Animal hospital hosts photos with Santa for charity

Now, I don’t know where you stand on the subject of Santa Claus, but all I can tell you is this: he’s never, ever let me down.

Today, Santa was going in Cahaba Heights, spending a good part of his day having his picture taken with people and pets. 

A lot of folks come to the Britt Animal Hospital every year and get their pets picture taken with Santa.   

It benefits one of my all-time favorite places—Camp Smile-a-Mile.

The cat’s name is Remington, but everyone here at the Britt Animal Hospital calls him Remy. 

Remy lives here all the time, and you get the impression his favorite time is when all the people leave.

Remy is Dr. Rob Britt’s cat.  Rob’s brother Randy Britt open this place about 30 years ago.  Doc Britt first got interested in the magic of Christmas some time back.

“23 years ago, there was a young lady, six years old, a little Cuban girl that had contract terminal leukemia,” Dr. Britt said. “I said if you’ll make me a Santa suit, we will take her… that’s what she wanted to do, was to see Birmingham with Santa Claus.

This is always a busy place, but the weeks leading up to Christmas are Dr. Britt’s favorite time of year.

“Well, I play Christmas music all year, it’s Christmas-y and it’s a giving season and you know I have this mission, I want to get these kids happy and some of them are not here.“

Dr. Britt has been involved in Camp Smile-a-Mile for as long as the camp has been in existence. 

Every year, he gets Santa to come by early in December, and Santa spends the day having his picture taken with people and their pets… pets of all kinds.

“Listen, I’ve done guinea pigs, fiddler craps, a hedgehog one time… a pot-bellied pig… and we do kids too!“ Dr. Britt said.

Everyone makes a small donation to Camp Smile-a-Mile and it really adds up to a great donation to the camp.

“Say, $10 and Buzz Long donates his film and his time and does all of this and does a professional job. You get yours early enough and you can make Christmas cards out of them.“

As with anything… there are risks!

“The pot-bellied pig was the deal… he urinated in my lap…so…,” Dr. Britt laughed.

Dr. Randy Britt said even the old Scrooges will surprise you this time of year. He said they have a gift in their heart… you just have to find it.  And Santa said this is something anyone ought to be involved in.

“Something’s wrong with somebody that doesn’t have compassion for animals or kids. That’s what it’s all about these little kids and these critters. They can’t help themselves and we can help and we can do that.“