ASPCA to Benefit from Animal Photo Contest

NEW YORK— The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced that it will be one of the charity beneficiaries of Best Friends: The Ultimate Animal Photo Contest by Photo District News (PDN) and Kodak which aims to celebrate the art of pet and animal photography while also raising money to help endangered and mistreated animals throughout the world. The contest is now accepting paid online submissions from amateur photographers, with part of the proceeds going to three animal and wildlife protection groups.

“Combining our love for animals with photography is a great way to highlight how much our furry family members mean to us,” said Jo Sullivan, the ASPCA's Senior Vice President of External Affairs. "Aside from expressing love for our pets, we hope these images will also encourage and inspire people to help endangered, mistreated and homeless animals.”

Participants are invited to log on to www.bestfriendsphotocontest.com and submit their photos for any of four categories: Domestic Animals, Wildlife Animals, My Pet and Me, and Animal Humor. A portion of each $12 entry fee will be donated to the contestant’s choice of one of three non-profit animal welfare groups: the ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, and Kids Saving the Rainforest.

Submissions will be accepted through Tuesday, December 22, 2009. Winners in each of the four categories will be selected by a panel of photography professionals. One Grand Prize winner and four other first place winners will receive selection of prizes from Kodak, including the new Kodak Zi8 Pocket Video Camera; a Kodak ESP 5250 All-in-One printer; Kodak EasyShare Z980 Digital Cameras, and Kodak Professional Tri-X, T-Max or Portra film. Winners will also gain admission and exposure at the PDN PhotoPlus Expo 2010 in New York.