--- title: Ambulance Dog Costume Is Too Adorable for Words description: In this adorable new Halloween 2019 video, a dog wearing an ambulance costume howls along with his get-up's siren. canonical: https://time.com/5712954/ambulance-dog-costume/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-29T19:13:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T08:42:25.463Z og:title: Hello 911, This Ambulance Dog Costume Is Too Adorable for Words og:description: Alert the authorities og:url: https://time.com/5712954/ambulance-dog-costume/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61a1608405e1489f/698a04ffb3fce373cc0c5c1d/ambulance-dog-costume.jpg?branch=production&width=476&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 476 og:image:height: 268 og:image:alt: Ambulance-Dog-Costume og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hello 911, This Ambulance Dog Costume Is Too Adorable for Words twitter:description: Alert the authorities twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt61a1608405e1489f/698a04ffb3fce373cc0c5c1d/ambulance-dog-costume.jpg?branch=production&width=476&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Ambulance Dog Halloween Costume Is the Cure-All You Need Right Now > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d9b7b0a1-c97d-4608-bdfc-6ed6ec37bf0a&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: See the Creepy Traditions That Created Halloween [Watch (HLS stream): See the Creepy Traditions That Created Halloween](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/cag1kbVq.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2014-10-27. See the Creepy Traditions That Created Halloween_  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 29, 2019 7:13 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Oct 29, 2019 7:13 PM UTC Who needs emergency services when [ambulance](https://time.com/5349835/man-steals-ambulance/) dog is here to save the day? In a now-viral video that was originally shared by the [dog’s owner](https://time.com/collection/guide-to-happiness/4870796/dog-owners-benefits/), Aliyah Buksh, on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/B4EOS4Fg2J1/) over the weekend, an Australian Shepherd wearing an ambulance [costume](https://time.com/5681198/french-bulldog-chucky-costume/) adorably howls along with his get-up’s siren after some encouragement from his mom. “River the pawmedic is currently accepting invitations for Halloween \*sound on,\*” Buksh captioned the clip. The Halloween costume consists of a styrofoam box designed to look like an ambulance that fits over the pup’s torso and a blinking red collar that emits a siren noise. And the [video](https://twitter.com/aussiesdointhgs/status/1188872831582588929) — which has since been re-posted by the Twitter account Aussies Doing Things, liked more than 487 thousand times and retweeted nearly 126 thousand — is the perfect remedy for anyone who is healing from an illness or injury. > [](https://twitter.com/aussiesdointhgs/status/1188872831582588929) Forget modern medicine. The cure-all we’ve been waiting for has arrived. ## Transcript All Hallow's Eve, the holy evening. All Saint's Eve. No matter what you call it, one thing is certain. The true origin of Halloween is still shrouded in mystery. But here's what we do know. Halloween is linked to an [ MUSIC ] old Celtic festival called [ UNKNOWN ]. [ MUSIC ] It marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of Winter, the darker half of the year. [ MUSIC ] That's when the souls of the dead were set to come back to life to wreak havoc on crops, unless of course they were appeased through offerings and rituals. During the festival people dressed in costume to imitate the dead spirit. And went door to door reciting verses in exchange for food offerings. When Christian Missionaries came to change Keltic religious practices in the 13th century AD, those rituals evolved. [ INAUDIBLE ] became a day to pray for the death. So spirits stuck in purgatory could find their way into heaven. People went door to door singing. Offering Bible verses and collecting what's called soul cakes. People still donned costumes but this time it was to disguise them from dead spirits searching for vengeance against their human enemies. For further protection observers filled hollowed out turnips with candles to ward off evil spirits. But once the holiday reached North America, turnips were traded for pumpkins, which were easier to carve and native to the continent. Historians have suggested this is the origin for modern- day Halloween and trick- or- treating. 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