Animals dress up for event (with photo gallery)

PHOTOGRAPHER: Justin Mason

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Chewy didn’t seem to mind her witch’s hat or bodice, provided someone was doling out the treats.

The 4-year-old chocolate Lab occasionally took the costume for a roll in the grass, but seemed otherwise unconcerned by her getup. On the other end of her leash was 10-year-old Lily Newton, who picked out the garb to match her own orange, yellow and black Halloween getup.

“Chewy’s pretty happy as long as she gets a treat now and then,” said Lily’s father, Courtland Newton.

Together, Lily and Chewy were the candy corn witches, and their unique appearance was enough to garner a prize for the most original costume at the Animal Protective Foundation’s aptly dubbed Pet Howl-oween Party on Sunday.

This year, the event drew more than 60 participants. Dogs sported everything from skeleton outfits to miniature saddles with a doll cowboy rider.

The event, hosted by the Riverview Orchards, also drew a pot-bellied pig outfitted with pair of wings and dubbed, “if pigs could fly.”

The party was both a fundraiser and an outreach effort for the foundation, which raised about $800. The donations couldn’t have come at a better time, said Kim Jess, the foundation’s community outreach manager.

The foundation is now caring for roughly 100 animals, meaning its shelter is basically at capacity. The combination of animals brought in after the late summer flooding and the dozens of cats seized in a Rotterdam raid by the Schenectady County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has left the foundation desperate for people looking to adopt pets.

None of the 17 cats from the Rotterdam seizure have been adopted. That leaves even less room for cats being dropped off every week.

“We’re literally running out of space,” Jess said. “Adoptions are slow, and pet surrenders are increasing.”