- April 24, 2024
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A procession of witches, goblins and ghouls trooped up to businesses in downtown Flagler Beach for a treat Friday afternoon, and some of them even knew a few tricks: After all, they were dogs.
The pooches were dressed up for Saffari animal rescue's Wag-O-Ween fundraiser. Their owners had each paid $7 to enter them in the event, where they pranced over to participating area businesses for a tasty milkbone or chewy treat.
"This is just a fun, silly, joyful thing," Saffari Event Coordinator Elizabeth Robinson said. "This is an event that's been done in a couple other cities, and I thought Flagler Beach was the perfect place for it."
Robinson said she hoped the event would help Saffari build connections with local pet people.
"Dog owners love to socialize with other dog owners, and they love to dress their dogs up, and it's always good to create an event that allows them to do that," she said. “I’m always looking for new fun things for pet owners to do.”
The dogs and their owners started their trick-or-treating at the Flagler Beach Farmers Market lot on State Road 100, where Saffari had set up a tent with event information, handing each participant a bright orange map showing 17 participating local businesses.
One was Cuts and Curls, where owner Marta Morera had laid out a smorgasbord of dog cookies for the dogs and candies for the children who helped walk them.
"It's a lot of fun," Morera said, holding her 10-month old shih tzu and Maltese mix, Nicky. "I always help with any events Saffari has.” Nicky was dressed for the occasion, wearing a rainbow-striped bandanna around her neck and a bright-pink curly ribbon in her hair.
Other costumes were more elaborate.
Palm Coast resident Rebecca Westcoff's 1-year-old Welsh corgi, Buddy, wore a doggie trench coat and deerstalker hat. His costume for the night: Sherlock Hounds.
There was a pit bull in a bright green tutu, a Jack Russell terrier topped with a stuffed shark fin, a chiweenie — a Chihuahua-dachshund hybrid — outfitted as a hot dog, with stuffed buns and a topping of ketchup and mustard; and a bloodhound dressed as a chef.
Flagler Beach resident Pat Kosmoski heard about the event but didn’t have a dog to bring, so she came with her neighbor Jean Karcher and Maggie, Karcher’s 4-year-old German shepherd.
“I like the organization,” Kosmoski said. “I just want to support them.”
Maggie was dressed up in an oversize orange T-shirt and black bandanna, and the ladies wore orange and black shirts to match.
About 35 people showed up with their dogs for the event, which started at 3 p.m., Robinson said.
By 3:45 p.m., about half of them had stopped in at Vics Airbrushing, where owner Vic Clontz had bought extra bags of dog treats to supplement the ones provided by Saffari for Wag-O-Ween.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” he said after handing out treats to a family with a dog dressed as a pirate. “It’s a neat little idea.”
Robinson said Wag-O-Ween could become a local tradition. She said, “This is a great walking community, and that’s what you need for Wag-O-Ween.”
