February 22, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
The Humane Society has raised more than $377,000 so far with its second annual online pet photo contest, which ends March 6. The Spay Day contest raises money to pay for pet-sterilization services across the country.
The competition allows pet owners to upload a photo of their animal onto the contest Web site in one of two categories. The first, the ‘Judged” category, costs nothing to enter; winners are selected by a panel of judges.
But with the second so-called “Fundraisers” category, pet owners enter their companion animal in the contest by making an online donation of $5 or more. Then they solicit friends and family members to cast votes, each costing $1. A minimum $5 is required from each voter, and the pet receiving the most votes wins.
The Humane Society this year used a tool on Facebook, the social networking site, to make it easy for contest entrants to seek votes.
As a result, Facebook users can register their pet in the contest, post the animal’s photo and contest profile on their Facebook page and, with a few keystrokes, invite their online friends to vote. The tool automatically tracks how many votes each pet receives.
More than 31,000 pets, mostly dogs and cats, have been entered in the contest to date. In addition to a photo, their owners have posted information on each animal, including its name, “my person” to identify the owner’s name and location, the pet’s favorite activity, and its most endearing bad habit.
Currently in first place in the Fundraisers category—having captured more than 1,800 votes— is Assasin, a 2.5-pound black dog whose favorite activity is to “plot world domination.” With another miniature dog named Eddie trailing her by more than 200 votes, Assasin seems poised to take over the contest as well.
