Great news! The contest has been EXTENDED through 9:00PM on Monday, August 18, giving you even more time to enter and collect votes! Every dollar raised gets us closer to our goal in support of the animals and families served by the Wisconsin Humane Society. Thank you so much!
Do you have the cutest pet around? Submit their photo in our 2026 Calendar Contest to earn fun prizes while supporting the animals at the Wisconsin Humane Society! Every photo with at least 5 votes is guaranteed to be printed in the calendar, and the top 13 winners will be featured as "animal of the month" or the cover model!
It's easy to enter! Simply submit your favorite photo of your dogs, cats, or other companion animals, then share your page for family and friends to vote for your picture. The entry fee is $20 per photo and we recommend selecting just your favorite image(s) to maximize your odds of winning!
It's easy to vote! Out of the top 13 winners, 12 are chosen by how many votes they receive, so your best chance at success is to share your pet's voting link far and wide. Each vote costs just $1 and all proceeds benefit the animals at the Wisconsin Humane Society!
Anyone can win!
The 6 dogs, 5 cats, and 1 other animal who has received the most votes by 9:00:00 PM (Central Time) on Monday, August 18, 2025 will be our featured animals in the 2026 calendar. WHS staff will also be hand-selecting a 13th image as our "Judge's Choice" winner, meaning every photo submitted has a shot at a prize, regardless of how many votes it receives!
Enter Your Photo →Prizes
THE 6 DOGS with the most votes will receive:
- Guaranteed placement as "animal of the month" in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar, unless voted onto the cover.
- Swag bag from Hill's Pet Nutrition
- TWO free copies of the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar
- ONE free human registration in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Pet Walk
THE 5 CATS with the most votes will receive:
- Guaranteed placement as "animal of the month" in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar, unless voted onto the cover.
- Swag bag from Hill's Pet Nutrition
- TWO free copies of the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar
- ONE free human registration in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Pet Walk nearest you
THE 1 OTHER ANIMAL with the most votes will receive:
- Guaranteed placement as "animal of the month" in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar, unless voted onto the cover.
- Swag bag from Hill's Pet Nutrition
- TWO free copies of the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar
- ONE free human registration in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Pet Walk nearest you
1 JUDGE'S CHOICE WINNER will be chosen by staff (regardless of vote count) and will receive:
- Guaranteed placement as "animal of the month" in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar, unless voted onto the cover.
- Swag bag from Hill's Pet Nutrition
- TWO free copies of the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar
- ONE free human registration in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Pet Walk nearest you
OF THE 13 WINNERS LISTED ABOVE, THE IMAGE WITH THE MOST NUMBER OF OVERALL VOTES will receive:
- Guaranteed placement on the cover of the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar
- Inclusion in calendar marketing efforts
- Swag bag from Hill's Pet Nutrition
- FIVE free copies of the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Calendar
- TWO free human registrations in the Wisconsin Humane Society's 2026 Pet Walk nearest you
A note about our winner breakdown: The species ratio of winners reflects the average amount of images we receive of each species in our calendar contest each year. By selecting a set number of winners from each category, we can make sure each species has a fairer playing field by competing against their "peers."
- Contest Winners: The top 6 dogs, 5 cats, and 1 pet from the "other animals" section will automatically become our featured pets in the WHS 2026 Calendar. This ratio reflects the species breakdown of animal photos typically submitted to our contest each year, allowing a fairer playing field for all species. Additionally, WHS staff will select 1 "Judge's Choice" photo to be our 13th winner, meaning any entry could win, regardless of how many votes it has received. Out of these 13 winners (6 dogs, 5 cats, 1 other, and 1 judge's choice), the image with the most votes from the public will be our 2026 cover model, and the other 12 will be featured as "pet of the month."
- The deadline to enter your photos is 9:00:00 PM (Central Time) on Monday, August 18, 2025.
- All photos that receive at least 5 votes are guaranteed to be included in the calendar on either the cover, a month spread, or a collage page.
- Only photographs of companion animals will be included (dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, birds, domestic mice, horses, etc.). You can have as many animals in one photo as you would like. Photos with humans or wildlife will not be included in the calendar.
- Due to the dimensions of the calendar, all photos will be cropped into a perfect square if they are not already square. Keep in mind that this may alter the composition of your photo, so you may prefer to do the cropping yourself before submitting.
- Only digital entries in .jpg or .png format will be considered. Photos must be at least 2MB -or- 1500 x 1500 pixels to be printed as the photo of the month or cover. As a general rule of thumb, your photo must print clearly at 8.5" x 8.5" to qualify for a month page. Smaller photos may still be entered, but will only qualify for placement in a collage page or using the reserve-a-day selection.
- File sizes are automatically reduced when submitted to the voting site, so at the end of the contest, the winning entrants will be contacted via email and asked to reply with their original photo file within 7 days. If you are one of the top 13 winners and the file you submitted is of poor quality (it will not reproduce well in the calendar) and cannot be sufficiently improved for publication, we will alert you and give you an opportunity to send in a replacement photo of the same pet(s).
- If your entry was taken by a professional photographer, you are responsible for ensuring you have permission to submit that image in the contest.
- Photos become the property of WHS and may be used and/or altered for the 2026 calendar and for other marketing/fundraising efforts.
- WHS reserves the right to reject any images or captions deemed inappropriate by staff or those that do not align with our standards of care. Photos of animals wearing prong or shock collars are not eligible.
- Absolutely no print photographs will be accepted.