The Wagsies 2026 - The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement

The Association & Hill’s Pet Nutrition welcome you to The Wagsies, an awards platform that honors the animal welfare field's outstanding marketing efforts. We can't wait to see your best storytelling videos that celebrate connection, highlight solutions, and inspire audiences to take action to help pets in need.

Congratulations to Our 2026 Winners

Thank you to the many shelters around the country that entered the 2026 Wagsies competition. The Wagsies were awarded on October 27, 2026 at The Association’s Annual Conference.

People’s Choice – Less than 2MM

Who is CMHS
Central Missouri Humane Society
Columbia, Missouri

People’s Choice – More than 2MM

Timmy
Pasadena Humane
Pasadena, California

Professional Choice – Less then 2MM

Dealin’ Man Dan’s Fur-Ever Lot
Roice-Hurst Humane Society
Grand Junction, Colorado

Professional Choice – More then 2MM

This is SICSA 2026
SICSA Pet Adoption & Wellness Center
Washington Township, Ohio

View the winning videos (and those of the finalists) on the Hill’s website.

Watch the Videos

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Prizes

10 Finalists

A panel of judges will score each video. The five highest scored entries for each category will be deemed category finalists.

Each of the 10 finalists will receive $1,000.

Professional Choice Award

Awarded by animal welfare marketing experts, The Professional Choice Award will be granted to the entries with the highest score in each category.

Each winner will receive a trophy and $5,000.

People’s Choice Awards

Awarded by the voting general public, The People's Choice Award will be granted to the entries with the most votes in each category.

Each winner will receive a trophy and $10,000.

Guidelines

The Association welcomes members to participate, as well as any shelter, spay/neuter clinic, municipal animal care and control, or rescue organization operating in the U.S./D.C. & Canada (excluding Quebec).
Each organization can submit one video.
Submissions can be a maximum of two minutes (120 seconds) in length.
Videos must have been created between July 1, 2025 and July 31, 2026.
Videos previously submitted for any contest are not eligible for submission.
All submissions must be in .mov or .mp4 format.
All submissions must be in English.
All submissions must be at least 720 x 480 pixels.
All submissions and have a file size of less than 1GB.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to animal shelters, welfare and humane organizations that operate in the U.S./D.C. & Canada (excluding Quebec) that are represented by a legal resident of the U.S./D.C. or Canada (excluding Quebec) who is the age of majority in their state/jurisdiction/province of residence or older as of date of entry. Void outside the U.S./D.C./CAN, in Quebec and where prohibited. The Association's Wagsies Video Awards sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition begins at 12:00 a.m. ET on 6/18/26 & ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on 7/2/26. 2 Grand Prizes available (1 per category) to be won valued at USD$10,150 each. 10 Finalist Prizes available (5 per category) to be won valued at USD$1,000 each. 2 Professional’s Choice Prizes available (1 per category) to be won valued at USD$5,150 each. Sponsored by Hills Pet Nutrition, Inc.

See complete rules