Aggieland Humane Society’s costume contest is open to the public until Oct. 31 at midnight. The contest aims to raise money for their shelter animals, with the winner announced via Aggieland Humane Society’s social media. The costume contest has become a tradition since the COVID-19 pandemic,now in its fifth year.

“We’re completely reliant on the generosity of the people in this community, so little contests like these are kind of how we bridge the gap and get new people involved,” Aggieland Humane Society Communication Coordinator Ashley Quick said.

This year, Quick said Aggieland Humane Society has already accumulated more photo submissions than last year’s 20 submissions that raised a total of $2,578. 

Quick said their original goal was to raise $1,500, and once they reached that goal, they decided to increase their objective to $3,000. All proceeds go toward their animals, whether that is accomplished by providing medical care, food or other needs.

“We’re about halfway there,” Quick said. “Usually we’ll have kind of a big show up in the last few days, but we’re still trucking along.”

The proceeds from the donations are able to save the lives of many pets, according to Development and Marketing Associate for Aggieland Humane Society Lorna Hale. The organization sends out thank you letters to its donors explaining what their donation did to help their pets in need.

“This costume contest, as with many of our fundraisers, means a lot to me because, last June, I adopted a cat from the shelter,” Hale said. “His shelter name was Liam. I call him Zendegi now. It means life in Persian … he’s so full of life and joy and happiness, but when he came in months before I adopted him, he was basically dead. And because the shelter had the resources to hospitalize him and get him a blood transfusion and then house him for two months, he’s alive and well today. Without that, I wouldn’t have my cat.”

Aggieland Humane Society uses the platform GoGo Photo Contest to set up its online contest. The site is in charge of the website every year, putting less pressure on the society as its staff directs their attention to community engagement and creativity. The website has an annual color scheme of purple and green, a request from Aggieland Humane Society in order to limit the use of orange out of respect for Aggie Spirit.

“We try to avoid using too much orange in this town just because we know orange is frowned upon,” Quick said. “ … We try to stay with Halloween stuff, with a glowy green and a dark purple to honor the fact that this town is a maroon town.”

Each dollar donated to this fundraiser results in one vote for a pet of the donor’s choosing. Aggieland Humane Society shares pictures of the competing pets on their social media to help get people interested, but it is ultimately up to those who decide to donate and vote online.

“It’s really a lot of people sharing with their networks that their pet is entered in this costume contest, so they’ll have a lot of their network vote for their pets,” Quick said. “So it’s kind of what is called a peer-to-peer fundraiser, where we kind of give them the tools to do the fundraising, and they kind of take the reins.”

Aggieland Humane Society’s contest not only receives submissions of dogs and cats, but also lots of other, more unique pets.

“My favorite is the cat with the two guinea pigs that I think is in the first place right now,” Development Director for Aggieland Humane Society Savannah Gaines said.

There is countless research that proves that the bond between animals and humans is a powerful one. The Human Animal Bond Research Institute provides detailed data on the mental and physical effects of having an animal companion. Gaines believes this costume can also give pet owners an opportunity to connect with their pets.

“It’s a fun fundraiser for them to give back to the pets and make an impact, but also just have fun and bond with their pet and further create that human-animal bond that we strive to have,” Gaines said.

The secondary purpose of this fundraiser is to further help the community. With donations, Aggieland Humane Society is able to continue expanding its facility and services for the people of Bryan-College Station. They provide low-cost spaying and neutering, vaccinations and microchip implantations, as well as their recently-opened food pantry.

“We want people to want to come to Aggieland Humane’s website and see the fun things that are going on and not feel sad that they see a bunch of pets available for adoption,” Quick said. “We want people to just be involved and have fun.”