Pawraiding with a purpose

This past Sunday, some 500 mutts and their masters took to the streets as Pawraiders of the Lost Bark, the 10th annual Capital Area Animal Welfare Society’s (CAAWS) Krewe of Mutts parade.

The parade began as a neighborhood affair hosted by community activist Nancy Jo Craig and her friends, who named CAAWS their beneficiary. By the time the parade was ready to run with the big dogs downtown, CAAWS had taken the lead on organizational responsibilities. Permits, registration and special event planning are definitely a stretch for the organization, whose volunteers struggle to financially support and staff its Quinn Drive shelter, weekly adoption days, foster and educational programs.

CAAWS president and event chairman Jolene Allbright always encourages overworked volunteers to look beyond party planning to see the greater good. “It’s a parade with a purpose,” she says. All the krewe’s revenue is devoted to community outreach program for spay/neuter rather than the general fund.

Besides spaying and neutering the 350 dogs and cats the organization adopts out each year, CAAWS offers five free monthly dog spays and discount coupons for spay/neuter surgery to the public; the non-profit also works with LSU Vet School, Cat Haven and Spay Baton Rouge to trap and sterilize stray cats throughout the city.

This year, even the parade route was altered (due to construction). And, while there were calls to change the course, Allbright resisted, “North Boulevard is just so beautiful,” she says. “It’s not too long or too short a walk for the dogs.”

Each year, the dogs and owners registered to participate in the parade are only part of the show. Judging by police estimates, the parade draws 10,000 to 15,000 human spectators and an additional 1,000 dogs. You read that right: People actually dress up their dogs to watch other dogs parade in costume.

“It has become so popular because it’s one of the most family-oriented parades,” says Allbright thoughtfully. “It gives families the chance to be in the parade for $40 per family rather than spending hundreds or thousands with some krewes.”

What’s more, Allbright says, she’s always impressed with the fine manners of the canine crowd. “They’re so well-behaved. They sit there and watch in silence. I’m always so awed by that.”

Since the crowd is content to sit and stay, CAAWS recently added Bark in the Park. Before and after the parade, Galvez Plaza transforms into the city’s biggest pet fete including costume and owner look-a-like contests, food vendors with canine and human cuisine, rescue organizations, retailers, a pet photographer with a variety of Mardi Gras tableaux and microchipping by a licensed veterinarian.

Although Bark in the Park features a booth devoted to CAAWS’ feral cat spay/neuter and adoption programs, don’t look for a Krewe of Kitties’ debut anytime soon. “The nature of the event doesn’t interest cats,” explains Allbright. “Cats would be above that.” While the CAAWS appears to have gone to the dogs, Allbright says 95% of the $15,000 raised by the mutt-ley krewe are spent on cats. So, the question of who is ultimately the event’s top dog—felines or canines—gives cause to pause.

Parade pictures will soon be posted at caaws.org.

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