Image: Left/Actor, producer, and New Kids on the Block singer, Donnie Wahlberg, and actress, host, and advocate, Jenny McCarthy/Right/Cat Influencer Nala/AmericasFavPet
Quarterfinal voting stayed open until midnight Eastern time on February 27, and votes cast on February 18 counted twice.
“She just gives so much love,” Goodman said when asked why her dog should win. Goodman also told the publication the contest was a fun project that gave back to a good cause. Lolo was born in Georgia, arrived at the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem and was adopted at eight weeks old, according to the report.
Behind the national numbers were local owners such as Leah Goodman of Marblehead, Massachusetts, whose lab mix Lolo reached the quarterfinals. Future entrants can follow the same path, register a pet, share the voting link, and give a free daily vote or a one-dollar donation vote.
America’s Favourite Pet is an annual online competition organised by Colossal, a professional fundraising organisation, according to the company’s November 2025 news release. In 2026, dog and cat owners registered one companion per household by uploading a photo, then asked family, friends and social media followers to vote. Registration was open through January 12, 2026. The prize for winners was a $10,000 cash award and a cover feature in Modern Cat or Modern Dog magazine. Colossal’s news release said the 2025 competition generated more than $8 million and that those funds supported the completion of the new facility. The same money, the release added, expanded educational programmes that reached more than 4,000 students nationwide. The 2026 competition carried that work forward.
The centre sits within a broader mission; the Marblehead Current reported that the nonprofit rehabilitates orphaned and injured wildlife, while Wills told supporters the campaign’s support reached more than one hundred fifty wildlife species. Each voter received one free vote every twenty-four hours, and additional votes cost one dollar each, with that money directed to the beneficiary. Celebrity hosts Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg, both described by Colossal as devoted animal advocates, lent their voices to the campaign, although the Marblehead Current described the pair as its organisers. The clearest tangible result of the fundraising was a twenty-five-acre wildlife rehabilitation centre in Washington State. The official America’s Favourite Pet website names two winners: Rockefeller, a nine-year-old Morkie from New York City who loves Central Park walks and games of fetch, and Sammy, a Ragdoll cat who enjoys sunbathing and turning everyday objects into miniature hockey games. The winning dog and cat appear on the covers of Modern Dog and Modern Cat magazines, where their owners share life with their companions. Neither report described the centre’s layout, enclosures or animal capacity, so readers wanting those details should contact the organisation directly.
Colossal said America’s Favourite Pet had raised more than $22 million for the Washington-based nonprofit and was entering its sixth year when 2026 registration opened. In 2025 alone, the campaign generated more than $8 million, the news release stated, which funded care for thousands of domestic pets and injured wildlife. The competition’s official website shows the total has since grown: its beneficiary section says Colossal has raised over $29 million, while the homepage headline cites more than $7.5 million without explaining how that figure is measured. The 2026 edition, hosted by Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg, also recognised six runners-up: the dogs Betsy, Fendi Bell and James Dean and the cats Mr Midge, Asia and Jill.
Wills credited the competition with allowing the organisation to answer urgent calls, from hoarding rescues to disaster response, as she told supporters in the announcement. Colossal also framed the project as a model for pet lovers and brands that wanted to combine passion with purpose, arguing that digital campaigns could deliver tangible results. Sponsors Crown & Paw and Love, Nala supplied prizes, treats and surprises to competitors. Readers should note that Colossal is a professional fundraiser and that its figures came from its own announcement and website, so cautious donors may wish to review how the funds were granted.