Santa Paws is a true friend to the furry

He's been peed on, drooled on, bitten and scratched, which would be enough reason for any Santa's helper to hang up his red suit. But Chuck Austin, aka Santa Paws, won't allow anything to keep him from his appointed rounds.

This weekend, you'll find him holding court at PetSmart in West Valley City, posing once again for pictures with Chihuahuas and Great Danes and pulling perturbed cats out of his beard.

"One jumped in and tried to pull the thing off last year," he says. "I've learned you have to hold the cats pretty tight. Basically, you could say I'm a dog person. I feel a little more comfortable around dogs, even the slobber heads. I'm not much of a cat guy."

Still, Austin is more than willing to smile and hug a squirming feline, especially if it helps earn a few bucks for his favorite charity, No More Homeless Pets in Utah.

This is the second year that he's suited up in red velvet and held dogs and cats on his lap for Christmas snapshots benefiting the animal rescue agency.

"Anything that helps get another pet out of the pound and into a good home is a worthy cause," says the rosy-cheeked, white-bearded Austin, a retired Salt Lake City streets inspector who lives in Holladay with his wife, Carol, and two dogs, Buck, a golden retriever, and Lisa, a cocker mix that he adopted last year.

"She's been my shadow ever since I saw her in the kennel and took her home," he says. "To me, dogs are more than pets. They're family."

Hoping to draw more attention to the runaway and throwaway pets that he is devoted to rescuing, Austin wanted to meet for a Free Lunch of chicken enchiladas and tacos at the Red Iguana restaurant, around the corner from the west-side kennel where he volunteers every Tuesday.

No More Homeless Pets keeps up to a dozen dogs at a time in the space donated by Gateway to Canine Partnerships, enabling the charity to take more pets off the "kill" list at area animal shelters.

"Every dog is unique. It's fun to get to know them," says Austin, 65, who feeds and exercises the dogs and cleans out their kennels. "I only see them once a week, but to me, they're my dogs. Without this place, almost all of them would have been euthanized."

Because of trying economic times, he says, "a lot of people are deciding they can't afford to feed their pets. So I encourage anyone who can to donate dog food. It makes a huge difference."