Valentin, Snowball the guide dog, and Anna have become well-known figures in Samara due to the award nomination.
Source:
Samara guide dog Snowball has become a nominee for the «My Gentle and Necessary Beast» award. The unique pet and friend is competing in the «Our Brothers» category.
Local media in Samara have covered the story of the four-legged student and his owners.
Источник:
In Samara, Snowball is known not only as a guide dog. He is also the only four-legged student in the city, and indeed in the country. The dog studies at the Samara Institute of Culture together with his owners — Valentin Bychkov and Anna Kazaeva.
Many learned about the student-dog last winter. Then information appeared that Snowball was issued a student ID. We spoke with Anna and Valentin and learned their story. And afterwards — invited them to perform on the stage of the opera and ballet theater.
Now, Snowball has been hit by a second wave of public recognition. He has become one of 27 animals with unique stories that made it into the nominations for the «My Gentle and Necessary Beast» award.
«Nominees for the award are animals that have performed important and worthy deeds, caused wide public resonance in the media and internet in the past year, and are determined by the organizing committee through monitoring of submitted applications,» explained the award organizers.
You can vote for Snowball by following the link. Your vote can be cast once per day. The public voting will end in February 2026. After that, experts will begin studying the applications. The award ceremony will take place in spring 2026.
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