WTVQ-TV Paws & Claws "Meow Madness": How Voting Works & How to Win

What is Paws & Claws Meow Madness and who runs it?

WTVQ-TV brought a lighthearted pet showdown to its audience under the banner Paws & Claws "Meow Madness". The station is the ABC network affiliate whose license anchors it to Lexington, Kentucky, and the corporate name behind its broadcast authorization is WTVQ-TV, LLC, as printed on the licensee filing maintained with the FCC. The vote itself was built on Second Street, the engagement platform the station operates at abc36.secondstreetapp.com, and the ballot's address ran under that domain at /Paws--Claws-Meow-Madness. Second Street registered the promotion as a VotingBracket, which separates it from a flat nominee list: entries meet in paired matchups, supporters pick a favorite in each, and winners advance. In format terms the programme is an audience-choice event aimed at pets rather than restaurants, salons or employers, which is what gives it a lighter, seasonal feel.

Item	Detail
Organizer	WTVQ-TV, LLC, licensee of ABC 36
Market	Lexington, Kentucky
Platform	Second Street at abc36.secondstreetapp.com
Ballot path	/Paws--Claws-Meow-Madness
Format	Paired-round voting bracket
Documented edition	April 2025

Why a bracket instead of a list

For readers weighing options across the commonwealth, the station's bracket sits alongside statewide and citywide reader picks gathered on the Kentucky contest index. Its tone is closer to a novelty seasonal event than to a business reputation survey, which shapes who rallies support: pet owners and animal lovers rather than merchants chasing a plaque.

When did the Meow Madness bracket accept votes?

The station's platform listing shows a single voting phase. It opened on April 1, 2025 and closed on April 18, 2025, and the ballot now carries a closed status. This is the first confirmed edition; whether it returns next year is not yet published; confirm on the live ballot each cycle. Three details supporters usually want sit outside the published material. The station never printed the full slate of matchups for the bracket. It also left unlisted both a cap on repeat voting and the eligibility terms governing which pets could compete. WTVQ-TV posted no slate of pairings and no rules text covering repeat voting or eligibility; confirm on the live ballot each cycle. Because the bracket is a competition rather than an ongoing poll, the closing date carried real weight: whatever standings existed when the window shut settled the outcome. A supporter arriving afterward found the ballot frozen, and the same would hold for any future edition WTVQ-TV chooses to stage.

How does someone actually cast a vote in this bracket?

Voting in Meow Madness followed the pattern Second Street uses for bracket promotions, filtered through whatever the ballot itself displayed. A supporter reached the page at abc36.secondstreetapp.com/Paws--Claws-Meow-Madness, read the paired matchup in front of them, selected the pet they favored and submitted the choice. The ballot moved forward as rounds progressed, so the pairing a visitor saw depended on when they arrived during the April 2025 window.

What the ballot did not specify

The published page carried no instructions about accounts, sign-ins or repeat visits, and it printed no schedule beyond the voting phase itself. Anyone needing certainty on those points had to rely on what the live form showed at the moment they visited. The station likewise gave no figure for how many votes separated advancing entries from eliminated ones.

Casting a vote today

With the 2025 window shut, the address now serves as a marker of the finished bracket rather than a working form. If WTVQ-TV stages another edition, the same address pattern is the likeliest entry point, and the steps stay simple: open the matchup, choose, submit. Supporters weighing paid help for a future round can read the award-vote service overview for how such campaigns are generally structured, keeping in mind that the station has published no position on purchased votes for this bracket.

Where does Meow Madness sit among WTVQ-TV's promotions and Kentucky ballots?

Inside the station's own Second Street portfolio, Meow Madness stands out as the only documented head-to-head voting bracket. Everything else WTVQ-TV runs on the platform leans toward galleries and drawings: ABC 36 Fur-Cast, a viewer pet-photo gallery open since May 10, 2023 and running through December 31, 2027; ABC 36 Viewer Photos, a general gallery live since September 15, 2022; the ABC 36 Birthday Club sweepstakes, taking entries from February 24, 2026 to March 31, 2027; and cash drawings such as the $5,000 sweepstakes that closed August 26, 2026 and the $15,000 drawing scheduled November 2 through December 9, 2026. Those formats request a submission or an entry form, not a preference vote between rivals. One longer-running tie-in, the Biggby Coffee Giveaway, accepted entries from July 7, 2021 through August 1, 2026, giving it the longest lifespan of any promotion in the station's Second Street lineup even though it wound down before the Q4 drawing opens. Across the wider Kentucky ballot scene, the nearest neighbours are reader-choice surveys rather than brackets. Best of Bowling Green, Best in Kentucky, Best of Lexington KY, Best Places to Work in Kentucky, the BroadwayWorld Louisville Awards and Chevy Chaser Best of Lex all gather favorites across many categories at once. Meow Madness compresses that idea into one pet theme and a sprint-length window.

Promotion	Type	Window	Status
Meow Madness	Voting bracket	Apr 1 to Apr 18, 2025	Closed
ABC 36 Fur-Cast	Pet photo gallery	May 10, 2023 to Dec 31, 2027	Open
ABC 36 Viewer Photos	Photo gallery	Since Sep 15, 2022	Open
ABC 36 Birthday Club	Sweepstakes	Feb 24, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027	Open
Eats and Treats	Sweepstakes	May 1 to May 31, 2026	Closed
$15,000 Q4 drawing	Sweepstakes	Nov 2 to Dec 9, 2026	Upcoming

Readers following the station specifically can also see its broader audience-choice effort, the Viewers' Choice Awards 2026, which shares the WTVQ-TV masthead.

How can a supporter build stronger backing for a pet in a bracket poll?

A bracket rewards steady turnout more than a single burst, because every round pairs the frontrunner against a fresh rival. Turnout matters most in the middle rounds, when fewer entries remain and each pairing sends a whole side of the draw forward. The practical levers are familiar ones: posting the ballot link where pet lovers already gather, timing reminders while a round is still open, and asking friends to pass the link along rather than merely vote themselves. WTVQ-TV published no guidance on organized vote gathering for this bracket, so supporters considering paid reinforcement should start with the ground rules. This site's campaign-building guide explains how public-poll pushes are typically assembled, and it treats the organizer's own terms as the final word on any tactic.