On Saturday November 12th from 11am to 1pm, you can swing by the PetSmart to join the competition (winners will receive a free year of veterinary care), eat a hotdog, and meet competitive eater (and Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest winner in 2007 through 2011), Joey Chestnut.

The Banfield Pet Hospital is located within the PetSmart at 238 Atlantic Avenue between Court St. and Boerum Place.

The photo is an entry in this year’s Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The winners and runners up are now on display at the Natural History Museum in London. It’s a great exhibit; I highly recommend checking it out if you find yourself in London sometime before March 11, 2012. There is also an online gallery, but trust me, it’s not the same.

I love the light and shadows created by ripples on the water’s surface. Sort of makes me want to float along beside him. Except that he’s a bear and would probably eat me.

Photo courtesy of www.jasminek.com

The effort is intended to raise awareness about pet adoption, and particularly Petco’s adoption program which, they say, has placed more than 3 million animals in new homes.

The event starts at 4pm near the Naumberg Bandshell in Central Park. Counting begins at 5pm, and in order to be counted, you must have paperwork proving that your doggie was adopted from a shelter/rescue organization.

They’re going to have to gather at least 250 adopted dogs in order to set the record, so if you don’t have to be at work this afternoon, grab your shelter dog and make your way to the park!

Best Smile
Best Tail Wagger
Best Trick
Best Hairdo
Most Affectionate
Cutest Dog
and of course, Best in Show

The winners will be selected by a panel of four judges, but the Best in Show winner is chosen by the audience. Unfortunately I can’t attend, but personally I think Duke would be a shoe-in for Best Smile!

You can download a flyer with more info here.

This poor dog.

Gothamist has a decent slideshow of the pampered pups, but frankly I’m disappointed in The Cut’s coverage. I mean, focus much?

And in case you were wondering, no, Duke will not be hitting the catwalk next year.

World Wide Web. Courtesy of Tim Berners-Lee.

Submarine, by Englishman William Bourne

For more, please visit the source.

Is this thing on?

Wow. This is not an easy one, folks. 27 steps and lots of pictures that give the impression that this project is most appropriate for trained architects.

Who knows though. I’m a pretty crafty person. Maybe I’ll give it a try once winter sets in and I have nothing better to do!

Between August 1 and October 31, contestants hold events like adopt-a-thons, mobile adoptions, educational programs, and anything else they can think up to spread the word and get more cats and dogs adopted in their communities.

Called the “ASPCA $100k Challenge,” the program actually has $300,000 in prize money to give away to three winners:

* Largest increase in lives saved: The contestant that saves the largest number of additional cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies beyond the minimum 300 wins the $100,000 Grand Prize grant!
* Second place: The contestant that saves the second largest number of additional cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies beyond the minimum 300 lives saved wins the $25,000 Second Place grant!
* Largest increase in lives saved in each region: The contestant in each of five geographic regions that saves the largest number of additional cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies beyond the minimum 300 wins a $20,000 Best in Region grant.

After perusing the contest website, I was impressed by the resources the ASPCA is offering local shelters and rescue organizations to help them gain visibility — marketing materials, media toolkit, tutorials and webinars, and of course the website itself, which enables organizations to set up profile pages.

(The one thing I did find frustrating about the website as a visitor, was the inability to sort events by geographic location. It seemed I could only view events by date, which isn’t that helpful when I really want to see if anything’s happening in Brooklyn.)

I’m sure the program will be a success again this year. I just hope all the participating shelters will be responsible in screening potential adopters – we want the animals going to loving homes, right?

(h/t @humanesociety)