A poodle called Chilly Pasternak recently made a trip to Washington, D.C., where he attempted to gain more backing on his mission to be the groom in a $200,000 dog wedding.

The participants of the ceremony, which will cost over £12.6 million, is to be determined by public vote, so Chilly’s flamboyant appearance is sure to make him stand out from the crowd. His owners, a vet called Lori Pasternak and an economist called Jake Pasternak, have given Chilly an eye-opening appearance. As well as having a paw print and a peace sign shaved into his fur, parts of his hair are dyed bright shades of pink, blue and purple.

In an effort to increase support, Jake and Lori handed out cards to get people to vote their colourful dog to become a record breaker. The bride in the extravagant wedding is Baay Hope Diamond, an 8-year-old Cote de Tulear. If it goes ahead, it will be inducing into the Guinness Book of World Records for the Most Expensive Wedding for Animals.

“The nature of what we do is so serious,” Lori says. “In the office, we’re not like this.” Chilly’s owner works at Helping Hands, whose efforts revolve around the avoidance of so-called ‘economic euthanasia’ – where pets are put down because the owners are unable to afford sufficient medical care. Their flexibility means that all procedures cost $5, although they give clients the chance to do volunteer work if they can’t afford it.

Chilly’s wild appearance has been, in part, to help spur up attention to the efforts of Helping Hands. The next phase of their awareness strategy is for Chilly to get married. The thought is that more people that know about Chilly, the more awareness Helping Hands will get. Therefore, the more paying customers they received will mean that they can afford more free surgeries, to prevent euthanised pets.

As of Wednesday afternoon’s votes, Chilly was ahead of his nearest competitor, a poodle called Gucci. However, it’s said that the votes are merely a form of proposition, as the ultimate winner will be chosen by Wendy Diamond, the woman throwing the wedding. Wendy had initially hoped for her other dog, Lucky, to be married, but he unfortunately died after picking up the record for the Animal Most Photographed with Celebrities. The ceremony – which will take place on 12th July in New York’s Jumeirah Essex House – will be held in Lucky’s honor.

Once the wedding is over: “They don’t have to live together. They don’t have to sleep together. They just have to work together to promote animal rescue and welfare,” Diamond said. “Then they’re going to get a $2,000 package of stuff. And they’ll get a lot of publicity.”

The public vote is open until 2nd July 2012 via Wendy Diamond’s Facebook page.