Sure it’s hot and sure it’s summer ball tournament time. Sure the beach is calling and mountains, too. But, folks, time is ticking down to the deadline to enter pets in the 2018 Pet Photo Contest sponsored annually by the Humane Society of Pike County.

Midnight on July 31 is the deadline for entry and Donna Brockmann, HSPC president, said no bones about it, “We’re begging pet owners to enter their animals.”

“We only have 19 entries and the clock is winding down,” Brockmann said. “I understand that people tend to wait until the last minute to do things like this. But that makes things stressful. The Pet Photo Contest is a huge fundraiser for the HSPC’ spay/neuter and feral cat programs and those programs are so vital to reducing the number of unwanted dogs and cats in Pike County.”

The Pike Animal Shelter is not yet a year in operation and already there are more dogs and cats at the shelter than there is room to house them. That puts an exclamation point on the need — the necessity — to have dogs and cats spayed/neutered, Brockmann said.

“And, too, the Pet Photo Contest is such a darling contest,” she said. “Any pet can be entered and every pet that is entered will be on the HSPC’s Pet Photo Calendar. Some pet owners enter photos in memory of their pets and that is a lovely gesture.”

A dog named Sugar has taken the early lead in the voting, with 200 votes. But the voting will continue until mid-August. It’s entries that are greatly needed now, Brockmann said.

“Usually, the contest comes down to cats and dogs but any animal could win. A matched pair of mules won one year and they were popular winners.”

Tiffany Howington’s cute, but not so cuddly, pig named Bits, as in bacon ’n bits,  has been entered. The word around town is Bits is going whole hog in its efforts to be on the cover of the 2018 Pet Photo Calendar.

“I value what everybody does for the animals in our county,” Brockmann said. “We all have a piece of the puzzle. Each person who enters a pet in the Pet Photo Contest is adding a piece to the puzzle. Working together we can greatly reduce the number of abandoned, abused and neglected animals in Pike County.”

The HSPC encourages all pet owners to add their piece to the puzzle and make the 2018 Pike County Pet Photo Contest the biggest and best ever.

Entries for the 2018 Pet Photo Contest will be accepted through midnight, Monday, July 31. Voting will continue through Saturday, August 19 at 5 p.m.

To enter a pet in the 2018 Pet Photo Contest submit an 8×10 photo with the owner’s name, address and telephone number and the pet’s name and comments if desired. The contest is not limited to one pet photo but each photo requires a $10 donation.

There will be a total of 66 winners in the 2018 Pet Photo Contest. The pet with the most votes will appear on the cover of the 2018 calendar and there will be 13 monthly winners and 52 weekly winners.”

Photo entries may be made online at www.pikehumane.org or mailed to HSPC, P.O. Box 296 Troy, AL 38081. Entries may also be dropped off at The Little Framery, Troy Antiques, Guynn’s Income Tax and Bookkeeping Services, Jinrights’ Hillside Antiques and EZ-TEC in Brundidge.