More than 225 of the sleek racing dogs and their human companions descended on the Southern Utah city to participate in the ninth annual Greyhound Gathering that ends Sunday.

Since Friday, the greyhounds, and those who love them, have participated in a parade, had nails trimmed and microchips implanted, raced against people and held auctions of items including greyhound sculptures, travel bags and even the bronze of a hound lying on an antique ink well.

During Saturday's parade, many of the the dogs were dressed in human finery, ranging from sombreros to costumes of Canadian Mounties, vying for best costume honors.

Most of the docile hounds were adopted after brief racing careers through a network of agencies that pairs the animals with people who want to provide them a comfortable life after the track.

Event organizer, Claudia Presto, said this year, hounds came to Kanab from as far as England and Canada and from across the United States.

Joann Belkin drove from Sacramento to attend the event with her three greyhounds.

"This is a celebration of hounds," she said, surrounded by the well-behaved Darcy, Molly and Lizzy.

She said her pack of hounds will grow by two more later this month and noted that it is not unusual for people to have several of the animals.

"I know one woman who has eight," Belkan said. "They [greyhounds] have a loving disposition."

During the three-day event, the dogs and their owners also celebrated "yappy" hour and dinner at Best Friends Animal Society, located 5 miles north of Kanab, and attended workshops on how to train and socialize the hounds.

Proceeds from the auctions, which Presto said are expected to raise $20,000, goes to support Almost Home for Hounds, a kennel at Colorado State University that helps greyhounds find human families through 10 adoption groups across the country.

Heather Weir, a veterinarian who runs the kennel and teaches animal surgery at CSU, attended the weekend gathering in Kanab after delivering 20 dogs for adoption in California.

She said the kennel cares for 50 to 60 greyhounds at a time and that money raised by the event's annual auctions, is instrumental to operating the facility that opened in 2005.

"We couldn't do it without help from this gathering," said Weir.

While incidents of greyhounds being abused are fewer, Weir said, incidents of malnutrition, untreated injuries and dogs being killed when they can no longer race continues.

That is why events like the Greyhound Gathering are important for bringing the plight of the racing dogs to the public's attention.

"This is a lot of fun," Weir said. "It's nice to see people enjoying their dogs." mhavnes@sltrib.com