The votes have been tallied and a winner has been declared in the Humane Society of Pike County’s 2020 Pet Photo Contest.

Charla Brown’s darling dog, Bailey, topped all contestants with a whopping 2,554 votes

“Bailey’s total votes are the largest number of votes that have been cast in the HSPC Pet Photo Contest,” said Donna Brockmann, HSPC president. “Don Renfroe’s matched pair of mules held the record with just over 2,000 votes and I wasn’t sure that record would ever be broken.”
However, Brockmann said 10 to 12 minutes before the 2020 Pet Photo Contest ended at 5 p.m. Sunday, September 1, Bailey received 1,000 votes, making him the runaway winner.

“The voting had gone back and forth among three dogs, Bailey, Pepper and Maggie Malone,” Brockmann said. “Pepper stayed in the race very late and finished with 1,457 votes. Maggie dropped out earlier with 807 votes. It was an exciting race for the calendar cover.”

Pepper is owned by Emma Dickey and Maggie is owned by Joette Booker.

Brockmann said 13,200 votes were cast in the 2020 Pet Photo Contest.

“The top 14 pets all had a minimum of 300 votes and I’m not sure that has never happened before,” Brockmann said.

The 14 pets with the most votes will be the featured monthly pets on the HSPC’s 2020 Pet Photo Calendar. Breanna Barron’s dog Rocky finished the contest in fourth place followed by Jo Ann Echols’s cat Cali, a past-cover pet; Kenny and Elaine Pinckard’s Brandy Grace, a two-time cover cat; Amy Jinright’s Murry; Kissy, a shelter kitty; Donna Brockmann’s Atticus; Kaylin Gibson’s dog trio of Peaches, Jesse and Piper; Mike and Wynn Segalini’s dog duo, Ben and Yogi; Dr. Alice Hayes and Dr. Virgiana Hamm’s playmate pups, Buddy and Bella; and Nancy Powell’s cat J.T.

“Only two votes separated the 14^th and 15^th places,” Brockmann said. “It was so wonderful to see the love these owners have for their pets. And, it is not just pet owners and their families and friends who participate in the Pet Photo Contest. We had a couple of ladies who had hearts for the animals that didn’t get a lot of votes. One lady put one dollar on each of the 25 animals with the fewest votes at that time. Another lady put $400 on the 16 precious shelter animals. That was $25 for each of them.”

Brockmann said the 2020 Pet Photo Contest had potential fringe benefits for the shelter animals. Several of them were adopted and now have forever homes.

The 2020 Pet Photo Calendars will be on sale initially at the Peanut Butter Festival in Brundidge on Saturday, October 26 and then from humane society members and at several business locations.

“The money from the entry 93 entry fees, the votes cast and calendar ads and sales will all support the HSPC’s spay/neuter program,” Brockmann said. “The best and most effective way to reduce the unwanted animal population is to have animals spayed/neutered.”

On behalf of the HSPC, Brockmann expressed appreciation for every entry and every vote that was cast.

“Each entry and each vote will help reduce the number of unloved animals in our county,” she said. “We ask for continued support for our 2020 Pet Photo Calendar sales. The colorful, oversized calendars are only $10 each and, if you buy 10, you will get two calendars free. That’s a great deal and the money will go to a great cause.”