The news is out and pet lovers all around Pike County are excited.

On Tuesday, the 2009 Humane Society of Pike County Pet Photo Contest calendars rolled off the press and are now available for purchase.

The calendars feature Kitty Kat, the winner of the photo contest on the cover. Kitty Kat is the companion animal of Freddy and Ann Howard of Troy and earned the honor by receiving the most votes in the local humane society’s Pet Photo Contest. Nearly 500 votes were cast in the tabby cat’s favor.

The 12 runners up are featured as “pets of the month” and the other “contestants” are also featured on the calendar pages.

Lisa Howard, contest coordinator, said she is more than pleased with the calendars and is confident others will be as pleased and excited as she is.

“We were able to include all 58 contest entries on the calendar and it turned out even better than I had hoped,” she said. “Everyone in the Humane Society of Pike County is thrilled with the calendar and this will certainly be a project that we’ll do again next year.”

The Pet Photo Contest calendars are $10 each and are available for purchase from any member of the Humane Society of Pike County or by calling Howard at 566-6617.

The funds raised from the sale of the Pet Photo calendars will be used to further projects of the humane society.

“The Humane Society of Pike County projects include our annual spay and neuter program that offers discounts for pets of citizens of Pike County and Troy University students,” Howard said. “We partner with 4-H to offer a pet care curriculum created by our humane society to all fourth and fifth graders in Pike County.”

The HSPC also follows a plan by Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine where feral cats are humanely trapped, inoculated, spayed or neutered and released to their colonies.

“The HSPC has received a bequest of 20 acres of land in Pike County with a horse barn, lodge, warehouse and pens,” Howard said. “We also supply food for pets of families that have fallen on economic misfortune due to illness or injury and we take weekly photos of homeless dogs in the Troy Animal Shelter and Jones Animal Clinic in Brundidge. These photos are submitted on a weekly basis to The Messenger.”

Howard expressed appreciation to all of those who helped make the HSPC’s first Pet Photo Contest such a great success.

“Their participation enables us to do more to ensure the humane treatment of animals in Pike County,” Howard said.