With the finish line looming large, the voting in the 2017 Pet Photo Calendar Contest is expected to shift into high gear in the race to the finish.

The 2017 Pet Photo Contest will officially end at 5 p.m. today. Votes cast by mail must be postmarked by 5 p.m. August 20 to be counted.

Donna Brockman, chair of the sponsoring Humane Society of Pike County, said the lead had changed hands several times in the last few days and could change that many times or more in the closing hours of the contest.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, two dogs and a cat were in a close race at the top of the pack.

Only three votes separated Kim Lester’s “Kitz” from the contest leader “Buster,” Breanna Barron’s best friend.

Carol Ellis’ “Bama’” was hot on the heels of the leaders.

But word on the street is that the Tiger faithful don’t want to hear “Bama Wins!” again in their lifetime, even if it is a dog in the Pet Photo Contest. So, expect Auburn fans to do something about that. The Pet Photo Contest is an opportunity for the people of Pike County do something about the overpopulation of abused, abandoned and neglected animals in county.

The funds raised by the Pet Photo Contest support the humane society’s spay/neuter and feral cat programs.

Brockmann said the single most important thing that Pike Countains can do to save dogs and cats from the suffering and death from the overpopulation of unwanted animals is to spay and neuter them.

Spaying and neutering can prevent thousands of animals from being born to suffer and struggle to survive or to be abused. The numbers are alarming.

But, there’s still time to support the Humane Society of Pike County’s spay/neuter program by voting today in the 2017 Pet Photo Contest.

The entries in the 2017 Pet Photo Contest may be viewed online at www.pikehumane.org and in the window of Troy Antiques on the Square in downtown Troy.

Pay Pal and debit and credit cards may be used for online voting.  Votes may be “cast” on site at The Little Framery, Troy Antiques and Guynn’s Tax and Bookkeeping Service in Troy and at Hillside Antiques on Highway 231 south of Troy. All pets entered in the 2017 Pet Photo Contest will be featured on the 2017 Pet Photo Calendar.