Best dressed dogs and people at Pet Parade

The Pima Animal Control Center, which I visited a few weeks ago, held a Parade of Pets in the West University district on Sunday morning. After attending the parade I think it should be renamed as a Parade of Dogs. There were only a few cats in cat-carriers, one not very big snake wrapped around the arm of a woman riding side-saddle on a convertible, and two goats bringing up the end of the parade. (More about those goats later.)

There were, however, a lot of well-dressed dogs. Of the six shown below, I especially liked the rescue dog with a pink tutu and the Frida Kahlo dog with the flowers around her neck. (More about dog costumes, as well as goats, later in this post.)

I arrived well-before the 10 am start for the parade, thinking I would have to park blocks away and walk to the event. Not true. I parked at one corner of the parade route. So, if you’re thinking about going next year, be aware that parking nearby is easy.

Costumed people and floats lining up for the parade

Being early meant I could wander along the three blocks where the parade floats were assembling as well as cruise among the dog owner participants.

Lining up on both sides of the street were the “floats” for the parade. The Fire Dept. had a cute little red truck with a dalmation character riding on the back. Behind it is the PACC mobile van which actually lead the parade. A little further to the right is an inflatable “beagle?” and wearing the Subaru sweatshirt is a character that looks like chewbacca’s cousin. The Star Wars warriors were attending (see below) so why not chewbacca’s cousin?

Further down the street were a couple of groups that seem to have formed — and spent a lot of energy and some money doing it–strictly to provide entertainment for the PACC parade. PACC is always looking for volunteers to help, so this appears to be one way to do it.

These ladies in all their rockabilly glory are called “Pin-Ups for PACC”. Fun for them and the parade-goers to watch.

And did someone say inflatables? Here was a trailer of inflatable dachshunds, but I couldn’t figure out what the two men on the left were doing until I saw the woman on the right wearing her inflatable dog costume–which completely overshadowed the two little dachshunds beside her.

What would any parade be without bands? The Parade of Pets had two. The Esmeralda Mariachi band and, in red, a band from a nearby school. Sorry I didn’t get the school’s name.

Okay…now for other groups participating in the parade, some of which seemed only distantly related to pets. Maybe it was just because some cosplaying owners were dog lovers. Here are a few Tucson Comic-Con paraders. Loved their costumes.

Two men and their dogs bracket a pirate with a cat carrier. The cat was very shy and would not come out to be photographed. Nothing shy about the dog in the motorcycle sidecar and the one wearing bunny ears.

As promised, here are those Star Wars warriors and a Darth Vader or two. Above them, on the building roof, were some parade watchers. The woman with the clipboard was the official controller for the parade, sending each group and each float out onto the parade route in order from their positions on 3 streets. That’s a very tough job as I learned from a friend who did that at the Pasadena Rose Parade one year. So applause for her!

What’s a parade without people in the “grandstands”

And finally…neighbors who watched from their front yards. They had front row seats without having to sleep out overnight the way people do at the Rose Parade.

About goats and costumes

Now about goats. At the end of the parade were two goats and when they passed by a woman who was announcing information over a loudspeaker about each group, the woman, in a disbelieving tone of voice, said: “Who keeps goats for pets?” Well, my answer is: “Lots of people”, as you can see at the annual Blessing of the Animals in Los Angeles.

Setting aside the insult to goats and goat-keepers, where were the bunnies? The iguanas? Or the thousands of cats that live in Tucson? Maybe next year an effort should be made to encourage people to bring a more diverse group of animals to the parade? And maybe a more diverse selection of costumes, too. Where were the dogs wearing Roadrunner uniforms? The happy clowns? The tuxedoed dogs? The Disney princesses? Oh well, maybe next year…

This year it was, nonetheless, a fun way to spend a Sunday morning in February.

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