The 2023 Comedy Pet Photography Awards are here again, with the 25 finalists recently announced. We have selected our Top 10 favourites, including a ‘pupper’ that is super amazing at playing hide and seek and slightly ‘chonky’ cat that looks like us after a big dinner.
The competition was created by Paul Joynson Hicks and Tom Sullam, both professional photographers, to celebrate the vital role that pets play in our everyday lives along with supporting small grass roots animal welfare charities, thus making life better for the animals we share this planet with.
The contest may feature some amazingly funny photos, but the promoters also want to share a serious message. “Through the Comedy Pets, we want to promote positive awareness of animal welfare issues and celebrate the incredible and valuable contribution that pets can and do have on our lives,” the competition’s creators says on their website.
The eventual winners will be announced on August 11, 2023, with the 25 shortlisted nominees being judged by a panel of animal lovers from the fields of media, wildlife conservation and photography.
Here are our top 10 Comedy Pet Finalists for you to expertly evaluate and have a chuckle at. Did we get it wrong? Which one is your favourite?
To see all the finalists, head to the Comedy Pet Photography Awards site.
10. Football free kick
9. Is it a seal or a dog?
The Story: There’s a hiding place under the sofa where Louis (my dog) likes to hide, that day I took his tennis ball from “his place”, he got angry and put his head out through the hole barking asking for his ball back, that’s when he turned into this angry seal, and I decided to register the moment.
8. Pop up
7. When digging a hole gets serious
The Story: Shadow was digging holes as normal at the beach, when all of a sudden he was showing off his new technique! Luckily the camera was at the ready for this crazy position!
6. A life changing event
The Story: Alex and Max are two rescued kittens. Alex is the shy one. Max is the playful one. Together they form a lethally cute duo. I had more fun taking photos of these two than during my most adventurous wildlife photography trips.
5. The 498th round of Hide and Seek was getting a bit old…
The Story: Misty the spaniel desperately wanted to play with Nala, the dignified older lady of the menagerie. She wasn’t that keen, fortunately Misty was pretty terrible at hide and seek!
4. So this is the source of happiness..
The Story: Don’t worry, it’s just regular hemp for industry!
3. Barking!
The Story: In March 2019 I was sat in the Union Sq New York dog run when I spotted a lady with a pink bag on her hand ( to keep her hand clean) throwing a ball to her dog which was sat down facing her. The dog then launched itself and flipped in mid air to face me and snap! As you can see the lady with her hand on her head was as surprised as me and I think she is saying phew! I have searched in vain via the NY media to find the owner so that I can send her a copy. No joy, so I am hoping this Pet Comedy competition can help me find the mystery woman and her leaping dog. You never know!
2. My face when my crush says “Hi”
The Story: We tried to get a dreamy autumn photo of Milo – instead of lying a bit on his side he rolled around like crazy. His family loves this shot because it shows his personality better than any other picture.
1. The big Boss
The Story: Big Boss is the Boss around here. He is gentle and full of kindness… And Fish!
