Tails of Hope Short Story Contest

6th Annual Animal Services Tails of Hope Short Story Writing Contest Winners

This past September, Animal Services along with the Pickering Public Library and Scholars of Ajax and Pickering announced this years winners of the 2026 Tails of Hope Short Story Contest. 

The Tails of Hope Short Story Writing Contest asked our community to write a short story about their furry friends. We were thrilled to receive so many creative and high quality submissions and are happy to share the top 3 winners, one from each age category: 

• Osa and Dorrit's Adventure, by Elowen Vettyvelu-Telegdi: (5-7 years)
• Luna! The Lost Cat, by Zehn Qureshi: (8-10 years)
• Mellow's Exciting Adventure, by Zack Roth: (11-12 years)

Young authors received a professionally published copy of their story and large compilation books were created to highlight all 27 entries. A compilation book will be in circulation at the Pickering Public Library, while one will remain at the Pickering Animal Shelter and one at Scholars of Pickering.  We encourage the community to stop into each of the locations to read these talented authors stories.

Thank you to all of the young authors!