The votes have been tabulated, and the results are in. Paws and Effect is a finalist in the Best Designed Blog category of the 2011 Pettie Awards! We’ve got some stiff competition, we’re not gonna lie … so we need your help. Please vote for us and tell all your friends to do the same.

Winners in each of the eight categories will have the chance to make a $1,000 donation to the animal rescue group of their choice — and if we win, ours will go to PurrEver Ranch Sanctuary, a tiny rescue for “senior kittizens and wayward pussycats” located in Tennessee. PurrEver has been doing great work for years, providing a loving and safe home for these feline friends to live out their remaining years.

We have so many wonderful, passionate blogging friends who are finalists in other categories that we hesitate to make recommendations. But please go through the list, look at the blogs and posts, and make your choices. We’re sure each of the other finalists will announce their nomination today and who will receive their donation if they win, too.