By Greg Lawson -
[email protected]
My vegetarian society had our Thanksgiving dinner three
weeks ago, so I faced spending Thanksgiving alone, watching the Buffy
the Vampire Slayer marathon and trying not to think about the poor
roasted birds on all the tables throughout our land.
So I was happy when a vegan friend of mine asked me to
join her group on a float in the Thanksgiving parade. A coalition of
several El Paso animal rescue groups had joined forces for the Pet
Express float, a train that consisted of a jeep converted to look like
the train engine and two cars and a caboose. Twenty people and a dozen
dogs rode in or walked beside the train. I was happy to see several
members of my vegetarian society with our float.
On each car of the train we had banners with messages
such as "Be a Responsible Pet Owner, Spay and Neuter Your Pets," "Fix
the Problem, Fix Your Pet," "Adopt Your Next Best Friend From a
Shelter."
Since the train had an old west look, we had decided to
dress up in western gear. I did a reprise of my Clint Eastwood look from
Halloween, with cowboy hat and pancho and three days worth of facial
stubble. Even a vegan likes to play cowboy now and then.
A new friend of mine, a former El Paso County
Commissioner who became a vegetarian and an animal rescuer several
months ago, brought his four dogs, so I walked one of his spaniels for
most of the five miles of the parade. I have been a cat person for
thirty years, and so I haven't been fond of dogs since I had canine
companions as a young boy. At first I was a little uncomfortable walking
a dog on a leash, but it was a little like flying a kite, and I soon got
the hang of it.
For a little while during the parade, I pushed a cute
little dog in a baby carriage. Wrapped up in a blanket and very happy
for the ride, he was a big hit with the many children who lined the
street.
My vegan friend who had invited me to participate told
me that the vegan news anchor man of channel 9 had prepared a strong
message about spay and neuter to deliver when our float passed his
camera setup. All the television stations were there and captured our
message banners and our dogs for either live coverage or the evening
news.
Today, Thanksgiving, could have been a bit depressing
for me, but instead it was a day where we were able to make a small
difference. If only a few people got our message, then it was worth the
walk, very well worth the walk. And I learned to like dogs a little bit
more than I did.
Go on to Dogs Deserve
Better by Michelle Rivera & Tammy Grimes
Return to 1 December 2002 Issue
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