[imagesource: Diana Jill Mehner]

Any doting pet owner will know that sifting through your photo gallery full of mostly adorable and hilarious snaps of your pet while trying to retrieve something important or useful is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Or a puppy in a leaf pile, if you will.

Thankfully, there’s a place for all those pet photos, like Diana Jill Mehner’s above snap depicting her dog going “Crazy in Love with Fall”.

That’s because Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards creators Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hick have another competition up their sleeves.

Six years ago, the duo created the Comedy Wildlife Photography competition. It was so successful that they decided to start the Comedy Pet Photo Awards, according to Upworthy.

For this one, a photographer can submit a picture of their furry friends for a prize of £2 000 (around R41 000).

To make this competition even more heartwarming, all the donations generated by the competition go to an animal welfare charity in the UK called Animal Support Angels.

Time to loosen those smile muscles and get those giggle juices flowing…

The winner of the 2021 Comedy Pet Photo Awards is Zoe Ross for “Whizz Pop,” a perfectly timed shot of her labrador puppy Pepper seemingly tooting a bubble:

Image: © Zoe Ross /Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021

“We never ever thought that we would win but entered the competition because we loved the idea of helping a charity just by sending in a funny photo of Pepper,” Ross said in a statement.

“She is such a little monkey, and very proud of herself, bringing in items from the garden and parading past you until you notice her. She is the happiest puppy we’ve ever known and completely loved to pieces.”

Next up, for the Best Dog Category is Carmen Cromer’s “Jurassic Bark,” shot in Pittsboro, North Carolina:

Image: © Carmen Cromer/Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021

“My golden retriever, Clementine, loves to stick her face in front of the hose while I water the plants. Her expression in this photo made me think of a tyrannosaurus rex, hence the title, “Jurassic Bark.” Duh nuh nuuuh nuhnuh, duh nuh nuuuh nuh nuh, dun duh duuuh nuh nuh nuh nUUUUUUhhhh,” Carmen Cromer.

Then, this “Photobomb” cat belonging to Kathrynn Trott in Ystradgynlais, UK also got a little attention:

Image: © Kathrynn Trott/Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021

Mary Ellis’ “I said ‘Good Morning'” photo from Nebraska won the Best Horse Category:

Image: © Mary Ellis/Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021

For the Other Creatures Category, Sophie Bonnefoi’s “The Eureka Moment,” taken in Oxford, UK is a sweet moment between two chicks and their shadows:

Image: © Sophie Bonnefoi/Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021

“Cutie and Speedy are two chicks hatched from eggs placed in an incubator at home in August 2020. They spent their first few weeks indoors. In the photo, they are just over two weeks old. They were curious about everything. This is the day they discovered their own shadow. It was hilarious to see them wondering and exploring that ‘dark thing’ that was moving with them!” Sophie Bonnefoi.

The Czech Republic’s Jakub Gojda took top spot in the Pets Who Look Like Their Owners Category for his photo “That Was a Good One!”:

Image: © Jakub Gojda/Animal Friends Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2021

“This photo was taken by accident during the photography of my ex-girlfriend with her beloved mare. For this cheerful moment, I thank the fly that sat on the horse’s nose and he instinctively shook his head,” Jakub Gojda.

For more winners and highly commendable pet shots, head here.

But I recommend going straight to the horse’s mouth for this one.

[source:upworthy]