The Jacksonville Humane Society is partnering with Bar Dog wine and the Petfinder Foundation to host its fourth annual HOWL-oween Costume Contest.
The Jacksonville Humane Society will be one of several animal shelters across the country that will take part in the contest by dressing dogs they have up for adoption in various costumes with the hope that the charity costume contest will help them find their new homes.
Not only is the contest helping promote the dogs up for adoption, but it is also serving as another opportunity for the community of pet lovers in the area to donate and help the cause.
According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, each year 6.5 million dogs, cats and other former pets enter shelters across America, and of those animals, only 49% end up getting adopted, leaving the other half without homes.
Since Oct. 1, Bar Dog has been sharing photos and stories of shelter animals while wearing a Halloween-themed costume on their Instagram and Facebook pages, as October is also National Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog month.
Members of the community are invited to go to the social media pages and vote on their favorite animal through Oct. 31, with the winner of the contest awarded a $1,500 donation. Each shelter will also receive $300 in cash prizes for taking part in the contest.
“The most rewarding part of this initiative is hearing from our shelter partners how many pets find forever homes as a direct result of the Bar Dog HOWL-oween contest,” says Tracey Mason, senior vice president of marketing at Vintage Wine Estates. “A love for dogs is at the heart of everything we do at Bar Dog and there is no greater result than a dog in need finding its forever home.”
To date, Bar Dog Wine has donated more than $100,000 to the Petfinder Foundation.
For more information, go to www.bardogwine.com or @bardogwine on Instagram.
