The Comedy Pet Photography Awards competition was created by professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam. They wanted to celebrate the positive and vital role that pets have in our lives. Moreover, they aim to encourage engagement around animal welfare.

In short, their goal is to make the world a better place by bringing a lot more laughter into people’s homes, and by shining a spotlight on animal issues that deserve to be solved.

The competition partnered up with Animal Friends Pet Insurance and is donating a whopping 35,000 pounds to various animal welfare charities. They’re giving 10,000 pounds each to Dean Farm Trust, London Inner City Kitties, and the Wild at Heart Foundation which all do a great job caring for and rehoming abandoned animals. Meanwhile, the overall winner of the competition will get to donate the remaining 5,000 pounds to a charity of their choice. Some of the donations are already having a major positive effect.

Meanwhile, the overall winner of the competition will receive an additional 2,000-pound prize and a bespoke trophy.

Michelle Wood, a member of the Comedy Pet Photography Awards team, told Bored Panda what the energy was like this year throughout the competition.

“There is always a good buzz around the competition, mainly because it is celebrating something so wholesome and positive. This year, we were really chuffed to get a record number of JUNIOR entries, which gave the competition a really fun, entertaining, and relaxed vibe and made shortlisting the images a heartwarming task,” she told us.

According to the team, they had more entries from different countries this year than ever before. Especially from South America.

“I think everyone was ready to share their pet stories after such a long time under the COVID cloak and we had a lot of images showing pets playing with other pets, now that they were able to mix and meet up—FINALLY! Also, we had lots of cat entries in 2022, in fact, equal to the dog entries, which is great to see—some of them are hilarious!” Michelle said that everyone was over the moon with how things turned out this year. Things just keep getting better and better.

Bored Panda was curious about what happens next. After all, the esteemed panel of judges will have to deliberate and pick out the winners (to be announced on September 13) for each category. But it doesn’t sound like it’ll be an easy task, considering how great all of the finalists’ entries look.

“On the face of it, the judges' task is simple—to score the images purely on their comedy value. However, when it comes down to it, it can be a lot trickier than that,” Michelle noted.

“And some images/videos are slow burners, so they really grow on you the more you look at them. But we all have our own idea of what makes us laugh, that is the beauty of it, there are no special criteria so we never really know how it is going to go and anyone could win!” she pointed out that it’s still anybody’s game. There’s an air of mystery and excitement surrounding the next stage of the contest.

Considering how much we love animals here at Bored Panda, we wanted to learn more about the charities that the competition will be supporting.

“Thanks to our competition sponsor, Animal Friends, we are incredibly lucky to be able to donate £10k each to 3 different charities supporting a wide variety of animals and causes,” Michelle said, telling us a bit more about what each charity does.

“The Wild at Heart Foundation, who have used some of the donation to facilitate aid for those animals affected by the Ukraine crisis. London Inner City Kitties has been able to invest in more hands-on support in rescuing abandoned cats, offering medical care and a new home where possible. And Dean Farm Trust, a beautiful animal sanctuary providing a forever home to 180 animals, has used some of the donation to repair much-needed fencing and to help with increasing vet and medical bills.”

The Comedy Pet Photography Awards believes that giving these charities the attention and funds that they deserve greatly helps animals in need.

“By raising awareness and donating to these brilliant charities through the competition, we can make a real difference to animals’ lives, and that is something to smile about!” Michelle told Bored Panda.

The judges that will be looking over the finalists’ entries include well-known TV presenter and author Mel Giedroyc, animal lover Kate Humble, TV Vet Emma Milne, pro pet photographer Elke Vogelsang, Dave and Finn (the magic dog act from BGT), as well as Dave’s 10-year-old daughter Tia.

What’s more, they’ll be joined by representatives from the sponsors of the competition, including from Animal Friends (CEO Wes Pearson and his 13-year-old son Jack, as well as CMO Patricia Gardiner and her 10-year-old daughter Meg), Dean Farm Trust (Sam Clews), L.I.C.K’s (Sophie Fenton), and the Wild at Heart Foundation (Nikki Tibbles).

TV presenter and author Mel said about joining the panel of judges: “This is my first foray into the world of Comedy Pet judging and I can’t think of anything better than sitting down with a cup of tea and having a giggle at the brilliant entries in this year’s competition, knowing that they have helped support some really incredible animal charities."

For the first time in the competition’s history, the public will get to act as judges, too. They’ll get the chance to vote for their favorite finalist image in the Animal Friends People’s Choice Awards. You can do that on the competition’s website, and you even have the chance of winning a cash prize. Voting will be open until August 22. So be sure to cast yours by then, Pandas.

Paul, the co-founder of the contest said that they love running the competition. “The adoration that people have for their pets and vice versa is a wonderful thing to see and be part of. The images and videos entered are a genuine and touching reflection of the special bond that exists between humans and animals, and we can’t help but feel happier for seeing them. This is why it is so important that we support animal welfare charities who do a remarkable job in looking after some of the most disadvantaged pets, and thanks to the amazing partnership with Animal Friends we have been able to make a real difference this year!”

Meanwhile, Wes, the CEO of Animal Friends praised the Comedy Pet Photography Awards for bringing “playful, poignant, and priceless moments” into people’s lives. He said the finalist shortlist has brought “immense joy” to them. He added that pets are never just pets, they’re a part of people’s stories.