Hundreds of people and their four-legged friends showed up at Forsyth Park on Sunday for the Humane Society of Greater Savannah’s 13th annual Doggie Carnival. The carnival was originally scheduled for May 5 but was postponed due to weather.
“We were able to get a few more food vendors to sign up during that time, and we’ve had a really great turnout so far. And thankfully the weather is a little nicer today,” said Guinn Friedman, director of operations for the humane society.
The carnival aimed to appeal to both children and adults with a few new aspects this year, including beer sales, live music and acrobatic performances from Fly Fitness Studios.
“We’ve had a lot of local support, and we wanted to make it a bit more carnival-like,” Friedman said. “It’s just a day for pet owners to get together and show off responsible pet ownership and to show people that don’t have pets that owning one can be fun.”
Showing off her unicorn face painting, along with her bullmastiff Rupert in tow, 5-year-old Jaia Mitchell says she enjoyed getting her face painted and of course the puppies.
“This is my first time, and I think I like the puppies the best because I really like puppies,” said Mitchell.
First time carnival-goer Lacey Nichols got into the spirit of the day by entering the owner/dog look-alike contest with her 3-year-old beagle Digby.
“It’s a really good chance for the dogs to mingle. I wasn’t planning on entering the contest, but he has big ears and I’m wearing pig-tails, so why not?”
Nichols and Digby came in second to Jada Godbee and her Shih Tzu poodle mix Bandit.
“My strategy to win was my gray hair,” said Godbee. “We go to the Pup Crawl every year, but this is my first time at the carnival. It’s a great way for the dogs to socialize.”