VIDEO: Howling for a police cause

Here's something you don't see every day - a howling contest featuring people.

Contestants from Arthur, Coolidge and Wilson elementary schools howled like dogs for a panel of judges in the final event of the “Who Will Help The Dogs Out?” fundraiser.

The project is expected to raise more than $2,000 to help buy a new dog for the Cedar Rapids Police Department's K-9 unit.

Organizer Jerry Davenport, a retired Cedar Rapids school district counselor, said the fundraiser has been a success, with students having fun while helping the community.

“I should say it will be a real hoot, but it's going to be a real woof,” Davenport said with a laugh.

And the winner was ... Arthur third grader, Kaitlyn Blackford, 9, of Cedar Rapids.

"I felt like a real dog howling," Blackford said.

-- Meredith Hines-Dochterman and Mark Benischek