The weather may be heating up, but so is this month's Kent Pet's Tournament with eight new adorable animals.

In this first round, four animals will be voted on by readers to go to round two - getting one step closer to becoming June's Pet of The Month.

Scroll down to vote

For those new to the game, every month we will be choosing eight animals across Kent for readers to explore the lives of and vote on who will be Kent's Pet of the Month.

Every week readers will vote on pairs of animals to go to the next round until only one remains.

If you're interested in entering next month's round for July, email details about your pet (such as pictures, name, breed, age and fun stories) to mcarr@thekmgroup.co.uk

Head-to-Head #1

Elsa the Pug

Elsa is a five-year-old pug who works at harness seller Poppy+Ted with her owner.

She's quite the model on Instagram, where she'll stay perfectly still and pose as long as she gets a treat after.

However, and this may be the quarter chihuahua in her, Elsa is bursting with energy and still pulls on her lead like a puppy while out on walks.

She also loves doing roly poly’s while out walking and can’t wag her tail, only her entire bum.

Garibaldi the Sphynx

Garibaldi - or Gary for short - is a Sphynx who is turning four years old this October.

He lives with his family of other rescue cats picked up during his owners time running a charity that reunites missing cats in the area.

Gary earns his favourite dreamies and long stick treats by working as a model of harnesses and collars for Margate based company Hiro + Wolf.

He has also appeared in a music video for Salt Ashes with her single Cut You With A Kiss which reached the top 40 UK last year.

Head-to-Head #2

Noodle the Leopard Gecko

Noodle is an almost one-year-old leopard gecko who has been living with his new family for four months.

Noodle was rescued from a neglectful home along with his friends, Shirley and John, and was rather timid due to Shirley bulling him in their shared vivarium.

Now, he has a home of his own and has totally come out of his shell - seeming more friendly and happy than ever.

As soon as his vivarium door is opened, he loves to get out, explore and bask in his owners attention - playing with random household items like kitchen roll tubes as he goes.

Murphy the Staffordshire Bull Terrier

Murphy is an Irishblue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, a senior dog at the impressive age of 12-years-old.

His age means he doesn't like long walks any more and has gone deaf enough that he can't hear the smoke alarm - which isn't so bad, he used to hate that thing.

The staffy's owner said, contrary to popular belief, he's a very loving and sensitive dog who can always tell when you're unwell and has the biggest smile.

He loves cuddles and good food. When a take-away is called, he knows to wait by the door until it arrives and will wait for his owners to ask “what do you say?" before barking for a snack.

Head-to-Head #3

Cooper the English Bulldog

Cooper is a five-month-old English Bulldog.

He loves to go for walks and will sometimes bring pretty leaves from the garden as gifts.

Usually, if his owner is about to leave the house, Cooper will run off with shoes to cause a little mischief.

But his owner loves him to pieces and even got her favourite picture of him hung up on the wall.

Bardot the French Lop

Bardot is a French lop bunny and she isn't even four months old yet.

Being so chilled out and friendly - like a cuddly bear - makes her the perfect therapy bunny for her owner, who says Bardot helps with their mental health issues a great deal.

Bardot and her best friend Gaston

The bunny is also best friends with the family French Bulldog, Gaston, who spends evenings relaxing and grooming her on the sofa.

By the time Bardot reaches 18 months old, she will likely be over three feet long - which is bigger than Gaston!

Head-to-Head #4

Aurora the Dalmatian

Auora is a 14-month-old wild-child dalmatian.

Her owner says she's the sassiest spot ever, with some serious back-chat when she doesn't get what she wants.

Aurora loves the bubbles!

She's always getting into mischief. The moment her owner's back is turned, she could be counter surfing, raiding anything and everything or even sometimes munching on poo.

However, all that energy does come with some great downtime. After chilling out a little, she'll become very needy and has loved the chance to snuggle with her family all day after they began working from home.

Oreo the pedigree Ragdoll

Oreo is a beautiful pedigree ragdoll cat - who loves to play and annoy her bestie Milkshake the cat.

She can't get enough of her toys, running from room to room with them in her mouth.

Oreo making some very cute noises

That's until she gets side-tracked by a fly, which she'll chase down and sometimes even eat.

But when she's all tuckered out, Oreo will rest on one of her favourite fluffy blankets and will purr along to her owners giving her a good brush.

To read more about Kent’s furry, flying and finned friends, click here.

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