Join us for the sweetest day of the year! National Cupcake Day for SPCAs & Humane Societies is coming up on Monday, February 27. Are you ready to bake a difference?

All across Canada, animal lovers will be making cupcakes to give away in exchange for donations. Here in B.C., you can participate and raise money for animals rescued by the BC SPCA.

Just visit nationalcupcakeday.ca to sign up. Registration is free, but don’t forget to ask your parents first! When you sign up, we’ll send you a special kit with posters, balloons and other helpful items to get you started.

Want to get your school involved? Ask your teacher about hosting a Cupcake Day Party at lunchtime!

Sign up today!

CONTEST ALERT! We’d love to see your lip-smacking, mouth-watering National Cupcake Day creations. Send us a photo of your tasty treats and we’ll enter you in a draw to win a cookbook just for dogs, plus some bone-shaped cookie cutters and animal oven mitts. Mail your entries to Bark! Cupcake Contest, 1245 East 7th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5T 1R1 or email them to kids@spca.bc.ca, using the subject line “My Cupcake Day.”

This contest is open until March 31, 2017 to all BC SPCA Kids Club members. Remember to include your name, age and city with your photo, too.

Not a Kids Club member? Sign up today and you’ll never miss out on any fabulous contests like this one again!

Guess what? National Cupcake Day isn’t just about cupcakes! Want to make savoury snacks instead? Go for it! Think you’d like to bake for pets rather than people? Awesome idea! The only limit to what you can make is your imagination.

Need some help getting started? Here are some simple but scrumptious recipes for you to try:

For people: These chewy cookies-and-cream bars will keep your family and friends coming back for more. No baking required!

For cats: What cat can resist the taste of fish? Even better, these simple salmon snacks have only three ingredients.

For hamsters: Most people don’t think about homemade food for small pets. But there’s no doubt your hamster’s going to stuff his cheek pouches full of these tasty veggie quiches!

For dogs: No matter the occasion, cakes are a great way to celebrate! Dogs will drool over this yummy peanut butter-flavoured cake made just for them.

One way we can show our families – including our pets! – how much we love them is by making them something special to eat.

Whenever we’re cooking or baking for our pets, though, it’s important to remember there are foods we should avoid. These foods might taste good to us, but they can harm our furry family members. If you’re unsure of what’s safe to feed your pets, talk to your vet.

Do you already know which people foods you shouldn’t give your pets? Put your knowledge to the test with our Food Foes Crossword!