PRESQUE ISLE – While a drizzly rain had some participants running rather than walking around the two-mile course, the weather didn’t stop about 40 people from completing their benefit walk during the eighth annual Paws for the Cause fundraiser.

The event, hosted by the Central Aroostook Kennel Club, netted about $1,800 for the Central Aroostook Humane Society, money that will be used for its spay and neuter program.

Mary Nevin, coordinator for this year’s event, said on Saturday morning that participants walked about 30 dogs – some their own pets and some of them shelter animals – during this year’s walk.

The course began and ended at the local animal shelter and looped around the Skyway Industrial Park.

Participants – ranging from 5-year-old girls to senior citizens – walked, or in many cases were pulled around the loop by everything from Pomeranians to a St. Bernard.

A Vietnamese potbellied pig got in on the action and a local woman dressed up her dachshunds in hot dog costumes for the walk – two of the dogs featured a colorful streak of “ketchup” and the third was topped with “mustard.”

Nevin said that though the walk raised about $200 less than it did last year, organizers saw a lot more participants this year.

“For a gloomy day, it was a rainbow of a turnout,” she said.

“Oh, this year is excellent and I’ve been here six years,” Betsy Hallett, humane society manager, agreed on Saturday as she busily drew up receipts for the steady flow of people paying for the microchip and vaccination clinics held during the event.

The vaccination clinic has been part of the event for years, but organizers said this is the first year they’ve been able to get a veterinarian on board to do the microchip clinic.

According to material officials handed out, “microchipping” involves injecting a small, nonremovable microchip – which contains an identification number and is a little larger than a grain of rice – between a pet’s shoulder blades. If the animal is lost, shelter officials can use a special scanner to read the chip, identify the pet, and hopefully reunite it with its owner.

“The microchip clinic has been a big hit. We hope this is going to help us to increase the number of animals we return to their owners, especially cats,” Hallett said, noting that right now the shelter succeeds in making about one reunion a month.

Officials agreed that the microchip clinic was a hit with participants, and pet owners and their furry friends also enjoyed several other activities at the event, including a dog wash, pet photos, a treat sale and a barbecue.

“It’s awesome to see people return year after year and to see new people come out for this,” said Christine Robinson, president of the humane society’s board of directors, as she glanced around at the crowd outside the animal shelter. “The donations from the community have been amazing.”