HANCOCK, Mich. (WJMN) – Puppies paraded down Quincy Street in Hancock today for a good cause.
Dial Help hosted their third annual Puppy Parade to raise awareness for Sexual Assault Awareness month.
“So, today we’re having the puppy parade! It is one of my favorite days of the entire year working at Dial Help,” said Paige Setter-Hallwachs, the Sexual Assault Services Coordinator at Dial Help. “It’s absolutely amazing getting everyone out here to support survivors of sexual violence and bring their dogs too. I mean how much better can you get?”
Every year they hold a parade of puppies along Quincy Street to bring sexual violence to people’s attention. Signs saying sexual assault statistics and facts were displayed around the Quincy Green park.
“Sexual violence is such a hard topic to talk about, so we really wanted to be tactful in how we approached it, so about 3 years ago we came up with a puppy parade,” explained Setter-Hallwachs. “Everyone loves dogs, or cats, we definitely allow cats if your cat can walk on a leash, but it was just a great way to make the topic a little less intimidating.
We asked some of the parade goers why they participated in the parade.
“We saw the Flyer for the Parade and we thought we’d bring our dogs out to help support the cause,” said Haleigh, a dog owner.
“And it’s a good training opportunity,” Kearstin, another dog owner explained
“Mostly to raise awareness for sexual assault and also to get them out to exercise since we’ve had such a long winter, and to socialize with some dogs,” said Laura Rowe about bringing her two dogs to the event. “I’m just excited that the first I’ve learned about this event, I know this is not the first year they’ve done it, we definitely will be doing it again.”
The dogs signed in at tables set up in the park and given bandanas to communicate the dogs’ attitudes towards other dogs and humans.
Dial Help will be hosting more events in the future. If you are interested in these events or volunteering for them, you can find their website here.
