LAGUNA HILLS : Claus, Claws and Paws for Good Cause

With their masters in tow, “Beary” Qualls, “Spiker” Tassie and “Clyde” Hubbard were among those who spent much of Friday morning panting and squirming but, for the most part, waiting patiently in the Santa Claus line at Laguna Hills Mall.

In Clyde’s case, “tow” is most appropriate, considering he is a 92-pound basset hound who has a tug much bigger than his bite.

“He’s kind of strong-willed,” said Frank Hubbard of Orange, who had his hands full keeping himself from being dragged across the mall’s tile floor. “But he’s very friendly.”

The line of dogs and cats and their owners wrapped around Santa’s house in the center of the mall on the opening day of the “Santa Claws and Paws” event, a chance for the humans to get pictures of their animals on Santa’s lap. Or between Santa’s legs, as in the case of two Great Danes owned by the Hainline family of Lake Forest.

Proceeds from “Santa Claws and Paws” go to the San Clemente Animal Shelter. Last year, during its first run in Laguna Hills, the popular event featuring local veterinarians posing as Santa had pets and owners lined up out the mall door and raised about $6,000 for the shelter, said Arlene Eisenstadt, a mall spokeswoman.

“It’s an award-winner,” said Eisenstadt. “Lots of malls are copying it now because it won (an award) which is the Oscar or Emmy of shopping centers.”

“Beary” Qualls, a 4-year-old chowchow from El Toro, wouldn’t know an Oscar from a pet rock, but he definitely knew he enjoyed the biscuit tossed his way after posing happily on Santa’s lap. His master, Jan Qualls, said Beary’s photo is on its way to the Middle East to her husband, a Marine pilot.

No such faraway destination is in the works for the photograph of “Abigail” Barbour, whose proud owners are Maggie and Bob Barbour of Laguna Niguel. But the 3-year-old dog has lofty pretensions nonetheless, being that her pedigree is that of a King Charles cavalier spaniel, the preferred pet of England’s King Charles II.

Abigail stood in line among all those mutts, mixed breeds and hounds and finished up wagging her tail. “She’s real lovable and cuddly,” Maggie Barbour said.

Then there was “Spiker” Tassie, a 5-year-old orange-colored cat who was resting calmly with his master, DeAnna Tassie of Laguna Beach, and her grandfather, Bill Tassie of Costa Mesa. After fighting off coyotes and winning friends all over the neighborhood, DeAnna Tassie said, Spiker could handle the commotion of a mall full of excited dogs and cats.

“He’s from Laguna,” she said. “He’s very mellow.”

All in all, the two-hour event went off without a hitch, although a maintenance man with a rag and a can of cleaner was kept very busy. But there were no tussles or fights; not even a snarl was heard in the house.

The biggest commotion may have occurred when Clyde, the heavy basset hound, climbed up in Santa’s lap.

Santa, actually Dr. Paul Schneider of Capistrano Beach, spent the entire two hours handling the four-legged creatures as only a veterinarian could.

“The big ones are the tough ones,” Schneider said with a good-hearted smile. “But all things considered, it went pretty well. Anything can happen in an environment like this.”

The pet photographs cost $6 each, but a $1 discount is given to people who donate a new or nearly new book to help build a library for Human Options, a counseling group that operates a shelter for abused women and children in Laguna Beach.

“Santa Claws and Paws” continues today from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m.