Could your pet be the face of the 2016 cavan spca calendar

It’s that time of the year again and entries are being sought for the Cavan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) calendar. It’s the eight annual pet photo competition, in association with The Anglo-Celt, with a Canon digital camera up for grabs for the overall winner - as well as the honour of their pet/photo fronting the 2016 calendar.
Concepta Lennon is the treasurer of the Cavan SPCA. She told the Celt that the competition has been “hugely popular” in recent years - so much so that they had over 400 entries in one year alone, prompting organisers to apply a five photos per entrant rule in subsequent years.
“There’s great interest in it. People are already asking, before the photos are published, when is it starting and when will the calendar be printed. Then they can’t wait to see if their photo has made it in,” she said.
It’s hoped that the local SPCA will generate at least €5,000 from the sale of its calendars and Christmas cards this year.

Running costs of €60K
Concepta said that the annual running costs of the Cavan SPCA are from €55-60,000 with no guarantee of grant aid - though the Department of Agriculture usually awards some funding in December.
“It’s not guaranteed every year. You could get five or ten or twenty thousand, you never know, it just goes straight into the bank on Christmas Eve and we get a text but you just never know,” she explained.
So how then does the CSPCA cover its costs? Concepta explains that there are “adoption fees” for the animals they rehome. The fee to adopt a dog, for example, is €90 for a small dog up to €120 for a big dog and that’s to cover chipping, spaying or neutering, worming and vaccinations.
Food and veterinary bills for the year are the biggest outlays. Martina Boyle currently has over 30 dogs at her home in Ballyhaise, as well as puppies and “kittens coming out of the woodwork”, according to Concepta.
“I don’t know how she does what she does [Martina]. She never gets away. She should get a medal.”
In addition to Concepta and Martina, the Cavan SPCA has up to 15 volunteers across the county.

Charity Shop
Concepta also operates a charity shop on Ashe Street opposite FBD Insurance in Cavan Town, which opened about 18 months ago. “We take in about €500 a week,” she estimates.
“I took the place on for three months and I thought I wouldn’t last the three months what with the clothes I had and bits and pieces the girls had but it’s been unbelievable the response and the amount of quality stuff we are taking in,” said Concepta, who hails the shop a lifeline for the organisation in the county.
The Cavan SPCA shop is accepting donations of clothing, shoes, handbags, accessories and general bric-a-brac, “everything except electrical”, explains Concepta.

Deadline
The deadline for entries for the photo competition is September 18. In the first issue of October, we will publish a selection of the best photographs we receive and open up a public vote to decide which 13 will be chosen for the 2016 calendar.
The picture with the most votes will feature on the cover.
Entries can be emailed to cavanspca@gmail.com or posted to Concepta Lennon, Crubany, Cavan. Maximum of five entries per person. Please only send good quality photos that you can imagine on a calendar and they must be portrait shaped (long ways not across) as this is the design of the calendar. Please include with each entry your name, address and telephone number and the name of the animal if you know it. We would appreciate if you rename the emailed photos with your name as the title. Please enclose a stamped address envelope if you want your photo returned. Closing date for entries is September 18.

The cards and calendars will go on sale later in the year with calendars costing €7 from local outlets and a box of 16 cards retailing for €5.99.