Halloween goes to the pets (and their humans, too)
MANILA, Philippines - The pet owners tried not to show how excited they were last Saturday. They hid the costumes, and did not put them on their pets as they registered. They fussed over their furry babies and discreetly checked out the competition.
But the excitement was felt in the air. When hosts Karen Pamintuan, DJ Angelica and Tina Ryan said that the contestants should get ready because the program was about to start, there was a flurry of activity, of people scrambling to their cars and whispering “hurry, go get the costume!” Some waited until the very last-minute, calculating the time when they were going to get called on stage.
Now in its 7th year, “Scaredy Cats & Dogs“ is the Philippine Animal Welfare Society’s (PAWS) and Eastwood City’s biggest Halloween crowd-drawer.
Crypt Keepers Choice: Dachshund Truffles with human Mark Vincent Carillo Aspin Oz and his owners, siblings Monique, Arvin and Adrian Santos, blew everyone’s breath away with the sheer creativity of their homemade “Plants vs. Zombies” costumes. The judges were really amusement when Oz displayed great poise as he played his role of a lily pad to the hilt while the cameras clicked away. The group won Transylvanian Star, the grand prize for the day.
This year also gathered the most number of Aspin participants — many of them romping away with special awards like Sentos who came dressed as a horse knight and KC who was dressed as Sally from the animated film Nightmare Before Christmas.
Aspin Club’s Poypoy was also a runaway winner for the Halim-aw-aw award (Best Native Dog in Costume) because he did a few tricks as he marched onstage as a clown with his identically dressed owner, Nice Rodriguez.
Other amusing entries were a Lady Gaga bulldog, Nikolai the Siberian Husky who came as Gene Simmons of KISS (who stuck his tongue out when it was his turn to face the judges) and Julia, Shih Tzu-mix who rode a candy-laden cart onstage with speakers blaring Katy Perry’s hit California Girl as homage to her music video.
Not to be outdone, Marco Bravo who came dressed as The Mad Hatter and Alaine Crystel Tabongbanua as The Red Devil romped away with the Best Male & Female Awards respectively.
Celebrity judges included Wilma Doesnt, Regine Tolentino, Aliya Parcs and Marco Manalac together with GMA Artist Center’s Eliza Timbol and Megaworld’s Trina Ong. Talentadong Pinoy Hall of Famers Wanlu and Zion Show together with Koko, Lunaria and dog trainer June Lazarte with Aspin Angela entertained the crowd.
The event was sponsored by Eastwood City, Frontline Plus, McDonald’s, Toytown, Magnavision, Pet One, Nestle Koko Krunch, Pet Express, iPAW Home Grooming Service, Eastwood Cinema and The Philippine STAR Pet Life Section.
