Foothills Animal Shelter Love 'em Leash 'em Photo Contest: How Voting Works & How to Win

What is the Love 'em Leash 'em Photo Contest and who runs it?

Foothills Animal Shelter operates the Love 'em Leash 'em Photo Contest as a fundraiser for the animals in its care. The shelter's postal address is 580 McIntyre Street, Golden, CO 80401, and the contest ballot carries the shelter's branding throughout. On the 2025 edition the fundraiser is paired with the Foothills Park & Recreation Leash Campaign, and the ballot's navigation links to background pages about both the shelter and the park district.

The format is a pet photo contest decided entirely by the public. Dog owners pay a $5 donation to enter a picture, and supporters then back their favorite entries with paid votes. Every dollar from entries and votes flows toward the shelter, which is what separates this ballot from advertising-driven community polls.

The essentials at a glance

Two details deserve emphasis. First, this is not a free-click poll: voting and entering both cost money by design, because the contest doubles as a fundraising engine. Second, the ballot lives on its own contest address, which keeps the fundraiser separate from the shelter's main website.

When did the 2025 voting window open and close?

The 2025 ballot printed one combined schedule. According to the rules shown on the page, the Voting Period started at 8:00 AM Mountain Time on Sunday, June 1, 2025 and ended at midnight, 11:59:59 PM Mountain Time, on Saturday, June 21, 2025. The Submissions Period carried exactly the same boundaries, so people could enter a dog and buy votes during the same stretch of June.

This is the first confirmed edition; whether it returns next year is not yet published; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

The shelter's own events listing places the contest on June 21, 2025, matching the close of the voting window. Anyone opening the ballot today sees a notice that the contest has ended, so the page now works as a closed summary of the 2025 run rather than a live poll.

Beyond that window, the ballot publishes no day-by-day schedule, and no 2026 dates appear anywhere on it.

How does a supporter vote for a dog on the ballot?

Voting happens on the contest's own page. A supporter opens the ballot, browses the entered dogs, picks one, and adds votes to it. Votes are $1 each, and every purchase carries a five-vote minimum, so the smallest transaction is $5. Payment happens on the ballot itself during checkout.

What a vote buys

Each vote raises the chosen dog's standing among the entries. Because the contest is a fundraiser, the vote payment doubles as a gift to Foothills Animal Shelter. The rules text describes no bundles beyond the minimum, so supporters simply choose their quantity at checkout subject to that floor.

Getting a dog onto the ballot

Entry ran through the same window as voting. An owner paid a $5 donation per entry and submitted a photo of their pup on a leash while enjoying the outdoors. The ballot explains the purpose behind that framing: "The resulting photos showing your pup on a leash while enjoying the outdoors will be used in the Foothills Park & Recreation Leash Campaign."

Neither the entry terms nor the vote screen states how many separate purchases one supporter may make across the whole June window; confirm on the live ballot each cycle.

How does this fundraiser differ from Colorado's best-of ballots?

Colorado's public-vote pages on this site lean heavily toward best-of community ballots: Top of the Town from 5280, Best of Denver from Westword, Best of NOCO from NOCO Style, Best of the Springs, Best of Summit County, and Best of the Boat from Steamboat. Every one of those programs is tagged as a best-of ballot for a Colorado market.

The Love 'em Leash 'em Photo Contest runs on a narrower track. It has one subject, dogs; one audience, pet lovers; and one funding purpose, the shelter. The money question sits at the center of the ballot, because votes and entries are donations rather than free clicks, and the whole contest compresses into a single June window instead of a long polling season.

For readers weighing options across the state, the practical split is straightforward. A best-of ballot spreads attention across a whole market's favorites, while this contest concentrates support on individual dog photos before the June 21, 2025 close. Someone with limited time has to decide whether broad civic voting or one shelter fundraiser deserves their dollars, and the two formats rarely overlap.

How can a supporter help a favorite dog finish higher?

Support in this contest is measured in dollars, so the practical way to lift a dog is to bring more paying voters to the ballot. Share the contest address with friends and family who love animals, and make the ask concrete: five dollars covers the five-vote minimum, and anyone can add more $1 votes from there. Keep the pitch inside the voting window, since purchases made after June 21, 2025 do nothing for the standings. Entrants should also mind the photo framing, because a leashed outdoor shot is what the campaign imagery calls for.

Outside vote help exists for public ballots of many shapes, and the shelter's own rules remain the authority for this one. Award vote packages and wider promotion tactics are covered on their own pages, so entrants can review every option before spending anything.