Dogs and cats and chickens, oh my! The Pets of Pima Parade is back for a second year in a row.
The parade was first held last year with the goal of celebrating the animals in peoples’ lives. But it’s also a way to help raise funds and awareness for Pima Animal Care Center, which shelters abandoned pets, facilitates adoptions and provides a number of other health and safety services.
Torre Chisholm, the executive director of Friends of PACC, which supports the center, talked about how exciting it is to put the parade on, with animals and people from the community coming out to show their support.
“Last year was a great inaugural year. We had about 900 participants, bands, hundreds of amazing and adorable animals of all types. Obviously dogs were the largest group but there were cats, sheep, goats and reptiles, so we had a great variety. Everybody enjoyed it and wanted us to continue to do it and so based on word of mouth from last year, this year is going to be bigger and better and more exciting,” Chisholm said.
The first Pets of Pima Parade, held last year, featured hundreds of animals of all sorts.
Within the parade are bands and DJs performing as well as cosplayers walking the route. Participants are encouraged to dress up with their pets. You’ll also see cars, ranging from classical to vans, decked out in float decor.
Registration to be in the parade on Feb. 19 closes Feb. 17. While walk-ups will be accepted, signing up before the deadline is highly recommended. The cost to participate is a minimum of $50, which can either be fundraised or donated in support of Pima Animal Care Center. There’s no cost to parade watchers.
“The funds go to support pets and projects that take place at PACC. It’s a variety of different things whether it’s direct medical support for animals with extreme medical conditions, adoption support, and projects we have,” Chisholm said.
The parade starts at 10 a.m. and will be divided into three parts. The first part is the Raising Cane’s Procesión de los Perros, which is dedicated to dogs. The second part is the TEP Cat Convoy, which is dedicated to cats and also pays tribute to the University of Arizona Wildcats. The final part is Casino Del Sol Pet Pride, which is dedicated to every animal in between, except horses as they don’t have room for the trailers.
The Pets of Pima Parade brings together Tucson's animal lovers while benefitting Pima Animal Care Center.
The parade route runs along Fourth Avenue and will be followed by the Four Legs on Fourth Festival at 11 a.m., along Seventh Street and Fourth Avenue. There will be live entertainment and the shops and restaurants on Fourth Avenue will be open to humans and animals alike.
There will also be a Fun Zone that includes a balloon artist, face painting, petting therapy dogs and more. It goes on until 3 p.m.
For more information or to register, visit petsofpimaparade.com.
Dog communication buttons have been trending because they actually work. Yair Ben-Dor has more.
