Carnival of the animals

At this year’s Mystic Krewe of Mutts Hooray for Howl-y-wood parade, crowds will be star struck by the craziness, the couture and the canines and their companions. However, parade patrons or the “pup”arrazi hope to catch a glimpse of the celebrity who started it all, they will leave disappointed.

By shredding his costume on a local morning show broadcast a decade ago, the Krewe’s first king canine le T’bonage (“the good little angel”) earned himself a perpetual yard pass from the festivities. T-bone typically spends parade day running in his big fenced yard with dog companion Nikki, visiting his inside cats Milagro and Mr. Beignet and waiting for his parade-going owner to return with beads and dog biscuits.

While he no longer has to sport a cloth bun, mustard and relish costume, there’s no denying T-bone is one lucky dog. In 1999, Nancy Jo Craig took him in as a malnourished puppy, who had been wandering around Government Street.

While T-bone’s quickly grew into a 75-pound healthy, happy hound, his past and the plight of the city’s strays haunted Craig. “I thought about all the stray animals in the city and wondered, ‘What can I do to raise money to help and do something fun for the community?’”

Lunch with friends Sarah Kracke and Adrienne Moore yielded the answer. “It began as a fun and whimsical idea for ourselves and our friends to dress up and have a dog parade like the one in New Orleans,” recalls Kracke. “To our surprise and delight, we had 300 to 500 dogs the first year. The response got bigger and bigger.”

Soon, Craig, Moore and Kracke recruited Jennifer Ritchie, Cindy Brown, Trudy Bell, Mary Louise Prudhomme, Andrea Fontenot, Mary Warren, Barbara Ruiz and other Capital City canine companions to help with the huge event.

As the parade enters its 11th year, Kracke attributes the krewe’s popularity and longevity to Capital City’s committed canine community. “Baton Rouge dog owners are definitely a breed apart,“ Kracke explains. “[For many,] their dogs are like their children. This event gives owners a chance to show off their dogs.”

Furthermore, “It’s also great family event,” she says. “It’s fun to see the dogs in costume, and you’re never quite sure what you’re going to see.”

And, that dash of mysticism hasn’t hurt either. “It’s dog nirvana—perfect canine equanimity. Remarkably, there are not fights. All the dogs seem to get along. So, there’s just great entertainment and great community benefit.”

Of course, the parade offers more than the chance to strut a mutt. This year’s Bark in the Park festival features rescue groups, humane education, food vendors, Animal Control and police dog demonstration. “We offer the same great time every year,” says CAAWS President Frank Parks, “and the crowds get larger every year. That means people enjoy what we’re doing.”

And, from the beginning, proceeds have been donated to the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society (CAAWS), which took over the event planning seven years ago. Now, the Krewe generates $14,000, enough revenue to keep CAAWS afloat all year.

“Without events like this and the money it generates,” says CAAWS Secretary Glenda Parks, “the organization could not offer spay/neuter assistance and the programs we do. CAAWS has been around for 27 years and has a reputation in the community. The Krewe of Mutts is an extension [of our work] with adoptions and putting solid animals into people’s homes as forever friends.”

As the parade gets ready to roll, Nancy Jo Craig (now a board member of Companion Animal Alliance and Yelp!BR) pauses to reflect on the community’s progress on animal issues.

“The really odd thing is, more than 10 years later, we still have the same conundrum,” she says. “I’m still worrying about stray animals.

“I used to think we had too many animals and not enough homes. I believed all the myths of Animal Control, and that spay/neuter was the answer.

“Now, I’ve been to lots of conferences and read a lot of books dealing with that issue; and, I think the path is a lot clearer. Each year, 20 million Americans adopt a pet and 5 million get killed at the shelter. Community after community from the Deep South to the Far West has shown that marketing and offsite adoptions work. It will take a change in leadership; but I believe we will get there [to become a No Kill community].” And when that happens, you can be sure no one will rain on T-bone’s parade.

Click here for Creature Feature and a preview of the pets who benefit from parade.

Click here for this week’s City Lynx.