Tails were wagging last Sunday as dozens of dogs in creative Halloween costumes flooded Crown Heights with cuteness for the fourth annual Eastern Barkway Howloween event.
The event, which took place at the Crown Inn, featured several activities, including a costume contest, an adoption event, trick-or-treating, live portraits and a food truck — all for dogs.
The event, which Eastern Barkway Founder Amelia Deslongchamps planned, went off without a hitch, as people from all over the borough came together to celebrate their love for dogs and Halloween. The cuteness meter ran completely off the charts, with dogs dressed as funny animals, movie characters, food items and more.
“We’re really passionate about Halloween and dogs. This has both,” said Julian, who dressed up as a fly swatter. His partner Alexis dressed up as a lantern fly, and their little bundle of joy, Junebug, dressed as a spider.
More than 20 dogs participated in the costume contest and several more came to spectate with their owners.
“They don’t do fun events like this in Downtown Brooklyn,” said Erica, a first-timer at the event, who brought her dog, Hudson.
“We just moved here. It’s nice to find a community here,” said Caroline, who came with her dog Inky, dressed as a cute little bat.
Dusty Doggerton, dressed up as a daredevil in his makeshift cloud car, painstakingly built by his owner Phil, won the costume contest. Dusty got to choose between three prizes from the online dog toy store Barkbox and Phil won a beverage.
Various businesses opened their doors for dog trick-or-treating after the costume contest, with treats provided by Deslongchamps.
There were also two cauldrons filled with more dog treats floating on water and it didn’t take long until all the dogs were lining up to dunk their heads in for a delicious surprise.
Woofbowl, a food truck for dogs, spoiled Brooklyn's furry friends with favorites like the Ice Cream Doughnut and the Munchies Jar, which contained CBD-infused oat cookies.
Hilary Campbell, a cartoonist for the New Yorker, drew stunning live portraits of people’s dogs.
Hearts and Bones, a dog rescue organization, made an appearance and held a dog adoption event, successfully finding four new homes for the six dogs present at the event.
The Good Dog Foundation, a nonprofit that trains and deploys therapy dogs to hospitals, schools and senior care centers, was there signing up dogs and spreading awareness about the organization.
Eastern Barkway began during the pandemic to get people out of the house to enjoy the socially-distanced presence of other people for a change, Deslongchamps said.
Deslongchamps said she never expected the event to grow into what it is now, but people enjoyed the event so much and constantly badgered her about when the next meet-up would be.
“I just wanted to do something fun. Everybody had a horrible year and I just wanted a day of happiness,” Deslongchamps said. “I am constantly humbled and shocked at the response that I’ve received. Everyone’s like, 'Yeah we love this,' and 'What are you doing next?'”
Deslongchamps plans to host more events in the future, expand the community to the other boroughs of New York City and hopes to one day set up a 501(c)(3).
Learn more about Eastern Barkway and donate here.
