Calling Columbus pet owners. Enter the GA Ledger’s cutest dog & cat contest

You think your cat belongs on the runway? Certain your dog should get an agent? Then it’s time to put your camera roll to good use, because the Cutest Dog & Cat in Columbus Contests are officially open.

Dog and cat parents should submit their pets photos in this form. We’ll put the featured pets up for all Ledger readers to cast their vote on the best good girl (or boy).

Go wild with it. The cuter, sillier, and more over-the-top, the better. Costumes, outtakes, mid-yawn glamour shots, dramatic treat-begging. We want it all. If your pet’s personality shines through, you’re doing it right.

The deadline for submissions is at midnight (ET) on Monday, Oct. 20. Any reader can submit their cat/dog for the contest. Readers can submit multiple pets, but must use a separate submission form for each pet.

A newsroom committee made up of Ledger pet lovers will choose up to 50 cats and dogs from the submissions. Those pets will move to the public voting rounds.

Once voting opens, readers may vote as many times as they wish. We’ve extended submissions for our pet polls through midnight on Monday, Oct. 20.

• Round 1: voting begins Wednesday at noon and lasts until midnight on Sunday, Oct. 26.
• Round 2: voting begins at noon on Monday, Oct. 27 and end at midnight on Wednesday, Oct. 29
• Winner announced: Monday, Nov. 3 at Noon ET.

If we get fewer than 5 submissions for dogs or cats, there will be only one round of voting, ending midnight, Oct. 29.

The winning cat and dog will then be submitted to a national poll that includes winners from fellow McClatchy papers across the U.S. That poll will be shared across all markets and held Monday, Nov. 10

Votes will reset after each round . The winner will be announced on the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer website.

Remember: This poll isn’t scientific — it’s for fun! You can vote more than once in this poll. Reload the page to vote again.

If you’d love to see a picture of my good boys and girls (since they’re disqualified from this contest), email me at srose@ledger-enquirer.com or find me on social media.

This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 11:59 AM.