Can anyone offer suggestions/ideas of what any local humane societies/rescues/etc did for events/entertainment at their Walk for the Animals (or comparable event)?
We had an event where people could either bring their own dogs or walk one of the dogs from the shelter. We gave out matching bandanas to each dog/dog walker.
At the end we had prizes, mostly gifts or gift certificates donated by local businesses:
Best behaved dog on a leash
Best groomed dog
Look-alike contest (who looks the most like their dog)
and a couple of other things that I can't remember off the top of my head.
for the dog events we always did bobbing for hot dogs. Just fill a large bowl or bucket with water and plop some cut up hot dogs in there!
We also did a treat seek. You section off an area and scatter treats around and then let the dogs and owners find them.
Cake Walk. Same as with humans but pet themed prizes.
Some of our non-profit folks here have done dog racing and costume contests as part of their fundraisers. One of them divided the dog racing into specific breeds... it was the "weiner dog race." Pretty cute, especially when they're dressed up.
Here's the link to one of the local events in my area... look under events for what they had going on... http://www.petfest.net/
We did faux dog weddings one time - got a polaroid camera to print the pictures on the spot and had little wedding attire costumes for them. Dog pictures with a cute bandana also went over well for the "single dogs".
We tried framed pictures one year and had mats ready for the dogs to put their paw print on - got some water based painted, dipped their paws in it and pressed them on the mats before framing. It got a bit messy to clean up all those paws but the owners loved it.
Sold dogbana's at another event.
Handed out literature on why it's important to speuter.
Lots of vendors, mostly local pet food stores who donated prizes. We had a bbq as well as a 50/50 draw. We had cupcats in the shape of kitty faces donated to us, as well as an adoption tent.
When I still had my massage therapist's license, I donated my time to do chair massages free on people that participated in an event to raise money for a local rescue, and for donations on non-participants. Then there was a raffle for an hour massage done in the winner's home. You might be able to find an animal loving massage therapist that would be willing to do it. Our school did it for the Walk for Life as well. It can possibly make a good amount of money for the organization, advertising and a tax deduction for the therapist.