Cowra Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) will be using this year's Festival of International Understanding as an opportunity to educate the local community.
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The Neighbourhood Watch will be holding a free companion animal photo competition to promote responsible pet ownership.
Coordinator Nikki Kiss said the competition was a great way to be involved in the festival and reach out to the community.
"Apart from it [the competition] being a friendly community event, we are also using it to raise awareness around the responsibilities of owning an animal," she said.
"One, that you need to register your animal, I've been astounded by how many people whose animal has a microchip number but it isn't registered, and understanding the difference between the two.
"But then also the difference between assistance dogs and emotional support dogs, that there is a legal difference between the right of assistance dogs and emotional support dogs.
"So by using the four categories in the competition, Dog - companion animal, Cat - companion animal, Dog - working dog and Dog - assistance dog, we are trying to create those distinctions."
Ms Kiss said, as well as the competition, there would be an opportunity to approach the Neighbourhood Watch in person during the festival.
"We've got a youth ambassador for Neighbourhood Watch, Olivia Parish, she'll be flying our flag and we'll be having a float," she said.
"We'll also have a stall in conjunction with the NSW Police Crime Prevention Officer for Cowra, so that will be a handy place to hear their prevention message."
She said there were also some big plans for the organisation after the festival.
"We are also looking to do some work with Tapua Labrador Retrievers and show their training and create awareness about what makes an assistance dog so special," she said.
"That will be a slightly longer project but it all begins with this competition.
"At some stage we do have to have a proper committee, we still only have a steering one at the moment.
"But there is a difference between what I see in the community and taking action to having members of the community saying 'what about x,y,z?'
"That is something we will look at after the festival - organising a committee, members of the public to actively decide where we are headed.
"So the stall is a chance to learn more about it and throw in their ideas. There are things in the pipeline that we've dabbled in, but there could be other things that the community are concerned about that we could look into if we have their input."
To enter the competition, residents need to email a photo of their cat(s) and/or dog(s) - separate photos for each - their name and a few sentences about why their cat/dog is special to cowranhwnsw@outlook.com
Entrants' animals must be registered to Cowra Shire to participate, with entries closing on March 24.
Entries will be on display on the Neighbourhood Watch Cowra Discussion Facebook group with voting for winners to be held at the Neighbourhood Watch stall during the Festival of International Understanding.
The winner of each of the four categories will receive a hamper kindly donated by Kats 'n' Dogs and an e-photo gift donated by Rogue Paws Photograph.
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