PUUNENE — Moose is a large mixed-breed dog who’s great with people, loves a good cupcake and dazzles in a green tutu.

But he’s struggled to generate interest, mostly because he ticks all the boxes that often keep people from wanting to adopt — he’s a bigger dog, a senior at 8 years old and a “bully-type breed” that makes landlords wary.

“He’s been in foster for a few months and he’s really not getting much interest, so I figured, a little bit of luck of the Irish,” said Rachael Magee, the medicine and behavior manager at the Maui Humane Society who dressed Moose up in St. Patrick’s Day green in hopes of getting him noticed at the 2nd Spring Fling Slumber Party.

The overnight event allows participants to bunk with cats and dogs to learn what it’s like to live in a shelter while raising awareness and funding for the Humane Society. This year’s slumber party drew 29 people, up from 14 last year, and has so far raised $60,750, up from $47,000 last year.

On Saturday night, kennels were transformed into cozy canine studios with foldout couches, plush chairs, air mattresses and cots. One participant laid out a glittering “red carpet” lined with lanterns. Another set up a “campground” complete with a small tent, star projector and signs pointing the way to “Ka’anapittie and Howli’imaile.” In the cat building, volunteers fashioned planets out of balloons and transformed the room into a multicolored “cats in space” theme.

As animals and participants tucked in for the night, Concrete Blonde singer Johnette Napolitano serenaded on the guitar, and Heidi Cramer of the Maui Cookie Lab later delivered “pupcakes” and cookies.

Dr. Jerob Leaper of Your Vet Kihei Vet Clinic enjoyed the chance to get to see the world through the eyes of his everyday patients.

“My first job in animal care was actually working in an animal shelter,” said Leaper, who brought his daughters to meet his kennel mate, Dulce De Leche. “That’s kind of my roots. So I was trying to give back, and I thought it would be a unique, fun experience to come out here and help out and spend the night in the kennel.”

A couple of kennels down from Leaper was Rocky Kanaka, a Kailua-born Emmy-nominated TV host, pet rescue advocate and owner of The Dog Bakery in Los Angeles.

He’s also the creator of “Save Our Shelter on Netflix” and produces a series on his YouTube channel called “Dog’s Day Out.”

“I think the biggest challenge is the world sees Hawaii’s animals as living in paradise,” he said. “But the challenge is that the education that goes into choosing to adopt a pet versus buying, or the resources that you can find if you’re struggling to be able to afford your vet or vet care, all of those challenges are inherent with shelters across the nation.”

Last summer, Kanaka came to Maui to buy 100 pet-friendly shave ice for shelter dogs.

“It’s neat to get to come here and see the local community working really hard, and if I can lend my voice and if my followers can see what’s going on, they can share with their friends and family,” he said as he strung up curtains on his kennel for Coco, a little black-and-white dog whom he planned to ensure “never has to spend another night in a shelter.”

Nancy Willis, director of development and marketing, said that people often see shelter animals as “somehow broken.”

“I find most often they end up here really by no fault of their own,” Willis said. “It’s circumstances that their owners are facing, whether it’s housing issues or there’s a new baby coming, or maybe it’s an elderly person who has to go into assisted living or maybe has passed away.”

Some just need a second chance. Moose, for example, came to the shelter with behavioral and medical issues, which made it even more difficult to find a home, Magee said. But when taken out of the shelter into a foster home, he’s thrived. Magee pointed out that medical and behavioral issues can be addressed; qualities like age, size and breed that people may see as a mark against a dog can’t be changed.

Maui Humane Society CEO Steve MacKinnon said that about 6,000 animals pass through the Humane Society each year. The shelter has 50 to 60 animals at any given time, and in a week they may see at least 20 to 30 go out for adoption. He added that the shelter gets a lot of poi dogs as well as pit bulls, which people tend to give up quickly in the wake of landlord concerns of neighbor complaints.

“Keo here, some people think maybe there’s a little bit of pit bull in him,” MacKinnon said, looking affectionately at his kennel mate for the night. “As soon as they hear that word, they’re scared to death. This guy is so lovable and so easygoing.”

Keo lost his owner in a car crash and was clearly grieving when he came to the shelter, said MacKinnon, who fostered him for a couple of months. He encouraged people to keep coming back if they don’t see an animal they like; because of the big turnover, there’s a new chance every week they may just find their new best friend.

“I’m really amazed, because when they do go home, I really think that they know they’ve been rescued and they give you that extra special love,” MacKinnon said.

MacKinnon added that funding from the slumber party will go toward the shelter’s programs and day-to-day operations. Willis said that the biggest challenge the shelter faces is a lack of space. If they could build a new shelter or expand the current one, they could add more programs and staffing. While the shelter offers low-cost spaying and neutering services, eventually they’d like to have a wellness clinic where the community could also access low-cost vaccines.

One program they plan to start next year is The Humane Society of the United States’ initiative “Pets for Life,” in which workers go out into the community and see what people need to help care for their pets. Sometimes the difference between an animal being in a shelter or a home is a broken fence or a lack of a leash, Willis said.

And, with a grant from the Haiku-based Nuestro Futuro Foundation, they also plan to start a public relations campaign in April to encourage more pet-friendly housing.

“We take animals in, and we try to offer a judgment-free zone because people have to make hard decisions every day, and we know that,” Willis said. “But if we could convince more landlords to be pet-friendly and educate renters on how to be good tenants, that hopefully will help decrease the number of animals that we see come through the shelter.”

Willis said the final tally from the slumber party will depend on how much Kanaka is able to collect; the TV show host plans to post a video in the coming weeks and continue fundraising toward his goal of $5,000, which Vessi Footwear has agreed to match.

“The deadline is everybody donate right now. What are you waiting for?” he said with a laugh.

He added that his goal is to make sure Coco gets into a foster family and then follow him till he gets adopted.

For information on donations or animals available for adoption, visit mauihumanesociety.org, search for the MHS Facebook page or call 877-3680, ext. 240.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.