Pete the Vet: Is it fair to dress up pets at Halloween?

Pete the Vet: Some dogs do seem to enjoy being dressed up. Some dogs seem to realise that when they are wearing some sort of odd clothing, people start to give them more attention. And they like that extra attention.

On Halloween night, children across Ireland will be going door-to-door, trick or treating. They’ll be dressed up as vampires, witches, werewolves or just about any fancy dress creation that they and their parents have managed to concoct. And there’s a good chance that they’ll be accompanied by the family dog, also dressed up in costume. As a vet, I am often asked what I think about this: is it fair to dress pets up for a bit of fun, or is it a form of cruelty, offering entertainment for humans at the expense of the animal?

It’s easy to get up on a high horse about this. Dogs don’t have the ability to be aware of their own appearance. If you show a dog their reflection in a mirror, they don’t recognise themselves. They have no understanding of why their carer is attaching items of clothing to them. They may feel uncomfortable, under pressure, and awkward. They are acutely conscious of social connection and the lack of connection, so if they are the centre of attention, with people pointing at them and laughing, they may feel some sense of discomfort, if not embarrassment. The only reason people dress up pets is to make themselves feel better, to give humans some sort of bizarre entertainment, laughing at the unfortunate innocent creature wearing inappropriate fancy dress. From witches to pumpkins with many other random themes, dogs in costumes may provide superficial visual entertainment, but at what cost to the animal’s physical comfort and emotional state?