A Howl-oween Story

By Laurel Angrist  (NYU)

A float designed to celebrate the dogs of the 33rd Annual Village Halloween Parade took the lead in this year’s event, with an estimated 100 pups marching alongside and 30,000 revelers in tow.

            Designed by Beth Joy Knutsen, Sales and Marketing Coordinator for New York Tails Magazine, the float featured a 15-foot likeness of her Lhasa Apso Terrier, Bella, jumping out of a giant neon orange jack-o-lantern. It wound down 6th Ave. amidst cheers and barks, with representatives from New York City’s animal rights and adoption agencies aboard, including The Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, the ASPCA and MeetUp.com, an online group that connects local dog lovers.  

            “We’re here to support animal adoption,” said Victoria Wells, Manager of Behavior and Training at the ASPCA, a job that entails evaluating dog personalities and modifying behavior issues to make them adoptable. “We have a lot of dogs that come from abuse and neglect. We give them a second chance at life,” said Wells.           

            Claire Angelica, an independent dog rescuer, rode the float with Mouse-Dog, a tiny mongrel she swears is part dog, part aardvark. Mouse-Dog’s lower jaw was badly mangled in an abusive household, but he now leads a comfortable life with Angelica in her home in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn.

Maddie-The-Dog, the float’s human mascot, cheered crowds on along the parade route.

            Also on board the float were the champions of this year’s Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade, which took place on Saturday. Natashya Vasic and her dog, Leelu, won Best In Show, even beating out a puppy dressed as fortune cookie. Leelu had on formal equestrian barding and was being ridden by a tiny headless doll brandishing a silver sword.

            “I wanted to do classic Halloween and you can’t get anymore classic than this,” said Vasic.

            Crowds ogled after the winners of Tails magazine 2006 Best New York Tail competition, Karen Bihl and her Chihuahua, Eli, who came dressed as Paris Hilton and her favorite canine accessory. A policeman barked at them though his loudspeaker and Eli trembled as a marching band strode past, drums beating and horns blazing. 

            The obvious star of the float though was Bella, who could not get enough of the crowd’s attention as she danced on hind legs and gobbled up doggie treats. A showbiz dog with her own display case full of the trophies she’s won, Bella was Cover Girl of ASPCA Magazine’s 2005 summer issue and has even starred in an independent film, “Casa Bella.”

“She’s so used to being on stage that she loves it,” said Knutsen, who books the gigs for Bella Starlet Dog Talent, the animal talent agency she runs.

Bella and Knutsen, dressed in coquettish French maid costumes, posed for photos with ghoulish folk along the parade route. Crowds cheered them on as the float slinked towards its final stopping place on 21st St.

            Knutsen, who booked the float way back in March, was ecstatic with all the applause.

“It’s Bella’s dream coming to fruition,” she gushed.

Halloween Parade

11/1/06

By Shonna Carter (Columbia University)

It’s the biggest Halloween event in New York City and this year man’s best friend joined the party, with the first float dedicated to dogs joining the 33^rd annual Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village Tuesday night.

Celebrate the Dog was one of 42 floats that made their way up Sixth Avenue on the one mile route while more than 2 million spectators lined the streets.

Beth Knutsen, the float’s organizer said she had had the idea for a while but decided to follow through this year with her plans to celebrate the year of the dog, a reference to the  Chinese zodiac.

The float featured a large painting of a pumpkin with a portrait of Knutsen dog Bella, a mixture of Lhasa Apso and Yorkshire who has appeared in television, movies and print ads. Both were dressed as French maids.

Knutsen said when she posted plans to host the float the response was overwhelming with dog owners throughout the city requesting to participate.

“It just turned into a phenomenon,” she said.

On the float were several doggie contest winners including Eli a chihuahua dressed as Paris Hilton’s famous pooch Tinker Bell. Eli was this year’s winner in the New York Tails contest and is a finalist in this year’s Milk-Bone competition. Marine Park costume competition winner, Reger, was there with his owner, Carla Gonzales, Queens. Reger a three-year-old German Sheppard was dressed as the big bad wolf and Gonzales was little red ridding hood.

“This is absolutely wonderful, we’re totally excited,” said Gonzales.

Several organizations trailed the float including the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Stray from the Heart, a dog rescue organization, The Mayor’s Alliance, a non-profit associated with the city to develop solutions to animal care and control and members of the Yorkie meetup group, from the web-site Meet-UP.com that connects people with similar interest.

According to the New York City Department of Health there are approximately 500,000 dogs in the five boroughs.

There were other dog friendly events in the city like a costume party for pets and their owners at Le Petit Puppy a boutique pet store in the West Village.

Costume stores traditionally known for human products now include dog costumes because they say the demand keeps growing.

“Every year it keeps getting bigger and bigger,” said Fausto Cruz, store manager for Halloween Adventure a costume store in the East Village.

Cruz who has been at the store for 10 years says in the past few years they have doubled the amount of doggie dress-up in the store.

Knutsen seemed elated as the float was set to head out to face the crowd.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said.