Animal Shelter Celebrates Rescues With Their Own ‘Doggie Gras’ Parade on ‘Bour-Bone Street’

We’ve been to some great parties in our day, but there is one adorable “paw-ty” we’d love to visit next year.

On Saturday, February 25, the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California, threw their own version of a Mardi Gras parade with the 5th Annual Doggie Gras celebration.

“It was a pawty on Bour-bone Street during the 5th annual Doggie Gras parade,” the animal center wrote on their Facebook page. “Check out some of the bead-worthy costumes.”

According to Inside Edition, the annual parade takes place at a farmers’ market where cats and dogs available for adoption mingle throughout the crowd in hopes of finding loving homes. Along with “Bour-bone Street” at the market, there’s also “Cat-on Rouge.”

The animals are dressed in their best Mardi Gras garb, including masks, feathers, and beads, and compete for “Best Dressed” in a float and costume competition. This year, Sir Ruffles von Flume (pictured above) took home the “top dog” prize.

According to the Helen Woodward Animal Center Facebook page, their mission is the “belief that animals help people and people help animals through trust, unconditional love, and respect” to create “a legacy of caring.” The Center “inspires and teaches, locally and globally, the importance of the animal-human bond.”

Though Mardi Gras traditionally marks the beginning of lent and many people give up something to improve their health and/or well-being, we all know that once you have a pet, you’ll never give them up. Getting a rescue pet is a sure-fire way to improve health, and the Helen Woodward center is just doing their part.

In the northern part of the state, San Francisco also recently passed legislation to curb “puppy mills” and require pet stores to only sell rescue animals from local shelters and organizations.

See more images of the Doggie Gras parade below.

(Your Daily Dish has reached out to Helen Woodward Animal Center for more information on the parade.)