Just as kids and those young at heart love to have their annual photo taken with Santa, so do the pets of Dubbo!

The Rotary Club of Dubbo is once again giving local and district pets the chance to celebrate Christmas with Santa by conducting their annual photo project, “Santa Paws”.

Conducted to raise money for local charities, this project has now been running for six years and has become a popular event in the lead up to Christmas each year, with local pet owners lining up to have their fur-children photographed with The Man In Red.

Taking place this year at Petstock, 54 Bourke Street, Dubbo, and catering for pets large and small, "Santa Paws" sessions will be available on Sunday, November 30, and again on Saturday, December 6, between 8am and 1pm.

Over recent years the event has seen a variety of pets attend for their photo with Santa. Dogs, cats and ferrets have been the most popular pets to attend the "Santa Paws" project.

President of the Dubbo Rotary Club, Barry Brebner, told Dubbo Photo News that this event is now a firm fixture on the calendar for people locally and across the region.

"We have seen customers come repeatedly with their pets, including people from other towns in the district," Barry said.

"The funds raised have helped us to support local charities."

Club Secretary and Community Services Director Carla Pittman said the event started just prior to the pandemic and has continued to grow each year.

'We aim to keep the event at a low cost, as for many in our community, our pets or animals are the one constant," she explained.

"Funds raised from this particular event have been donated to the Animal Welfare League's local Dubbo Branch, Australian Working Dog Rescue, and the local VRA Dog Rescue support unit," she added.

"It is certainly something that many look forward to each year and this year we are kindly supported by Petstock, who are letting us use their outdoor space so that the event will go ahead, rain hail or shine."

Further details about the event are in the advertisement in our print and digital edition for this week.