MARKHAM, Ont. — Pet Valu has announced a casting call for pets to be featured in its yearly calendar.

Winning pictures will be unveiled later this year in the 2018 calendar, which will be in Pet Valu stores this November. As in years past, all calendar proceeds are donated to local groups that prevent animal cruelty.

The casting call runs through June 30.

The online contest is open to pet owners in Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and West Virginia.

Pet owners can submit pictures of their pets by uploading them through Pet Valu’s Facebook page at facebook.com/PetValuUS. There is no fee to participate.

In November when calendars debut, each winner is celebrated as a pet celebrity at his local Pet Valu store with a special Pawtograph Party to sign calendars for customers.

“The pet casting call is one of our favorite times of year because we get to see thousands of faces from our nationwide family,” said Joe Dent, vice president and U.S. general manager for Pet Valu. “While only 13 pets will be selected as stars in the 2018 calendar, every animal’s a winner with the proceeds going toward fighting animal cruelty.”

The 2017 calendar’s cover star was a cat from Owings Mills, MD, named Mittens. Unbeknownst to the judges during the contest, Mittens was a survivor of animal cruelty before she was adopted by her current family. She had experienced horrible animal abuse, the worst of it being when she and her two kittens were set on fire in an alleyway. While she managed to save her kittens, she lost most of her two ears in the process. The annual calendar event at Pet Valu is dedicated to ensuring that this kind of animal cruelty never happens to another pet again.