Tricks AND treats? Record number of spooky South Coast Schnauzers gather in Southsea for Halloween stroll

Spooky Schnauzer’s donned festive outfits yesterday with pumpkins, bats and even a dinosaur to be spotted among the 100 pups that met at the Southsea dog park at 10am and strolled along Southsea Seafront together.

The Halloween-themed meet was one of a regular monthly meet-up hosted by Dave and Jane Rodrigues, from Southsea, who set up the ‘South Coast Schnauzers' Facebook group to provide local people and their dogs with a space to socialise, particularly following the lockdown after many people had been isolated.

While the group, a branch of the national charity Schnauzerfest, has a focus on Schnauzers, Dave, 48, stresses that anyone is welcome to join.

He said: ‘It’s been a great turnout, we hit 100 dogs which is a new record! Before lockdown we ran them once a year, but people wanted to do it more frequently.

‘We met lots of people who hadn’t been out for around two years. They’d got dogs, and not had the chance to take them out. That’s why the group was really good for people’s mental health and also for the dogs because they got to socialise.’

The group also aims to raise money for Schnauzerfest which hosts an annual charity walk in which people across the country meet up with other Schnauzer owners to raise money as they walk.

The charity helps raise awareness of the world of commercial breeding and puppy farming, as well as providing vital rehabilitation for injured and suffering pooches dealing with the consequences of a bad breeding environment.

Dave has three Schnauzers of his own who love to mingle, Lexi, Colin and Buddy, a rescue, who all dressed to impress on the day.

The South Coast group – which now has 620 members – has generated huge interest, with 50-100 dogs attending each month, and following the Halloween fundraiser, they hope to raise at least £2,000 for the charity.

The pack even saw the likes of the Instagram sensation, @bellaminischnauzer, who travelled down to the event all the way from Essex with ‘mum’ Lorraine Porter.

To thank owners and pups for their participation in the fundraiser, Dave handed out Schnauzerfest pupcakes when they reached The Coffee Cup, in Eastney.