I Know a Village Where the Pets Parade:
On May 3 at the 1st Annual Larchmont Pet Parade

by Judy Silberstein

(April 24, 2003) On Saturday, May 3 at 3:00 pm, dogs (but not pit bulls), cats, turtles, lizards, fish, bunnies, hamsters and other creatures are invited to stroll down Larchmont Avenue in the 1st Annual Larchmont Pet Parade.

Putting together the parade has required perseverance.

The idea sprouted after a Larchmont empty nester acquired Louis, a beagle-basset hound, from Pet Rescue. It blossomed into a Pet Parade for grateful pet owners to support their local humane societies. Organizers Betty Comerford, Michelle Daum, Pat Melrose, Penny Langone and Melanie Rush brain-stormed and came up with the details.

Pets and owners will meet at Fountain Square to:

1. register (speed up the process by downloading the forms here); and
   
   
2. pay the $10 fee (proceeds go to Pet Rescue and the New Rochelle and Westchester Human Societies).

Participants – with adults in firm control of leashed pets - will line up and travel down Linden to Larchmont Avenue to Constitution Park next to the Firehouse for awards and treats.

“There was historical precedent for the event,” said Daum. “Our own Larchmont resident Alan Parter paraded his dog in a backyard dog show in the summer of 1959. Memorialized on the July 8, 1959 cover of the Saturday Evening Post by artist Amos Sewell, the dog show provided further inspiration for the pet paraders.

Parter remembers the show. He and his dog Freckles were unwitting models for the Sewell portrait depicting the scene in the Hazel Avenue backyard of renowned poet Phyllis McGinley, appreciated locally for her paean to Larchmont, “I Know a Village.”

Back in the ‘50’s, a few kids could organize a show in a few hours. Today, it takes a Village: lawyers, police chiefs, pet experts, churches, schools, and the Board of Trustees.

“It would have been hard to muddle through the logistics without the support of the Mayor and the Board,” said Daum. “Chief Rubeo was wonderful and we’ve already received postcards and phone calls from people who want to help. Manor Park Society was a big help by letting us start the parade at Fountain Square.”

With assorted assistance, the organizers have developed registration and waiver forms and the following rules:

• All animals must be walked by an adult and may be accompanied by a child.
  
  
• Each pet must be leashed, caged, or otherwise suitably restrained, and no frayed leashed allowed.
  
  
• Pets must have a current rabies tag.
  
  
• No aggressive animals are allowed and do not bring animals in heat.
  
  
• Owners are responsible for poop clean-up.
  
  
• The pet’s behavior is the responsibility of the owner. Control of animals must be maintained at all times. Owners of misbehaving or menacing pets may be asked to leave gracefully.
  
  
• No pit bulls will be permitted in the parade, in accordance with the Larchmont Village Code.