Alliance News - Shelter Dogs Usher in the New Year in Chinatown Parade - January/February 2006 - Out of the Cage!, the E-Newsletter of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Sponsored by Maddie's Fund, The Pet Rescue Foundation

Home > Out of the Cage! > January/February 2006 > Alliance News: Shelter Dogs Usher in the New Year in Chinatown Parade

Alliance News

Shelter Dogs Usher in the New Year in Chinatown Parade

In keeping with Chinese tradition, children along the parade route scrambled to touch Maddie to bring them good luck.

Captivating lion dancers. Colorful dragons. Ornately decorated floats. And what's this?…shelter dogs?

For the first time ever, adoptable dogs decked out in bright orange Maddie's "Adopt Me" vests joined the spectacle of marching bands, elaborate floats, lion and dragon dancers, musicians, magicians, and acrobats in one of Chinatown's most dazzling events — the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade, on Sunday, February 5, 2006.

In keeping with this year's designation as the Year of the Dog (4073 on the Chinese calendar), several dozen dogs from Alliance Participating Organizations, lead by Maddie, the larger-than-life-size Miniature Schnauzer mascot representing Maddie's Fund, strutted and wiggled their way through the narrow streets of Chinatown, cheered on by thousands of celebratory spectators. Shelters represented in the parade were Animal Haven, Bide-A-Wee, the Humane Society of New York, and Animal Care & Control of NYC.

Animal Haven joined the festivities with adoptable dogs, including some Katrina dogs.

Following the Chinese tradition of guaranteeing good luck by patting a dog on the head, children all along the parade route petted the dogs, including Maddie, while smiling parents snapped photographs. Hopefully, the good luck will be shared both by the children and the shelter dogs.

"The parade gave New Yorkers an unusual opportunity to celebrate the Year of the Dog in a very significant way," says Jane Hoffman, Mayor's Alliance President. "Dogs represent loyalty, unconditional love, and forgiveness. But here in NYC, thousands of wonderful dogs and cats are killed each year simply because they don't have homes. What could be more in keeping with the Year of the Dog than for more New Yorkers to open up their hearts and homes and adopt one of the thousands of wonderful dogs who end up at our city's shelters?"

The Humane Society of New York contingent joined the revelers.

The Chinatown Parade marked the first of many high-profile events in 2006 for Alliance Participating Organizations and their animals. Click here for information about upcoming Mayor's Alliance/Maddie's adoption events and other exciting happenings.

About Maddie's Fund

Maddie's Fund, The Pet Rescue Foundation (www.maddiesfund.org), is a family foundation funded by PeopleSoft Founder Dave Duffield, and his wife, Cheryl, to help create a no-kill nation. The first step is to help develop programs that guarantee loving homes for all healthy shelter dogs and cats throughout the country. The next step will be to save the sick and injured pets in animal shelters nationwide. Maddie's Fund is named after the family's beloved Miniature Schnauzer who passed away in 1997.