For anyone looking to find a pet-friendly Halloween party in the area to show off that adorable costume you summoned online or crafted yourself for your beloved dog or cat, look no further than Wooded Acres Animal Hospital. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, they’re once again hosting their festive Halloween-themed anniversary party on Sunday, Oct. 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. at 235 Middle Country Road in Middle Island.

“We do it every year. Our anniversary happens to fall on Halloween, so it’s to celebrate our anniversary, and we do it as a Halloween party,” explained the manger at Wooded Acres, Jill Cambria. “We opened in 2006, so Halloween of 2007 was the first year we did it.”

This fun-filled event is open to the community, and many people come with their pets. Costumes are optional, but always a delight to see. There will be a food truck and an ice-cream truck. A highlight of the event will be Kent Animal Shelter, in Calverton, presenting animals who are up for adoption.

There will also be raffles for gift baskets, filled with a variety of human and animal items, hand-selected from staff favorites. They will also have some goody bags, although it’s limited. Wooded Acres Animal Hospital owner Dr. Jennifer Iannaccone is known for her goody bags. They will be filled with either cat toys or dog toys, depending on which animal you’d want them for. All proceeds generated from the party, including from raffles and donations, will go toward assisting local animal shelters, with Kent being the primary beneficiary.

“The public is welcome. We even have a big sign out on the street. Anybody can see it and come to it,” said Cambria.

Iannaccone, who is affectionately referred to by her clients and those in the community who know her simply as “Dr. I,” always sets up an autumn-themed backdrop for photo-shoots at the party festooned with straw bales, floral arrangements, and other seasonal décor, where partygoers enjoy getting holiday photos with their pets.

“I believe that’s $10,” Cambria explained, underscoring that all funds collected go toward local animal shelters. “We do a lot of photos with your pet, and most of the time, the pets are in costume.”

One of the most heartwarming and hilarious aspects of the event is getting to see all the creative and unique costume designs with which guests adorn their decorative dogs and creative cats.

“I have never seen two of the same costumes, [ranging] from hotdogs to bees to pumpkins, and then TV characters and princesses and princes, and things like that. It’s really cute,” said Cambria.

Every year the staff of Wooded Acres dresses up and picks a theme to coordinate their costumes together. This year’s theme will be the decadent and vibrant 1980s, complete with a new-wave soundtrack and pop-culture references of that iconic decade. The last party they had, which was pre-pandemic in 2019, featured a cinematic theme of the movie “Grease,” where members of the staff dressed up as 1950s fashionistas from the film, the Pink Ladies.

While many of those who work at the animal hospital are still planning what they’re going to wear, one brave employee there has already decided that he’s going to evoke Tom Cruise’s character from the 1983 movie “Risky Business.”

“He has to at least wear bicycle shorts,” assured Cambria, asserting, with a chuckle, that once it’s in print, he can’t change his mind about this risky costume.

For more information about the event go to woodedacresanimalhospital.com or visit kentanimalshelter.com.