Scurrying around in the crowd, skeletons, fairies, hot dogs and bumble bees sized up their competition and anxiously awaited their fate.

On Saturday, Oct. 29, Friends-In-Need Animal Rescue hosted their first Halloween Pet Costume Contest in conjunction with Eagle Mountain’s Trick-Or-Treat Village, which was held in Nolan Park. The event attracted furry friends and their owners from both Utah and Salt Lake counties.

“It’s fun seeing them [the animals] all dressed up,” said Luann Fudd of Eagle Mountain, who brought her family and Snowbear, a blue heeler, labrador, and Australian shepherd mix.

Judging for the contest was conducted by supporters and volunteers of Friends-In-Need Animal Rescue. Costumes were judged in the following categories: Humor, Effort, Scariness, Cuteness, and Originality.

Honors for first place went to Cody, a yellow labrador dressed in his best as a Lumberjack. His owners smiled proudly as he was presented with his medal.

“My boyfriend’s grandkids wanted to bring the dog, so we dressed him up,” said Cody’s owner,  Lynn Morrison of Cottonwood Heights. “He can be a bit of a handful for them.”

Will Cody return next year to defend his title?

“We’ll bring him back,” said Lynn.“We’ll have to think of something else to do next year, though. This was fun.”

Zoey the Big Bad Wolf took second place in the contest. Dave Blair and his daughter Beth brought Zoey and confessed of their pet’s love for the costume.

“It was one of our kids’ costumes a few years ago,” explained Dave, “She really likes to play with it. When it’s not on her, she comes and gets it.”

Sierra the Showgirl impressed the judges enough to snag the third place prize. Though Sierra’s owners, Emma and Mike Izatt, say that their pet’s passion of fashion doesn’t stop at Halloween costumes.

“She loves wearing clothes,” said Emma, an Eagle Mountain resident. “She has a locker full of clothes and if I go near that locker, she tries to get me to get the clothes out. If I grab something out, she tries to pull it out to get it on her faster.”

Medals and gift baskets full of goodies and pet supplies were awarded to all of the winners, as well as an honorable mention given to a guinea pig and her owner, Shayna Hammond.

A big thank you to the City of Eagle Mountain for all your support of Friends-In-Need Animal Rescue. Also, thank you to all the animals and their owners who participated. Congratulations again to all the winners! We can’t wait to see your costumes next year!