Westport's 5th annual Dog Festival, run by the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce was held on Sunday and drew an estimated 2,500 visitors and more than 700 dogs. They competed in 7 different contests, including Best Kisser won by Betsy who showed the love to her owner Conner and Best Lap Dog Over 50 pounds They visited pet adoption specialists including DAWS in Bethel, Adopt-A-Dog in Armonk, NY and the fabled North Shore Animal League, acknowledged to be the largest no-kill animal shelter in the world who arrived in their Mutt-I-Grees Express Rescue Unit all of which offered pets for adoption. They enjoyed a meet and greet with Piglet, featured in the book “Piglet: The Unexpected Story of a Deaf, Blind, Pink Puppy and His Family” written by Westport Veterinarian Melissa Shapiro. Nearly 50 vendors offered everything the discerning pet owner must have, including Westport's Earth Animal which donated a portion of their sales to the Westport Police Department K-9 Unit which helps them pay for training and even bullet/knife resistant vests for their K-9's. That PD unit put on two demonstrations of drug detection, evidence location and behavior commands which drew large audiences. Dogs were seen  searching for drugs or evidence, and laying down and staring at the target once it was located.

Photos By J.C. Martin For WestortLocal.com. Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery