Pet owners go all out on Halloween costumes for their animals
By: Laura Limon, Staff Writer
Issue date: 10/31/06 Section: Tempo
The weeks, perhaps even the months, preceding Halloween, trick-or-treaters and college-aged partiers prepare to celebrate the holiday with elaborate, fun costumes. The aisles of every costume superstore are covered with clothing and accessories that allow people to impersonate more than the usual doctors, pirates, hippies and cowboys.
But dressing up is no longer limited to humans.
Pet costumes have become increasingly popular and can even be found at the supermarket. People with pets - most often dog owners - dress up their furry friends for the holiday, take them trick-or-treating or enter them in costume competitions.
PETCO holds a costume contest at each of its locations. One location in San Diego already has 45 contestants signed up to participate, said Lisa Fazio, a PETCO employee.
"(People) will go all out for the contest," Fazio said. "They're really creative. They spend more time on their pet's costume than on their own."
Local community members judge the competition, and the winner receives free pet food.
San Diego State undeclared sophomore Fatima Mejia said she would like to dress up her 3-month-old golden retriever, Maya, but most of the costumes are too small for her puppy.
"I think costumes are cute," Mejia said. "I wanted to dress Maya up as a princess."
Lucky Dog Pet Boutique in downtown is one store filled with cute costumes for dogs. Owner Jenna Fasack sells everything from pirate costumes to ballerina dresses to football outfits.
But perhaps pet costumes are another battle-of-the-sexes issue because women seem more enthusiastic to spend the time and money on pet attire.
Journalism senior Alex Enriquez said he doesn't have any plans to dress up his 11-month-old miniature schnauzer for Halloween, but his female roommate does.
"It's more of a girl thing," he said.
Although dressing up a pet for Halloween may make the owner happy, some pets might not be not as thrilled about wearing clothes, and some costumes might even be dangerous for them if the outfits have small pieces that pets can choke on. Many Web sites, such as www.halloweenexpress.com, give pet owners guidelines for safe Halloween fun.
Some pets, especially cats, probably don't feel comfortable in clothes and most costumes aren't meant to be worn for long periods of time, even by the most versatile dogs.
Maybe the Halloween spirit goes too far when it comes to pet costumes, even though animals dressed up as cartoon characters or superheroes adds to the festive spirit of the holiday. Whatever the case, pet costumes are sold in a variety of locations.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec.
