Lots of Kitties Will Win with the Petties 2013 Pet Blog Awards

It’s time once again for the annual Dogtime Petties Pet Blog Awards. This isn’t just about me winning an award for The Creative Cat, though that would be splendid. This is more about helping me and The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse donate money to help other cats—and other animals—in need.

You know that each week I write about cats and kittens in need of homes, and also rescue stories from the streets—these are barely the tip of the iceberg in what really goes on in cat rescue every day, and not only in the Pittsburgh area where I am, but all over the country, even the continent.

Each day I hear stories of individuals running all over to rescue cats and kittens, nurse them through grievous injuries and chronic or acute illnesses or just finding humane euthanasia for the ones who won’t make it, bottle feeding abandoned neo-natal kittens, socializing frightened shelter and rescue cats, trapping and spay/neutering thousands of cats each year who don’t even belong to them or to anyone and trying to assist others and train them in TNR, and educate and inform anyone who will listen about low-cost spay/neuter and veterinary care. They don’t get paid for this, and they don’t get awards for this, in fact they often get criticism and sometimes threatened lawsuits for their actions. They do this because they Care.About.Animals, and they deserve what recognition and reward they can get.

But I am always frustrated at watching individuals, rescues and shelters struggle to do what has to be done to keep our animal populations healthy and respected as living, loving creatures in our society. After my own 30 years in cat rescue, I sometimes have to shake my head and wonder why we still have to struggle. When I find an opportunity to turn something I do well into cash for the rescues and rescuers I know, I am all over it, and that’s what the Petties are about for me.

I don’t like contests, and I don’t like to ask anyone to take their valuable time to nominate me for anything unless they are moved to do so on their own. But for these people and the many like them, I want you to take the time each day during the month of June to nominate a blog and a rescue to win actual cash—even if it’s not me, and it’s not the other nominees I suggest. Someone will win big, and animals will benefit.

About the Petties Awards

There are awards for bloggers, for shelters or rescues and for volunteers through this contest, which runs from June 3 through June 28.

Blogger Awards

There are ten categories bloggers can win, and the winner in each category will receive a personalized Petties trophy and a $1,000 donation to the shelter or rescue of their choice.

Petties Grant Award

And as if that’s not enough the shelter or rescue listed with the most nominations wins a $10,000 donation from Dog Time Media in the Petties Grant contest! Any shelters or rescues receiving donations from DogTime must be a non-profit 501c3. Nomination for this award is given in coordination with a blogger award.

Unsung Heroes Award

And to recognize that much of the work done on behalf of animals is done by volunteers, the contest also offers the Unsung Hero Award, wherein the winner will be given a personalized trophy and $10,000 for the shelter or organization of their choice. Nomination for this award will begin July 5, with step two of Petties nominations!

My Suggested Rescue

If The Creative Cat were to win won of the ten categories, I would choose to give the winning $1,000 to Frankie’s Friends, the non-profit cat rescue set up to care for the cats left behind from the Tiger Ranch and founded by Dr. Becky Morrow, she of the seven-minute spay and board president of the Homeless Cat Management Team. Through Frankie’s Friends, Dr. Morrow also operates a mobile veterinary unit that provides neighborhood spay/neuter clinics all over the Pittsburgh area as well as veterinary services to other animals. She is also the one to literally pick up the pieces of cats who’ve been rescued with collars embedded in their armpits, who’ve been shot, mauled by a dog and left for dead as well as the leagues of kittens and momcats who are the victims of difficult births or nearly fatal viruses, sometimes offering the services gratis. You can read more about Dr. Morrow in my article about the HCMT TNR clinic.

However, if you nominate me, you don’t have to choose my suggested rescue, you can choose any non-profit 501(c)3 in the country. This winner will be announced during the last week of July.

How the Petties nominations work…

You are not actually voting in this award contest, and you don’t just go and do it once. Unlike the usual one-person-one-vote-one-time method, you are nominating blogs and content for the categories listed below, and you can do this once each day, and your nomination for shelter award is given in coordination with a blogger award nomination. Yes, once each day, it’s the part I hate to ask you to do, but the more votes, the more chance of winning. After all, upwards of $20,000 is at stake for shelters, rescues and volunteers, so we have to work a little for it.  Nominations open June 3, 2013 and close Friday, June 28, 2013 at Midnight PST for these first rounds.

Then, after that round of voting, the blog nominations are drawn in each category, and there is more voting for the winner in each category later this summer as well as the winner of the Unsung Heroes Award. These winners will be announced during an online ceremony in autumn.

Ballot categories
You can nominate one slate of candidates each day, and along with each blog nomination you enter, you can also nominate one shelter or rescue—and you don’t have to nominate .

I have voted for myself in the Petties, and I’ve also voted for others. I hope you will vote for The Creative Cat in any appropriate category, such as Best Cat Blog or Best Designed Blog, and if you have a favorite blog post on The Creative Cat please nominate that as well. I’ve no doubt you have other favorite blogs too, as I do, so please don’t leave any spaces blank! Each nomination, each day, counts toward the shelter you’ve listed in the $10K Petties Grant Contest.

Filling out your nominations

In order to nominate The Creative Cat for a general blog award, please enter www.TheCreativeCat.net in the “Nominee URL” box.

In order to nominate for “Best Blog Post”, copy the full post address from your browser’s address bar and paste it in the  “Nominee URL” box.

For each nomination, enter the name of your chosen shelter in the “Shelter Nomination for $10K Petties Grant” box.

Nomination Categories

Best Dog Blog : A blog that is dedicated to dogs and has insightful posts about their dog and offers readers a variety of information on dogs.

Best Cat Blog : A blog that is dedicated to dogs and has insightful posts about their dog and offers readers a variety of information on cats.

Best Rescue/Cause Blog : A blog that is dedicated to animal welfare and the rescuing of animals in need.

Best Overall Pet Blog : A blog that showcases all that is pets and offers readers a little bit of everything on our furry friends.

Best Blog Post : blog post that has had a powerful effect on its readers (Please put URL of blog post you are nominating, not just the blog URL itself).

Best Designed Blog : A blog that is well designed and is complemented by photography or other artwork that makes visiting this blog a pleasure to the eyes

Best Mobile App: A non-paid, downloadable application offering the best of the pet world through a mobile device.

Funniest Blog or Blogger : A blog or blogger that has made you laugh multiple times through their posts and you enjoy visiting their blog for a good daily chuckle.

Best Video Post : An informational, educational, or inspiring video that enhances a blog post and helps engage the reader. (Please put URL Of blog video post you are nominating, not just the blog URL itself)

Best Active Living Blog : A blog dedicated to living a healthy and active lifestyle, which includes adventures with your [dog]—well, we cat people are living a health and active lifestyle with our cats as well, and no doubt so are rabbit and ferret and bird and other animal lovers as well.

Why nominate every day? Why nominate at all?

Don’t just nominate me, nominate all your favorites.

First of all, animals somewhere will benefit, plenty of them, and in the process none at all will be harmed.

Second, we bloggers work very hard at something we are all passionate about—entertaining and educating you, our readers, each in our own unique way. Most of us do this simply from love and receive no compensation whatsoever, but even if we do it’s not much. Without compensation to give us an idea of how we’re performing our jobs, feedback is our guide. One of the best ways to find out if we are doing it right is to be nominated for, and to receive, an award for what we do, and it’s also a payment on its own from you, our readers, a pat on the back, a virtual hug, telling us that we’ve done a good job.

Third, there’s Giuseppe, ready to visit if he finds you haven’t visited the Petties nominations page and cast your nominations. Those eyes should be enough incentive. And you wouldn’t want The Four Housecats of the Apocalypse to show up in your kitchen, would you?

SO NOW GO AND NOMINATE!!

Click here to go to Dogtime’s Petties 2013 where you can read more about the nominations and the program and review winning bloggers, shelters and volunteers since 2010.

You’ll also see the logo below at the end of all my posts through June.

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Click here to nominate “www.TheCreativeCat.net” for a Petties Award.

Read more about the Petties in this post.

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Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

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