Just this Saturday, Oct. 21, there was a fundraising event for Animal House Shelter at the Huntley Town Square. The event was called Howl-o-ween as a showcase for dog owners to dress up their dogs and compete against others for a $200-worth bucket of goodies.

There were several dogs that dressed up for the two categories of “Best-Themed Costume” and “Best Dog Costume.” According to the announcer, the judges had quite a tough decision.

“It was painful,” he said, “like dropping a paint can on your toe.”

But in the end, the judges came to their decision of who won the Best-Themed Costume and the Best Dog Costume.

For Best-Themed Costume, Swiffer and his owners won with the theme of “Cow.”

“Swiffer’s favorite toy is this cow baby plush pet and so we dressed her as her favorite toy,” owners Mike and his wife said.

As for Best Dog Costume, the winner was Hairy Pawter and his owner Adrian with his wife.

Hairy Pawter is a very special dog because he is a model and therapy dog. He will also be in a war film titled “Smoky the War Dog.” Pawter even has his own website at www.hairypawter.com.

Besides the winning dogs, there were also a lot of other interesting dogs like Debbie and her dog Kai dressed as a minion from “Despicable Me,” and ballerinas like Jennifer and her dog McKenzie. There was also October-themed apparel as seen on one dog, Layla, with a purple bandana, and on another dog, Marion, with an orange bandana.

A lot of dogs came without costumes, and simply came out to enjoy the lovely weather that day, like Tricka-E-Dwayne, a black and white dog.

By far, the biggest dog there was Burley who is 3 years old, but he seemed as big as a 16-year-old male dog.

The fundraising event managed to raise above $26,000 for the Animal Shelter.

So don’t forget to go to the Huntley Animal Shelter to adopt a dog, and potentially win $200 prize buckets!