Halloween-themed pet parade raises money for local animal shelter

The sound of excited barks floated across Indian Lake Park on Sunday afternoon, where 50 dogs and their owners prepared to show off their costumes while raising money for a local animal shelter.

The Howloween Pet Parade and Costume Contest benefiting Cross Your Paws Rescue attracted animals from across the region, dressed in their spookiest outfits, to the North Huntingdon park. The Greensburg-based shelter is expecting to raise between $500 and $600 from the event.

“It’s so fun to see everybody with the crazy costumes and homemade costumes so it’s just a way to bring everybody together on Halloween and get everybody to celebrate,” said Julie Duffy, fundraising coordinator for Cross Your Paws. “There’s not a lot of dog parades. There’s a lot of kid parades and trunk-or-treat so this is different.”

Throughout the afternoon, dogs dressed as everything from tacos to lions filtered into the park. Others matched their owners, with one pup dressed like a Starbucks drink and its owner dressed like a barista. Another portrayed a demogorgon while his owner dressed as Eleven from the popular Netflix series “Stranger Things.”

Dogs Manny and Kip stole the show before the parade started. Their owner, Diane Raible, 51, of North Huntingdon, dressed Manny in what she called a murder dog costume, which consisted of a black wig and light blue overalls. Kip was dressed as Chucky, the killer doll, with a red wig and striped shirt.

Raible said it was her first time attending the event. She noted that it’s important to support local nonprofits.

“There are so many dogs in need and just so many rescues that need adopted and need helped,” Raible said. “The rescues are all nonprofits so fundraising is essential to their survival.”

According to Duffy, funds raised from the event will help cover costs associated with medical care and training while helping to rescue other pets.

“Annually we save over 1,000 dogs, which is insane because we’re actually coming up on our five-year anniversary so we’re still so new, but we’re doing so many dogs at such high capacity so this will go toward our future dogs,” Duffy said. “We also help with hard medical cases. We never turn a dog down.”

The theme of helping to sustain nonprofits like Cross Your Paws was consistent among attendees at Sunday’s event.

Diane Mesiarik and her daughter Khrysta Nogy, 33, of West Newton both volunteer at the shelter and have previously fostered dogs.

“We rely on events like this and donations to keep everything flowing,” said Nogy, who dressed herself and her dog, French Fry, as dalmatians.

Mesiarik agreed, calling the event “a very good cause.”