Dogs of all shapes and sizes geared up for a day of races and costumes Sunday morning at this year’s annual Wiener Fest.
Participants flocked to Wolf Pen Creek, dressing up their dogs for the costume contest, or getting warmed up for the big races. The event is held annually by the Aggieland Humane Society to promote the adoption of dogs rather than buying dogs from breeders.
The founder of  Wiener Fest, Judy LeUnes, the development officer for the Aggieland Humane Society, said when she created the event she knew she wanted to spread the message that adoption is better than buying from breeders.
“You see all of these people and all these stories, I always ask them if they adopted their dog,” LeUnes said.
The event raised funds to go toward the Aggieland Humane Society through charging an entry fee for the races or competitions, and accepting donations and sponsors.
“People really understand the importance of animal shelters,” LeUnes said. “Simply, people should adopt dogs. There are good breeders, but most of them aren’t. There is a tendency for people to not look into what they’re buying. I think the best dogs are those that need saving, and they tend to save you.”
LeUnes said the event has been widely successful, and has grown every year. She said she hopes to expand it in the future.
“I possibly want to move it to a three-day thing, where we have boot camp one day and the races another day,” said LeUnes. “Today we have about 6,000 people show up with 480 volunteers and 47 vendors.”
One of the winners of a Wiener Fest race, Kelly Brown, said she and her dog Charlie have competed in Wiener Fest races for the last four years.
“He’s done this before. This is his fourth year at Wiener Fest,” Brown said. “We do it to give back to the Humane Society. He loves doing it. But that’s why we do it, to give back. There are a lot of existing dogs out there that need a good home. You could go pay $500 dollars at a pet store, or you could go up and get one at the animal shelter. [I] have two from the shelter.”
Wiener Fest also hosted a 5K run-and-walk followed by a series of costume contests.
For more information about Wiener Fest and the Aggieland Humane Society visit aggielandhumane.org.