Strutting Our Compassion at a DC Dog Parade

It’s always rewarding to reach out to animal lovers, helping them make the connection that birds, pigs, and cows are every bit as smart and social as the cats and dogs with whom many of us share our homes. That’s why we were excited to spend last weekend at the Strut Your Mutt DC Dog Parade and Festival in the nation’s capital!

Despite the heat, thousands of people and hundreds of furry, four-legged friends headed to this fun, annual event, where they were happy to be met with a smiling face from a COK volunteer dishing out free vegan cupcakes and Tofurky sandwiches.

Most people had never thought about how their animal companions are so similar to animals raised and killed for food — and many were pleasantly surprised by how much they liked the vegan food samples.

Comments included: “It really does taste just like turkey” – “Wow, you could’ve fooled me!”  – “Really? No eggs OR butter?” – “Can I grab one more for my friend?”

After several hours of talking with festival-goers about the many benefits of leaving animals off our plates, we wrapped up to go do some eating ourselves! Lucky for us, the Bold Bite was just around the corner, serving up some fancy vegan hot dogs loaded with toppings that would make any dog (or human) drool!

Check out even more photos on Facebook, sign up for our next outreach event, or contact us with an idea of your own. Your dog would want you to!