Pet Photo Contest 2023 the Journal’s

When it comes time to free up space on your phone, you’ve got hard choices to make. Swiping through dozens of photos of your dog giving you the Saturday side-eye or your kitty swatting at a low hanging ornament like a punching bag … You’ve got insane love for your pet and those treasured shots of your floofer snoodle aren’t seeing the trashcan any time soon. So we asked you to send us some of your favorites for our annual Pet Photo Contest. And good boy howdy, you did.

This year we opened up the contest to include 15 categories — knowing that pet lovers in Humboldt County would come through with some dynamite photos. With prizes for categories like Most Humboldt Spirit, Pets with Jobs and The Face Only a Mother Could Love, among others, the entries are pure gold.

We’ve got a senior dauchshund who’s a little long in the tongue, we’ve got a cat poised in front of an unsuspecting Christmas tree ready to take it down, we’ve got a dog canoeing out on the water, a cat with Puss in Boots eyes, a winking Husky, a Frenchie with its buns in the air (like it just don’t care), ebony and ivory dogs living together in perfect harmony, dogs driving trucks and out on the lumber yard. That’s right. Photo GOLD. And all for an excellent cause, as this year’s proceeds benefit Miranda’s Rescue.

Who’s the diva of the household? Who’s an essential worker out there getting the job done? And what about that face only a mother could love? We got ‘em! Hop, trot, slither, flap or zoomie on over to our website to see the winners and browse all the good bois and girls in our gallery of gorgeousness.

— Kali Cozyris

High Maintenance

Nala the wolf queen basking in her throne.

Highest on Life

“I

Itty Bitties

HICAP is the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program, a program of the Area One Agency on Aging. Registered HICAP volunteer counselors help senior and disabled Medicare beneficiaries understand their Medicare and health insurance benefits and choices.

HICAP volunteers advocate for Medicare beneficiaries regarding problems with Medicare or a Medicare provider. Volunteers counsel individual clients on a variety of Medicare and insurance issues and inform lowincome Medicare beneficiaries about programs that can help pay for Medicare costs.

HICAP provides free training to become a registered HICAP Counselor with the California Department of Aging.

It takes just 24 hours of initial training and 10 hours of counseling observation time to become a certified HICAP Counselor. Volunteer counselors must provide a minimum of 40 hours per year of client counseling to maintain certification.

HICAP pays for volunteer mileage and ongoing training. Call HICAP to learn about this opportunity to assist older adults.

Most Snuggly

Nontraditional Pets

“Wolfdogging it in the wild.”

Pets with Jobs

“Diesel thinks he’s a fireman. He loves hanging out at the fire station.”

Sweet Siblings