FOR FOUR-FOOTED critters who wanna have fun, few festivities fetch a bigger bunch of party animals than the annual Beggin' Strips Barkus Pet Parade. The 12th installment of this mutt-nificent Mardi Gras draw, held Sunday in Soulard, was no exception. Dogs by the hundreds came dressed to the canines, many of them more fancifully frocked than their two-footed companions.
Given the chilly temperature, colorful coats and sweaters were the order of the day for even the furriest Fidos, especially those who opted simply to sit on the sidelines and watch their fuzzy friends go by.
Some of the day's most colorful coats were dyed ones. Purple and green were the hues du jour, seen mainly on formerly white poodles (and at least one multicolored goat).
Even the onlookers sported the mandatory, often gold medallion-adorned, purple and green beads that bedecked the necks of so many dogs (including the parading Yorkshire terrier whose low-dangling medallion kept tripping up his traipsing).
Ruffs of feathers encircled more than a few fancy Fidos, with hot-pink feather boas the cat's pajamas of the canine crowd. Top dog in this fashion parade, however, had to be the greyhound elegantly swathed in a fan of peacock feathers.
As for those wild and crazy canine costumes the Barkus Parade brings out, words can't begin to do them justice.
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