Mars Petcare announces winners of Comedy Pet Photo Awards

Mars Petcare has announced the winners of its Comedy Pet Photo Awards, a competition to raise awareness of homeless pets in the UK.

Elke Vogelsang with her funny shot of Noodles entitled “Guard Dog on Duty” has won the top prize of Comedy Pet Photographer of the Year 2020 award. Noodles, a Galgo Espanol mix breed, also won the Dog category award.

“It’s wonderful to be associated with something that makes people happy. This dog definitely is a mood-lifter. Happy to share her funny, gorgeous face with the world,” Vogelsang commented on the award.

Noodles was found in a kill shelter in Spain where she had been abandoned at the end of the hunting season. Vogelsang was determined to rescue her and “fell in love with her gorgeous face and funny ears immediately.”

Now living in Germany, Noodles is a very important member of the Vogelsang family, along with two other rescue dogs.

The photography competition is now in its second year and was created by the founders of the populae Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam.

The partnership is also raising much needed funds for pet welfare by donating 10 per cent of the sponsorship fee and 10 per cent of all entry fees to national pet charity Blue Cross.

“The benefits of having a pet in the home have never been clearer, and we have loved seeing so many pet lovers sharing their amazing images. We’re delighted to be partnering with Blue Cross and in addition to the funds we are raising, we hope the competition will raise much needed awareness for homeless pets in the UK,” commented Helen Warren Piper, general manager at Mars Petcare UK.

Other winners include:

Cat Category: Malgorzata Russell’s photo of Basil, peeking from under a fence titled ‘Why are you upside down, Mum?’

Mighty Horse Category: Magdalena Strakova with her shot of three horses ‘Gossip Girls’

All Other Creatures: ‘Drama Queen’ by Anne Linder took the prize with her yawning rabbit

Pets Who Look Most Like Their Owner’s Category: ‘Morning Mood’ a photo by Hannah Seeger and her dog

Junior Category: Ayden Brooks for his sleepy cat called ‘Fox Mulder’.

In addition, 10 photographers were recognised as Highly Commended for their entries: Candice Sedighan; Kerstin Ordelt; Karen Hoglund; John Carelli; Dimpy  Bhalotia; Antonio Peregrino; 3 images from Iain McConnell and a further entry from Elke Vogelsang of Noodles.