This week, the volunteers working with AmazonCARES treated over 400 dogs and cats at the mobile clinic at San Juan Bautista. While the veterinary teams completed 96 sterilizations, an esteemed panel of judges* examined all of the puppies entering and exiting the clinic.

The panel’s criteria was broken down into three main categories; cuteness, snugglability, and new puppy smell.  Points were added for good behavior (such as sitting patiently for photos and getting their vaccinations). The competition was stiff, but the above pup, Santa, has been chosen as the inaugural Puppy of the Week.

A new batch of puppies will be added to pool of competitors each week as they visit the Amazon CARES mobile clinics. Every Saturday, a new Puppy of the Week will be chosen. After four weeks, the winning puppies will compete in a head to head final battle of cuteness to determine who will be crowded Puppy of the Trip.

Below are a few of the other competitors.
More photos can be seen on my flickr site [tag: puppy_patients]

*The ‘esteemed panel of of judges’ is actually just me, but I know a thing or two about cute puppies so I am more than qualified to judge a competition of cuteness. Especially since this is my blog and I make the rules.