Is America’s Favorite Pet a Scam?

If you’re thinking of submitting your pet to America’s Favorite Pet, you need to know: Is America’s Favorite Pet a scam? 

Below, we explain whether America’s Favorite Pet is a scam and discuss some steps you can take to improve your safety when submitting your pet in this online competition. 

What Is America’s Favorite Pet?

America’s Favorite Pet is an online competition for pet owners in America and Canada (excluding Quebec).

Pet owners can submit a photo of their dog or cat for the chance to win $10,000 and have their pet featured on the cover of “Modern Cat” or “Modern Dog” magazine. 

The competition is also a fundraiser for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). 

The pet with the most public votes wins. Everyone gets one free vote every 24 hours. Additional votes can be bought, and the proceeds go to PAWS. 

America’s Favorite Pet competition is held yearly.

Is America’s Favorite Pet a Scam?

It’s hard to know, but probably not. 

Still, many internet users believe that winning it is not possible, at least not without spending a lot of money. 

According to online forums like Reddit, due to how the contest is structured (with your pet being placed in specific groups), it always feels like your pet is winning, so you’re encouraged to keep spending money on votes. 

PetWeekly investigated America’s Favorite Pet and found that the following parties are involved in the competition: 

• Colossal: A professional fundraising company running the competition.
• DTCare: A registered nonprofit (501(c)(3)) that legally receives the donations.
• PAWS: The animal welfare organization that is supposed to benefit from the funds.

So, the flow of funds looks like this:

1. You make a donation in the form of paid votes. 
2. Colossal, which creates and runs the competition, keeps a portion of the donations for managing the contest and collecting the votes, and passes the rest to DTCare. 
3. DTCare keeps a small portion (1%) of the donations and passes the rest to PAWS (at least 50%). 

DTCare has a good track record on CharityNavigator.

PetWeekly says that it’s unclear how much money actually reaches PAWS. There’s no detailed public financial breakdown. 

Also, because PAWS is a network of independent shelters rather than a single organization, it’s harder to track how donations are used.

Your pet’s photos

In its terms of service, America’s Favorite Pet notes that Colossal owns all content on the site unless otherwise stated.

When you submit photos of your pet, you give up the copyright, meaning that Colossal can use them freely. You cannot reuse their content without permission.

Security 

In its privacy policy, America’s Favorite Pet lists some of the security measures it has in place.

For example, it scans the website for vulnerabilities and malware.

America’s Favorite Pet says it keeps your personal information safe by containing it behind secured networks and making it accessible only to persons with special access rights. 

It encrypts sensitive and credit information via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology.

If a breach happens, America’s Favorite Pet says it will notify users within seven business days. 

Privacy 

America’s Favorite Pet explains the kind of data it collects, why, and with whom it shares it in its privacy policy.

It collects the following information:

• Name.
• Email address.
• Mailing address.
• Phone number.
• Credit card information. 
• Other details. 

This information is collected when you register for the site, vote, make purchases, enter contests, or interact with the site in any other way.

America’s Favorite Pet does not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personally identifiable information to outside parties. It may provide non-personally identifiable information to other parties for marketing, advertising, analytical, or other purposes. 

It may use this data to process transactions, manage contests, provide customer service, and send emails or texts. It may also use this data for marketing, analytics, personalization, website improvement, and to detect fraud. 

It may share your information with website hosting and support services, Stripe (for payment processing and fraud detection), and marketing and analytics partners.

Non-personal information (like cookies or usage data) may be shared for ads and analytics.

You can make the following choices regarding your personal information:

• Unsubscribe from promotional emails and/or texts. 
• Edit your account profile (though America’s Favorite Pet says they may keep historical information in their backup files as permitted by law). 
• Request to see the personal information America’s Favorite Pet has about you. 
• Request to have your personal information deleted (America’s Favorite Pet says that your data will be removed from their active database, but may “remain in archives where it is not practical or possible to delete it.”)

America’s Favorite Pet website allows third-party behavioral tracking. 

It honors Do Not Track (DNT) signals.  

So, Should You Submit Your Pet to America’s Favorite Pet?

Depends on what your expectations are.

If you’re joining for fun, exposure, or to support the cause lightly, it’s a good option.

If you’re joining expecting a truly charitable or merit-based experience, you may be disappointed as paid votes influence who wins. 

There’s also a lack of financial transparency. It’s unclear exactly how much money goes to PAWS, or what they do with it.

How to Participate In America’s Favorite Pet Safely and Privately 

• Create a separate email address. Or use a masked one to keep your primary email inbox more private and spam-free. 
• Limit how much personal information you share. Don’t share any unnecessary details. Keep your submission light and not overly revealing. 
• Use safe payment methods. Masked cards or credit cards can offer better fraud protection than debit cards. 
• Don’t store your payment details on the site. This helps reduce your exposure in case there’s a breach. 
• Don’t opt in to updates or promotions. If you have already done so, unsubscribe by following the instructions at the bottom of the email/text from America’s Favorite Pet. 
• Limit cookie tracking. You can do this by using browser settings or privacy extensions that limit tracking.
• Be wary of overspending. The more you or your supporters spend, the more likely your pet will win. Consider setting a budget to avoid overspending. 
• Read the fine print. Make sure you’re familiar with America’s Favorite Pet privacy policy and terms of service, especially rules around their rights to your pet’s photo/story and how long they keep your data. 
• Directly support animal causes. A donation to a local or well-vetted rescue might be more impactful.