It’s the championship round! Vote now to crown the cutest dog in Illinois

The Belleville News-Democrat’s cutest dog in Illinois contest has moved into the third and final round, and three adorable pups are still in the running.

The BND received 24 initial photo submissions, six of which moved on to round two.

At our poll below, subscribers can vote for who they think is the cutest dog. Here’s a fun fact about each canine competitor, gathered from the survey:

• Bella is a five-year-old shih tzu/bichon frise mix who enjoys going for walks, playing with her cheeseburger toy and lounging on the couch.
• Ren is a five-year-old Siberian husky whose owners rescued him from a shelter in Oklahoma on the day he was due to be euthanized, they said in the BND survey. He’s happiest cuddling or napping on the couch.
• Zoey, four-and-a-half months old, is a husky/pomeranian mix (pomsky). She is full of love, has a huge personality and loves giving high fives and lots of licks. Zoey also loves playing in water and chasing bugs around the fields.

Voting will be open to subscribers until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17. To subscribe, visit mycheckout.bnd.com for a list of offers, including an initial rate of 99 cents for one month.

Once the period closes, no additional votes will be tallied. If you use an ad blocker, you may need to disable it to view and participate in the poll.

The pooch with the greatest number of votes will be crowned the cutest dog in Illinois and will appear in a BND news story.

Please keep in mind this is not a scientific poll. It’s just for fun!

If you’re interested in some of our previous bracket competitions, don’t miss southwestern Illinois’ choice for the best coffee shop or top restaurant.

This story was originally published September 23, 2024 at 6:00 AM.