Manassas Mall Goes to the Dogs at Christmastime

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MANASSAS, Va. — When it comes to pets this Christmas, Santa and his elves at Manassas Mall didn’t forget about their furry friends.

Hundreds lined up inside the mall Sunday night for the final night of pet photos with Santa. While there were mostly dogs – large and small – waiting for their close up with the jolly old elf, there were other kinds of animals, too.

Nicole Stone, of Centreville, brought her pet rabbit.

“…because he’s my rabbit…it’s a pet night, it didn’t say what type of animal you had to bring,” she said. “He’s pretty calm so I think he’ll behave when we get to sit on Santa’s lap.”

Two dogs, Peanut and Mookie, both three and four years old, respectively, were so excited it seemed they drug their owners to the mall to get photos.

“They are part of our family, and we want wanted to come get some crazy pet photos with them,” said Alisha Dantin, Centerville.

There was also an off-duty Prince William County Animal Control Officer standing in line. She brought her 3-year-old female whippet, Terra, to have her photo taken.

Dressed in uniform, she could’ve easily kept law an order among the pets if they had gotten out of hand, but the officer instead answered many questions about adopting animals at the county’s animal shelter.

“I get that a lot of adoption questions, almost on a daily basis, when I’m out working in uniform, like what kind of dogs there are to adopt,” said Officer Marcia Burns. “Many times when I go into neighborhoods, especially during the summertime, I love it because it’s an opportunity to educate kids, and opportunity to show the [animal control] vehicle, show the equipment, and show how it works.”

Manassas Mall held pet night photo sessions from Dec. 1 to Dec. 15. Photo packages ranged from $21 to $47.