Pet Project: Halloween costumes carry a certain animal magnetism

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003 | 8:22 a.m.

Butterball should have been miffed.

Not only did the lop-eared rabbit don a witch hat for an all-breed costume contest, she lost to a poodle in a princess outfit.

Around her, cameras flashed and dogs barked, snacked and panted.

"She's fine," owner Mary Ellen Luter said while stroking the surprisingly calm rabbit in the middle of a party at PetsMart at 8775 W. Charleston Blvd.

Of course she was. Butterball was out on the town.

It was Yappy Hour, a monthly social event held recently at PetsMart.

The party coincided with Howl-O-Ween, PetsMart's nationwide costume soiree, where owners munched on nachos while dogs helped themselves to snacks and paraded around in capes and slacks.

"If I didn't bring him I'd have felt like I neglected him because he loves people, loves to go out," said Diane Reynon, who escorted Buddy, her toy poodle dressed in a skunk costume.

"This is our baby."

Lisa Ikari juggled a year-old ferret dressed in a witch's hat and cape while her husband, Mark Amancio, watched over the couple's full-grown cats dressed as devils. Adjusting costumes, Ikari said, "They're my kids, I can't leave anybody out."

In a time when animals are increasingly more important family members, the song "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?" could easily be modified to include "the one with the pink chiffon dress, sequined hat and leopard-skin couch."

"Things have changed," Rose Flores, PetsMart's store director, said. "People's lifestyles are busier. They don't have children so pets become their children."

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, a not-for-profit trade organization based in Connecticut, pet owners spend $31 billion annually on pet products.

Halloween is no exception. Stores and websites sell Elvis costumes, pilot costumes, hot-dog bun costumes, bandito outfits, bridal gowns and cowgirl costumes.

Ann Siegel, owner of the Halloween Experience on South Valley View Boulevard, has been in the costume industry 10 years and said she's witnessed a 50 percent increase in interest and sales of pet costumes during the last five years.

"And there's a much broader selection," Siegel said. "They don't just do the basic bat, devil, witch. Pirates are big this year, so people are dressing their pets as pirates."

To the dogs

At Flea Bags Barkery and Bowtique, a specialty dog store on South Eastern Avenue and St. Rose Parkway, a bulletin board is covered with photos of pets dressed from Halloweens past. A pink poodle wears lace sash, a small dog doubles as a loaf of Wonder Bread.

There are dog devils, dog Indians, dogs in bikinis and hula skirts with clam-shell bras.

Cheerleader, prisoner, angel, cow and skeleton costumes are for sale on a rack near the door. Employees say tuxedos and hot-dog costumes have been hot sellers this year.

"It's just whatever their dog prefers, what it's comfortable in," employee Makele Stokes said. "What fits them."

Stokes' own Trixy, a black-and-white Shih Tzu, had been dyed a light purple so she would match the witch hat she's wearing to Flea Bags' upcoming Halloween party.

"She's also our model for people who want to know sizes," Stokes said.

Store employee Mayling Urga said nearly 300 pet owners and their dogs attended last year's Doggie Howl & Whine party at Flea Bags.

"We had bumble bees, we had hula girls and cowboys all sorts of stuff," Urga said. "We baked treats, gave away treats and hors d'oeuvres."

Customer Beth Mehocic wasn't sure whether she'd be attending this year's party, but she did have a costume ready for Tango, her miniature, wire-haired dachshund, should she choose to.

"She has a closet full of costumes from Renaissance to pumpkin to angel," Mehocic said. "Some of them were custom-made for her.

"This year she's probably going to be a pig."

Halloween duds

For PetsMart's Howl-O-Ween party, Debra Miller of North Las Vegas made sure she matched her dog, Katie. Both were dressed in grey poodle skirts, pink scarves, pearls and white sweaters handmade by Miller's mom, Joanne.

"We drove her over with the shirt on," Miller said. "We just put the skirt on in the car."

Partygoer Michelle Squires made a costume for her Australian shepherd, Belle, who posed solo in her finely detailed Gryffindor (of Harry Potter fame) witch outfit.

"She's going trick-or-treating with my niece and nephews and they're all Gryffindor witches," Squires said proudly.

But Dana Provost nearly stole the show with her rescued greyhounds, Renoir, 5, and Monet, 8, who came waltzing in for the second contest of the evening.

Renoir's white satin dress with black fringe and sequin hat with ostrich feathers matched Monet's cotton pinstripe suit that was made complete with fitted pant legs, a white tie and red rose on the lapel.

Provost dressed to match her dogs, but had to carry the animal's plastic gangster machine gun.

"I had it on the side, but it bothers him when he walks," Provost said.

Looking at Renoir, Provost, who designs fashions for greyhounds (whose lean bodies sometimes need the added warmth), said that when "she gets the hat on she knows she's the diva."

Renoir and Monet glistened on the red carpet and took first place in their contest, but first-place awards weren't only handed to long, tall Sallys.

Ted and Lesley Kypress stood proud when their Mr. Stubbs, an 18-month-old dachshund dressed as a fighter pilot, placed first in his contest.

"I knew he had it in him," Ted Kypress said, while looking at Mr. Stubbs. "This is my little boy."

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