Hearne: Chihuahua Parade Sunday @ Barney Allis Goes for Guinness Record

Why wait for Halloween to do something really weird but legal?

Original art by Mark Valentine

This Sunday check out Mark Valentine‘s annual Chihuahua Parade and help catapult the event into the Guinness Book of Records as the “World’s Largest Costumed Dog Parade.”

It all goes down at the Barney Allis Plaza, 12th and Central in Kansas City, MO.

Dogs and their handlers will parade around the downtown park without ever touching paw to the street, Jack FM will broadcast a live remote and over 30 vendors will be on hand.

Humans get in free, but a $5 per dog entry fee will go to Great Plains SPCA which operates two of no-kill shelters in the area.

Valentine’s inspiration for the parade?

“I was looking a my calendar a couple years ago and I needed something to do on Cinco de Mayo and this seemed like fun,” he says. “This is the third year and it just keeps on getting bigger.”

So successful has the parade proven that this year Valentine decided to swing for the fences with Guinness.

“I was going to go for the Most Dogs in Costume record, but I was a little bit short because that’s 1,400 dogs,” Valentine says. “But the Most Dogs in Costume in a Parade record is only 400 dogs and I think the lowest number we’ve had is like 600 to 800 dogs, so it’s pretty certain we’ll break the record.”

And while the name of the parade is Chihuahua, any dog can participate, Valentine says.

“I just called it the Chihuahua Parade because it’s Cinco de Mayo,” Valentine says. “We get all kinds of dogs, but usually it’s about 80 percent Chihuahuas. The Chihuahua people are just so fun, they just have their own little thing. A lot of them already have costumes for their dogs and some people bring floats. One guy put his Chihuahua in a wagon and made the wagon look like a tank with the Chihuahua’s head sticking out.”

Owing to the expense, there won’t be a Guinness rep at the event however, “They sent me like a 100 page PDF of the requirements,” Valentine says. “We have to have an uncut video of the parade. We have to have a picture of the entire group that clearly shows that all of the dogs are in costume with one handler per dog. We have to have a CPA and a notary there that verifies the registration count and a copy of the form that everybody has to fill out.”

The kicker:

“I have to have a vet there to verify that they are all actually dogs,” Valentine says.

That seems a little odd, like so they won’t include any unicorns or chimps or something.

“I thought so, too, but we did have a pig show up one year” Valentine says. “It was one of those little pot bellied pigs but it looked like a dog. If we get a pig or something this year we’ll let it parade, it just won’t count.”

Here are the specifics:

*****     Each costumed dog that participates in the parade  will receive a free $12.00 Protected Wildlife Dog Toy generously donated by Sergeants pet products.

*****     Movie prize packs and more will be awarded to the dog owners with the best costumes.

*****     All dogs in costume are welcome and one dog per handler.

*****     Doors  open at 10 a.m. and the parade starts at 1 p.m.

*****     Awards and announcements will be made after the parade 
along with a free concert by Valentine and the Ticklers.

For more information check out http://KCDogParade.com
or call (816) 520-8430.

You can rregister online ahead of the event but walk ups on the day of show are welcome.

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