Last year we had a guinea pig, a goldfish and a bird. This year we have a chicken.

This week marks the beginning of the second annual Pet Idol contest, a contest sponsored by The Selma Times-Journal and goes to support the Central Alabama Animals Shelter and the Newspapers in Education program.

In Wednesday’s edition of the Times-Journal, you will see this year’s competitors and information on how you can cast your votes for your favorite.

Last year, thousands of votes were cast and the winner was Petey, a loveable dog that each of us in the Times-Journal had an absolutely great time meeting.

I had the luxury of taking the portrait of Petey and his family, and watching as they worked to bribe him with hot dogs to get him to sit calmly and pose for the camera.

Needless to say, Petey has been a great champion and a true ambassador for this competition.

And, he’s back for more.

The programs this contest goes to support are tremendous and provide a tremendous service in our community.

First, the Newspapers in Education program provides newspapers to hundreds of area school children each Wednesday. Schools throughout the region receive copies of the Times-Journal for teachers.

Secondly, the local animal shelter is well known for the service it provides to help save the lives of abandoned animals in the Selma and Dallas County area.

It would be possible — and likely well deserved — for us to run a story every day on the needs the shelter has.

Drive by the shelter on any given day, and you’ll see on their sign such calls to action as “we need dog food,” or “we need cat food.”

Having adopted a shelter dog and a shelter cat in the past, I can attest to the fantastic work these volunteers and staff try to do and the service they provide.

Last year, we were able to provide thousands of dollars to the shelter and they were able to put that money to very good use. And, last year’s Pet Idol allowed us to expand the Newspapers In Education program to dozens of new classrooms.

We hope we can do more this year and it will depend on your help and your contribution.

So, make sure to check out Wednesday’s edition of the Times-Journal for this year’s contestants and call in your votes.

Oh, and before I forget, we do have a dog wearing a tuxedo this year. Nice.