creature Contest.

Poppy the 2-year-old Pembroke Welsh corgi is the first dog to win the contest since it returned in 2022.

A rescue, Poppy has pages on both Instagram and TikTok, according to owner Sierra McMaster.

“I fostered her through a rescue named Pawsibilites out of Washoe Valley when she was 8 months old,” McMaster said. “I work with one of the founders of the rescue at Carson Valley Veterinary.”

McMaster has lived in the Gardnerville Ranchos the last four and a half years, which is also how long she’s worked for the veterinarian.

“When I first got her, she was very shy and timid. Once she was comfortable, her personally absolutely flourished,” McMaster said. “She is brilliant, loves to please and always be by my side.”

A native of Quincy, Calif., McMaster graduated from the community college there before arriving in the Silver State. She works as an assistant to Dr. Ross.

R-C Associate Publisher Tara Addeo said there were more than 120 nominees in the contest that ranged from pets to cows, horses, flamingos and even a few rats.

“After a seven-year hiatus we added the contest in 2022 because of popular demand.  Residents kept asking what happened to it so it was time for us to resurrect it back to life”

Once the nominees were determined, there was a week of voting online with Poppy named the winner.

“This community loves their pets, and it is evident by the engagement and who could deny them the chance to show their fur babies off,” Addeo said. “Our four sponsors were very generous with the winner as well. Normally the winner package is valued at $400 but this year it was over $900 including Amazon gift cards, veterinarian services, financial consulting, gifts and more”

The contest was sponsored by Carson Valley Health, Sequoia Wealth Advisors, Vander Laan Law and Carson Valley Veterinary Hospital.