Downtown Natchez will go to the dogs Saturday as the local canine population puts on its finest for the first-ever Main Street Mutt Strut.

Sponsored by the Natchez Downtown Development Association and the Leadership Natchez Class of 2001, the event will raise money for the Natchez Adams County Humane Society.

Tammi Mullins, NDDA executive director, said dogs of all shapes and sizes are invited to dress up and bring their masters for the promenade up Main Street.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the Broadway end of Main Street. Then at 10 a.m., dogs and their masters will stroll up to Memorial Park where games such as &uot;bobbin’ for wieners&uot; and contests looking for &uot;the waggiest tail&uot; will provide entertainment until noon.

And pooches with a limited wardrobe need not worry. The $10 registration fee includes a one-of-a kind &uot;Mutt Strut&uot; bandanna, handmade for the event by students at Natchez High School, the Natchez Lions’ Leos Club and humane society volunteers, said Anne Vaughn, humane society secretary.

Vaughn said the canine parade is an annual event in larger cities such as New Orleans and Atlanta. &uot;So we thought why not try it here,&uot; she said.

All money raised through the registration fee will benefit the humane society, which depends on individual donations for more than half of its limited budget.

The United Way of the Greater Miss-Lou supplies another 10 percent of the society’s funding and contracts with the City of Natchez and Adams County contribute to the budget as well, Vaughn said.

Each year, the humane society takes in between 2,000 and 2,500 animals, Vaughn said. But getting animals off the streets and into safe homes not only helps the pets, but the people who come to love them, Vaughn said.

&uot;We’re serving people,&uot; she said. &uot;We’re not just helping animals, we’re helping people too.&uot;

Monica Cross said she her Leadership Natchez classmates thought the same when searching for a class project. Once they learned of the humane society’s needs, they decided a fund-raiser would be a perfect fit for a &uot;quality of life&uot; project requirement.

&uot;Pets add so much to your life,&uot; Cross said.

To participate in the strut, all dogs must be on a leash and have a current rabies tag on its collar.