Kenichi Morinaga has been revealed as this year’s overall competition winner of the Comedy Pet Photo Awards 2022 with his photo of two cats sitting on a fence cheek to cheek, or neck and neck.
Over the summer, the competition has called on all pet and animal lovers to submit hilarious images and videos of their funny furry friends for a chance of winning the prestigious title of Comedy Pet Photographer of the Year and a £2,000 cash prize, plus a £5,000 donation from Animal Friends Pet Insurance to go towards an animal welfare or conservation charity.
Kenichi, whose pic also picked up the Best Cat photo, is a photographer from Japan who loves to visit the small islands around the country, taking shots of the street cats that he finds there. His passion started when he got his own pet cat and first visited Europe as a back-packer.
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“Suddenly, I became fascinated by the antics of cats out in the streets and had to photograph them” Kenichi says. “When I returned to Japan, I continued to seek them out, they really cheer me up, especially after the last two years of the pandemic – they are so funny, even when they are doing something serious. This amazing competition reminded me that such gestures from all animals are recognised as being hilarious, cute, and heart-warming not only in Japan but all over the world.”
Judging
The judging was the closest ever seen with just 10 points separating the top six places, and with seven different countries represented in the Category Winners, this year the competition had a truly international feel.
The winner of the Dog Category went to Jose Bayon from Spain with his hilarious photo of his rescue dog called Nilo, captured in the garden frolicking about with water spray, half his body going in a different direction from the other! The People’s Choice Award, where the public get to vote on their favourite was won by Marko Jovanovic and his dog dashing through the snow and the £1,000 prize for Best Video was won by Sarah Fiona Helme of Rosie her cat taking fright when an owl on television seems to make a beeline for her.
When asked how he would be spending the £2,000 top prize money, Kenichi has confirmed that he is using it to fund more filming trips to some of the many Japanese islands. “I would like to continue photographing many cats and bring many more smiles to people’s faces. Through funny photos I hope that the world will one day become a kinder one, where cats, dogs and other animals are not abandoned or mistreated.”
In addition to the £2,000 cash prize, Kenichi also gets to choose an animal charity to receive a £5,000 donation courtesy of Animal Friends Pet Insurance. After much deliberation, he has chosen The Cat Welfare Group, an organisation based on the UK’s South Coast helping to rescue and re-home stray and abandoned cats and kittens and offering medical care where necessary.
Competition
The Comedy Pet Photos Awards was created by Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullam, to celebrate the positive and vital role that pets have in our lives and to encourage engagement around animal welfare. This year, thanks to the partnership with Animal Friends Pet Insurance, Comedy Pets is donating £35,000 to animal welfare charities, £10,000 each to 3 separate charities all doing an amazing job, caring for and re-homing abandoned animals: Dean Farm Trust, London Inner City Kitties and Wild at Heart Foundation and £5,000 for the overall winner to donate to a charity of their choice.
Co-founder Tom Sullam said: “We’re so chuffed to see such a funny selection of winners this year from all over the world.And brilliant to see our first ever cat winner! Huge congratulations to Kenichi. The joy pets bring to our lives is evident in ALL the entries we receive, making our job as judges very enjoyable but also very tricky. What is so amazing is that these hilarious photos and videos not only make us smile in the first instance, but they also mean that we can help some incredible pet charities with huge donations thanks to our wonderful competition partners–Animal Friends.”
To view all the category winners and the highly commended winners, visit www.comedypetphoto.com
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