A Christmas campaign that gave thousands of animals in Ukraine the Christmas they deserved, has been recognised with an international marketing award.

Midlands PR agency spottydog communications and leading Ukrainian charity U-Hearts Foundation launched Operation Paw-pose in 2022.

Receiving over 1,700 votes and surpassing all other entries, Operation Paw-pose won the X-Ray Award for the Best Marketing Project in the International Company category.

The award-winning initiative called upon the UK pet-loving population to purchase a festive hamper made up of essential items for the abandoned pets living in war-torn Ukraine. At the face of the campaign was TV dog groomer, Verity Hardcastle.

In addition, the campaign called upon the pet industry to lend a helping paw by donating unused stock from the 2022 PATS trade show and a whopping £12,000 worth of pet products was successfully collected by spottydog communications from over 30 brands.

Commenting on the award win, Emily Wardle, associate director at spottydog communications, said: “It has been a busy but rewarding year so far for the spottydog pack and we’re delighted our work in supporting the incredible charity U-Hearts has been recognised by the X-Ray Awards — adding to our collection of over 30 industry awards.

“Due to the devasting war in Ukraine, thousands of pets were left without homes and proper care and U-Hearts was founded in 2022 to provide a lifeline to the animals and their families.

“Through our deep understanding of the pet market and experience supporting not-for-profit organisations, we were perfectly placed to help U-Hearts with their important cause and we are so proud that our communications helped make a positive difference to hundreds of homeless pets.”

Yuriy Tokarski, CEO of U-Hearts Foundation, added: “Our collaboration with spottydog communications has been instrumental in galvanizing support in the UK for our foundation’s programmes, helping pets and animals suffering from the war in Ukraine. We are glad that our campaign ran by the great team at spottydog was duly recognised”.

If you are looking for support with your communications activity, whether it’s PR, digital marketing, social or internal communications, get in touch with spottydog today to find out how they can help you.