Get along, little doggies.
Cool weather and warm sunshine greeted dogs of all shapes and sizes downtown Sunday at the 13th annual Mystic Krewe of Mutts, an event put on by the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society.
This year’s theme was “The Good, The Bad and The Furry,” and owners decked their dogs out with western-themed costumes and floats.
From toy gun-toting terriers to a Pekingese posse on wagons, furry fun wasn’t short in supply.
The festivities consisted of retail booths and a costume contest and ended with a parade down North Boulevard from Fifth Street to Ninth Street and back again.
Denis Ricou, member of the CAAWS Board of Directors, said the parade is open to all members of the community, and he estimated “tens of thousands” of people attended the event.
“We expect more and more every year,” he said. “I think eventually we’ll have to increase the route, and that’s a good thing.”
The parade, which kicks off the Mardi Gras season for Baton Rouge, is the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year, Ricou said.
He said Baton Rouge is a great place for dog owners because of the animal welfare groups, like CAAWS, that have developed in the city in recent years. CAAWS volunteers walked dogs wearing jackets that said “Adopt Me” on them along the route.
Jennie Stewart, an assistant director with the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability, walked in the parade with her dogs Buster Brown, a beagle, and Dolly, a border collie she saved from a shelter.
Stewart, a self-proclaimed “canine lover,” said she walked with the College of Agriculture to raise awareness for the college’s program for animal-assisted therapy, but she also joined in to show Dolly off to potential owners.
“I rescued her from euthanasia. She had two hours left,” Stewart said. “Dolly’s in need of a good home.”
Stewart said she’s watched the parade before but never got a chance to walk in it. Now that she’s done it, she doesn’t want to stop.
“I like how many people there are here,” she said. “It wasn’t like some Mardi Gras parade where people come just to get beads. People came here because they love dogs.”
Lauren Guidry, animal science freshman, also walked with the College of Agriculture and spends much of her time working as a volunteer for CAAWS.
Guidry said volunteers exercise and socialize the dogs and clean their cages, but she doesn’t mind the hard work.
“I like dogs, and being at the dorm, I don’t have my own dog with me,” she said.
Guidry and her boyfriend, history freshman Trey Autin, volunteered to help set up the parade before it began and to clean up afterward.
Christian Rossi, agricultural business senior, walked Sawyer, his four-year-old chow-lab mix, in the parade for the first time this year.
Rossi, who’s had Sawyer since before he started college, said Baton Rouge is a good place to raise a dog because of all the interesting events and places in the city.
Guidry agreed and said she hopes to eventually own a dog to bring to the parade.
“I want a dog just because of all the stuff there is to do,” she said. “I see people walking their dogs along the lakes and taking them to the parks. It’s so cool.”
The event wasn’t just open to dog owners, but dog lovers, as well.
The LSU Delta Gamma alumnae chapter put up a booth at the event, auctioning off a dog bed full of treats.
Nancy Byrd, foundation chairwoman, said this year was the chapter’s second time attending the parade, and members came out in full force to raise awareness for the care and training of service animals.
Byrd said this year’s event was busier than last year’s, which she attributed to the great weather.
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]