Ypsilanti pet parade raises $465 for Humane Society of Huron Valley
Robert Droppleman plays the bagpipes as a crowd of around 100 pets and owners march down the street at the "St. Pawdy's Day, March of the Mutts" pet parade in Depot Town, Ypsilanti.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Cloudy skies and chilly weather didn’t stop pet lovers from participating in Ypsilanti’s first ever “St. Pawdy’s Day, March of the Mutts” parade Saturday.
About 100 dog-owners came out to Depot Town and Riverside Park to show off their pets and raise $465 for the Humane Society of Huron Valley.
“The turnout was amazing,” Ypsilanti resident Carole Clare said, who helped organize the event. “We’re a very dog-friendly community.”
Dressed in their finest green and Irish-themed attire, owners walked their dogs through the park, competing to see whose pet was the cutest, ugliest, best behaved, and most Irish. Dogs also competed to see who had the best costume and who looked most like its owner.
“We love to support things locally,” Ypsilanti resident Janice Anschuetz said. “We love our Humane Society.”
Anschuetz’s dog Snickers, a 13-year-old black Shih Tzu, won the program’s “ugliest” category (also known as the dog with the “most character”) but was a definite contender for most Irish.
Dressed in a bright green T-shirt with a “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” headband, Snickers paraded through the park in a green-blanketed stroller, complete with clovers, a leprechaun doll and signs saying “Luck of the Irish” and “Leprechaun Lane.”
Photo slideshow by Angela Cesere
Brandi, a mostly-white Jack Russell terrier, was also dressed to impress. Instead of clothes, Brandi was covered in hand-painted green shamrocks. She matched the homemade shamrock-covered T-shirts of Donald Tafini, 9, and Sharlene Shankwiler, 6, who were hoping to the win the contest for pet who looked most like its owners.
“She’s a 10-year-old veteran of being dressed up,” owner Michelle Shankwiler said, who spent a half-hour painting the dog with food coloring. “As long as she doesn’t have to wear a hat she’s happy.”
Ypsilanti Mayor Paul Schreiber was one of the judges and said the turnout was twice as large as what he expected.
“It proves again what a very vibrant community Ypsilanti is,” he said. “This was really good for the first try, who knows, it may become an annual thing.”
Candace Pinaud, a member of Depot Town Promotions who organized the event, said the group is planning on another parade next year.
“We need people in Depot Town,” she said. “We have to be a destination.”
Erica Hobbs is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2537 or at ericahobbs@annarbor.com.
Comments
Erica Hobbs
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 5:10 p.m.
The original category for the contest was for the ugliest dog, which was later changed to be the dog with the most character. I thought Snickers was an adorable dog, and I will point out that "ugliest" is in quotation marks. I don't think the intent of the label was to offend anyone.
Chrysta Cherrie
Tue, Mar 23, 2010 : 5:01 p.m.
This comment by Old East Sider was posted on an off-topic story: Please correct the story about the March of the Mutts. Snickers won for the dog with the most character, not the most ugly dog. This category was eliminated and replaced - not related to ugly. Snickers is a rescue dog that had gone through a lot of abuse in his life before us (his forever family). He has a number of lasting problems due to this abuse including a partially paralyzed face meaning that his nose runs and his tongue hangs out. The vet believes that he was kicked in the face. He does not need any more abuse by being called "ugly". Please correct. Janice Anschuetz
Marj
Mon, Mar 22, 2010 : 7:04 p.m.
Kudos to the organizers of the Pet Parade!!! What a great way to get people and pets out for a bit of fun. I plan on borrowing a friends pooch just so I can participate next year. As for the critics regarding the amount of funds raised, I have this to say.only those invested in the process have griping rights.
Deb Kern
Mon, Mar 22, 2010 : 9:23 a.m.
We were very pleased with the March of the Mutts event in Depot Town. This was the first year for this parade and organizers did a nice job. We appreciate were dollar raised and were happy to attend the event and hope to be invited again next year. Besides the dollars raised, the Humane Society of Huron Valley brought some adoptable dogs to the event and gave them a chance to be seen by the public. Happily, I can report that one of the dogs, Dozer, was adopted on Sunday. Our largest DOG WALK FUNDRAISER is Walk & Wag which will be held on May 22 at the County Farm Park in Ann Arbor. We hope to raise $130,000 at that event this year. To find out more, visit www.hshv.org. Thank you Depot Town Promotions and Pet Supplies Plus for making the March of the Mutts Parade a very enjoyable time for dogs and people alike!
old east sider
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 : 5:16 p.m.
Oh, this was a GREAT event and so much fun for dogs & people and everyone. The organizers did a wonderful job and the goody packages and prizes were very generous. Bye the way, Snickers, won for character not looks. He is a beautiful rescue dog inside and out and went through a lot of pain & bad times before he came to live with us. His prize was a wonderful tribute to a brave little guy who has gone through a lot. We can hardly wait until next year. Thank you everyone who helped with this event.
Laura
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 : 1:34 p.m.
I had a great time, so did my dog!!! thanks for all the work you put into it!!!!!
Jim Karnopp
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 : noon
I was also one of the organizers of this event, and we put it together in less than a month, so there were definitely issues with planning, but overall things went really well. As for the complaint about the amount of money raised, I was the one who insisted that the $5 entry fee be a suggested donation. This was a community event first and a fundraiser second. The last thing I wanted to see happen was to have some child with a puppy not able to participate because he or she couldn't come up with 5 dollars. We will learn from this event and next year we will make it better and hopefully there will be more money raised for the Humane Society, but we will never turn someone away if they can't afford it. That isn't what a community does. As a business owner in Depot Town, I get a ton of community support, so I will always be very sensitive to how we do things when I am part of an event.
Candace Pinaud
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 : 7:52 a.m.
as an organizer of this event I thought it was absolutely fantastic! the goal was to bring people to Depot Town and we accomplished that goal. While doing that we also decided to raise a little money for a worthy organization. It amazes me that anyone would have negative comments to say about such a thing! it takes a lot of volunteer time just to schedule a meeting but to pull off a successful event with virtually no money but sponsors to support us and lots of happy kids and people with their dogs enjoying themselves....shame on you for taking anything away from that. I always suggest when you have the time and energy to criticize that you re-focus that energy and help the event next year; we can always use the volunteers. Please 'If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything nice at all'.
frozenhotchocolate
Sun, Mar 21, 2010 : 2:32 a.m.
I understand this is the first annual dog parade, 500 dollars isn't bad, if in future years it produces significantly more charity, I wouldnt be suprised. Think article should have put the money raised within the article, not in it's headline, dog parade sounds cool, and turnout was strong. Charity is cool, but dog parks in the street, not cool.
Laura
Sat, Mar 20, 2010 : 7:09 p.m.
This WAS a great event, and 465 dollars is a great donation, I think! We had a super time. Thanks for organizing this fun event. Love, love, love community events like this that bring people (and hounds) together in beautiful Depot Town and Riverside Park.
Erica Hobbs
Sat, Mar 20, 2010 : 6:56 p.m.
Pet owners were asked to make a $5 donation to enter their dogs in the judging contest, though some walked in the parade without paying for the contest. Organizers said they were surprised at how big the turnout was, so I think there may have been some chaos in organizing everyone. Hopefully they'll get all the kinks worked out for next year.