Key West student launches cat contest to boost shelter adoptions

A Key West junior at CFK Academy is trying to turn pet pride into more shelter adoptions, using a lighthearted cat contest to draw attention to the Florida Keys SPCA after the shelter said it adopted out 577 animals in 2024 and saw pet surrenders rise 60%.

Zach Jeanjulien is organizing Who’s the Coolest Cat in Key West as part of his 11th-grade leadership and community service work at CFK Academy, the tuition-free public charter high school at the College of the Florida Keys. The contest is built around a simple idea: cat owners email a photo and a short description of their pet’s personality, and once enough entries come in, Jeanjulien will post the contestants online for public voting.

That structure matters because the project is meant to do more than showcase local pets. It gives residents an easy way to take part in a community fundraiser while steering attention toward cats waiting at the Florida Keys SPCA, which says its goal is to place all adoptable animals into caring, lifelong homes. For a shelter contractor that also handles animal control and cruelty investigations under contract with Monroe County, any boost in visibility can help move animals into homes and reduce pressure on kennels, especially when the organization is operating as an open-admission shelter and taking in all species.

The Florida Keys SPCA has run the Key West animal shelter on Stock Island since 1999 and the Marathon shelter since 2015. Its January newsletter showed how large the need remains across the county: 577 animals were adopted in 2024, 393 were reunited with their families, 44 were transferred to rescue partners and 41 pets were cared for through the Safe Haven program before being reunited. The same newsletter said pet surrenders climbed 60% in 2024 because of financial hardship and the difficulty of finding pet-friendly housing.

That makes Jeanjulien’s contest more than a student assignment. It fits CFK Academy’s community service expectations, which are designed to encourage students to volunteer in Monroe County, and it gives Key West a low-barrier way to connect a playful local idea with a practical outcome for shelter animals. Even one small surge in attention can help turn a cat photo contest into a real adoption pipeline for Monroe County’s busiest pet cases.