The St. Augustine Humane Society has launched its 11th annual Pin Up Paws pet calendar photo contest with this year’s theme, “Paws Across America,” featuring winning pets and their photos in a variety of scenes associated with iconic American landmarks.
The fundraiser supports the nonprofit’s accomplishments since launching the contest in 2010 and the organization’s mission of promoting healthy, lifelong pet ownership while reducing the rate of relinquishment to shelters.
As support for the overall fundraiser, the nonprofit will hold a Pin Up Paws Primary special event from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, July 16, at Palm Valley Outdoors Bar & Grill, 377 S. Roscoe Blvd., Ponte Vedra Beach.
The Primary is free and open to the public along with calendar contestants who raise $200 or more by 5 p.m. Thursday, July 15. Qualifying contestants’ pets will be featured on collection jars at the event to further campaign and collect donations for the nonprofit.
The pet owner contestant who raises the most money will win a prize from the Humane Society. All money raised will be applied to each contestant’s page for final calendar pet photo placements, giveaways and prizes.
For more information, go to https://www.facebook.com/StAugustineHumaneSociety. To enter the contest or vote for your favorite contestant, go to www.PinUpPaws.com.
According to Sam Williams, St. Augustine Humane Society’s board president and general manager at Palm Valley Outdoors Bar & Grill, he and his restaurant team look forward to welcoming guests who attend the family-friendly activities for a good cause.
“The St. Augustine Humane Society has a key mission to promote healthy and responsible lifelong pet ownership by serving the medical and rehabilitative needs of companion animals in our community,” he said. “Our programs are designed to strengthen human-pet relationships and reduce the need for pets to enter shelters with a goal to ensure all pets have access to quality veterinary care, prevent overpopulation and prevent animal suffering. This is one of the many ways we raise much-needed funds to support the nonprofit.”
For a chance to have a pet featured in the full color, high-quality calendar, photos are submitted with heartfelt and entertaining descriptions to let people know why they should vote for the pet to be featured in the calendar for donations starting at $1 for votes.
Online pet photos and write-up entries end at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5. The close of the contest is 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7.
Last year, more than $21,000 was raised by the effort for calendar votes and donations to the campaign.
For more information, call (904) 829-2737 or email mmurphy@staughumane.org. The public can visit the contest website at www.PinUpPaws.com.
The pet with the greatest number of votes at the end of the contest will be the first-place winner and will receive the cover spot on the 2022 Pin Up Paws Calendar.
Each of the 12 second-place winners will be featured on one of the months in the calendar.
All first- and second-place winners will receive a professional photography session along with gift certificates from Columbia Restaurant as part of the prize package.
The 12 pets with the next highest number of votes will be runners-up and will have the image they submitted to the contest and a brief description of their pet featured in a one-and-a-half-inch space in the calendar. The top 80 pet contestants will have their submitted photos included in a calendar collage.
Styling and photography sessions will take place with award-winning photographer Addison Fitzgerald, who has donated his talents to the Humane Society since the calendar’s inception.
Local fine artist and graphic designer Maribel Angel continues to donate her creative talents to designing the distinctive calendar publication. And the Humane Society is receiving a promotional billboard to be donated by Clear Channel Outdoor for eight weeks along U.S. 1 in St. Johns County.
The completed calendar will be revealed at a Pin Up Paws Party in St. Augustine to be held in October. The location will be announced along with pricing for dinner, live music, silent auction, wine pull, refreshments and more.
The calendars will be available for $10 each starting in October with purchase available online, by phone or at the Humane Society and area retail locations.
All proceeds from submissions, votes, sponsorships and sales will benefit the programs and services of the St. Augustine Humane Society. The campaign and calendar sales and events will benefit St. Augustine Humane Society’s veterinary clinic and surgery center, along with other services and programs.
The Humane Society is located at 1665 Old Moultrie Road in St. Augustine.
