Perry Wins the PAWS 2020 Pet Photo Contest

As we canceled some of our important fundraising events this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, PAWS was challenged to find creative ways to fill the gap.

So, at the end of June we reached out to our supporters to enter their best shots in our Pet Photo Contest. Participants donated ten dollars and submitted a picture of their pet.

All pets were welcome. Eighty-eight participants submitted a total of 128 pictures: 89 cats, 37 dogs, one guinea pig, and one parakeet.

Each picture was assigned a number and placed in a folder with no identifying information.  A team of five judges scored each photo for creativity, originality, and quality. The highest scoring pictures were then ranked, and the winners were selected based on the total number of points received.

All of the pictures showed the love and caring each entrant has for their pet.  Many of the owners also shared heartwarming stories about their pet.  In other cases the picture spoke for itself, such as this photo of Kiki (left).   Kiki

Here are some of comments shared by the pet parents:

 "Lilly is a true companion!  Lilly looks like Night Fury in How to train your dragons."

"Kip loves playing dress-up."

 "Yogi is a cuddly Teddy Bear that loves looking for snacks to put in his picnic basket."

 "Tebow loves to sing songs to you."             

"Wally loves spending time with his people and brother cats, feeling the sun on his fur and eating watermelon."

"This is Maury, aka Maury Pawvich, aka Moe, aka Pawsley. He is a house panther (okay, he’s a domestic short hair with delusions of grandeur)."

While we believe all the pets are winners, three winning photos were selected based on the contest rules and criteria:

       Perrry- First prize                       Vesper: Second Prize                     Marmelade - Third Prize

The first place photo was "Perry - Late Afternoon Sun" (above) featuring Perry, a Snowshoe Siamese cat who resides in Wakefield.  
Vesper, an all black, polydactyl cat from Amesbury, took second place.
Marmalade Foschi, a four-year-old orange tabby girl from Charlestown, was third.

Each winner received a certificate of commendation from PAWS and an enlarged print of their photo suitable for framing.
Click here to see all of the photo contest entries (in random order)