HALLOWEEN PARADE - OF SORTS

Some time back, before animal dressing became a big industry all by itself, a very inventive veterinarian in Orange County announced that he was going to sponsor a Halloween parade. Jerry and I thought that watching it might be something different to do, so armed with my little camera, we went to the festivities. There were dogs and cats of all breeds, looking as if they were going to join the trick-or-treaters that night. A sampling of what we saw is shown below.

The first fellow of note was Batdog. He was well behaved in spite of his owner pinching his rump, or at least it appears that is what is happening in the picture but may be the owner was simply adjusting the dog's tail.


Another clever costume was on the dog below. Who has ever heard of a bumbledog? The Bumbledog wasn't crazy about the parade, but the owner kept him on a tight leash and he made his appearance as scheduled.

Everyone knows that cats don't cotton much to being dressed up, but if you have a Ragdoll Breed cat, you can do anything you want with it. They are the most laid-back, flexible and good natured cats anywhere, in spite of the look on this one's face. She loved the attention of being a babycat.

Now you'd expect a Little Red Riding Dog to look exactly like this below. She wasn't crazy about the basket hanging around her neck, but decided she'd rather do it this way than carry it in a paw. What is Red Riding anything without a basket?

There is nothing quite like a bassett hound in a tutu. The picture from the front that I took of her has a big glob of spittle hanging from her mouth. It was so gross that this end was much more pleasant to photograph. The dog was a little embarrassed, however, when the shutter clicked on her behind.

And the winner was..... the miniature black doxie dressed in a black nun's habit. Of course with all the black it didn't photograph well at all, but I'm telling you she was the hit of the show. The owner should have gotten the award for cleverness in thinking up the idea of a habit for her dog. If it has been any other than a tiny black dog with a pointy nose, it wouldn't have been nearly so funny.

All in all we had a great time. I know for sure the vet's human clients and the onlookers had fun. Whether the animals did or not I can't tell. But it was an awfully good kickoff to the fun of Halloween, we thought. The vet only did the parade one year, so he may not have enjoyed it as much as we did. But I'll bet he got some clients out of it!