One of the big draws of the RSPCA York, Harrogate and District Branch Easter Fair is the annual dog show, however with lockdown in full effect the fair had to be cancelled along with all of its activities. Now with the help of a team of local web developers the Animal Show is moving online and entries are now open.
Marie Sandall, Animal Care Supervisor at the York Animal Home said:
We always have a terrific response to our annual pet show, so everyone at the home was really disappointed when we thought it might not go ahead.
Going online has meant we can involve lots of pet owners who couldn’t bring their animals to the show. We’ve also had a lot of fun thinking of creative new categories like “Best Binky” and “You Dirty Dog”. As one of the judges I can’t wait to start seeing some of the entries and we think people are really going to get a kick out of seeing all the pets online.
The RSPCA will be sharing some of the entrants online during the month and there will be galleries and video of all the runners up after the voting has taken place.
Marie said:
The show is designed to be a bit of fun but will have prizes for our favourite Dog, Cat, Small Animal and Exotic Pet. Prizes have been donated by the wonderful folks at Pets Pantry.
People can enter their animals online at https://www.rspca-yorkhome.org.uk/pet-show/ until Midday Friday 22nd May, with winners being announced on Monday 25th May. Entries cost £5. The categories are:
DOG CATEGORY
You Dirty Dog ( best picture or video of dirty dogs )
Best Doggy Smile
Best Trick or Attempted Trick
Best Human Lookalike of Your Dog
CAT CATEGORY
Buckeroo cat ( when your cat is relaxed or asleep, see how many dreamies/cat treats you can get on them before they realise and either eat them or jump up )
Best Weirdest Sleeping Position
Best Kung Fu Cat
Best Human Lookalike of Your Cat
SMALL ANIMAL CATEGORY
Best Binky ( rabbits )
Best Weirdest Sleeping Position ( any small animal )
Best Whisker Wash or Best Song ( for birds )
Best Human Lookalike of Your Small Animal
EXOTICS / FARM ANIMALS AND ALL OTHER ANIMALS
Most Unusual Pet
Funniest Picture
Peter Gorbert, RSPCA York Branch Manager said:
One of the biggest challenges facing any charity that’s trying to raise funds online, is how to make their ideas work on a practical level. Thankfully we had the fantastic team at See Green completely redesign our website a few months back and that meant we had all the digital fundraising systems in place already.
Anne and her team have been heavily involved with the creation of our online pet show and making sure it worked the way we’d dreamed. It wouldn’t have been possible without them.
Anne Taylor, Director of See Green, who recently revamped the website, said:
We absolutely loved working alongside our local RSPCA to develop a really fresh and engaging site aimed at putting the animals for adoption front and centre, whilst getting across just what the RSPCA does in our area. Covid-19 is giving charities a really hard time, and so when we were asked to help with an online pet show, we jumped at the challenge, and offered to provide our services at no cost.
I’m really excited to be a judge, and I can’t wait to see the entries coming in – it’s a great way to brighten people’s spirits and for people to give their pets the recognition they deserve, in some really great categories!
