Most pre-Carnival street parties in Brazil are all about samba, but the moves on display at Sunday’s Blocao parade were focused more on wagging and strategic sniffing than on fancy footwork.
Hundreds of decked-out dogs — and a few brave cats — got in on the Carnival fun at Rio de Janeiro’s annual pet-friendly parade: Labradors in pink tutus or engineers’ overalls cavorted with Maltese terriers with fairy wings, while poodles in superheros’ capes sniffed sausage dogs dressed up as Salome, with sequin-covered harem pants.
Carnival is perhaps the defining moment in Brazilian life, and the annual Blocao — a play on the word for street party, bloco, and dog, or cao — allows four-legged family members a chance to take part in the fun.
“The animal excitement is taking over Copacabana,” Blocao organizer Marco Antonio Toto said as the parade’s sound truck, topped by an enormous inflatable terrier, crawled its way down the seaside Atlantica Avenue. “The neighborhood of Copacabana has currently the most dog owners per square meter. It deserves this prestigious party. Our animals deserve this celebration.”
Talent agent Ariane Raballo made the trip from Rio’s sister city of Niteroi to parade with her two mini Yorkies dressed as Carmen Miranda, complete with cornucopias of tiny tropical fruits on their heads.
“We come every year,” said Raballo, as Maia and Lady Kate strained at the leash to sniff the four-legged passers-by and posed coquettishly as parade-goers of the two-legged variety snapped photos with their iPhones. “They love it.”
Spirits were high, and there was remarkably few fights: Gigantic Rhodesian ridgebacks romped with teacup poodles, while lumbering labs palled around with cocker spaniels. Leashes required constant detangling as new friends taking in each others’ scent tied themselves in knots.
Even Kiko, a three-year-old dachshund dressed as a hot-dog, was enjoying himself.
“Normally, he’s not a very social dog, with humans or other dogs,” said his owner, Denis Naiff, a psychology professor whose wife and daughter were sporting matching hamburger hats. “But he’s really having fun. Must be the Carnival spirit.”
The heat looked to have some of the dogs down and some owners poured water into their pets’ mouths to cool them down.
Eduardo Jonathan, a 31-year-old makeup artist dressed as Batman, said he was suffering under his rubber costume, though Batman Jr, his five-year-old Yorkie, looked to be taking the heat in stride. The dog hammed it up for the TV cameras as Jonathan and a friend disguised as the Joker sweated off their facepaint.
Two men dressed as giant ticks looked even hotter. Their many-legged costumes were made out of synthetic fur, and both had removed their masks so as to avoid suffocation as they passed out fliers for an anti-parasite spray.
“I think the fact that the Blocao exists and that so many people are here with their pets shows that the attitudes toward animals are changing here,” said Elisabeth Monetiro, a public servant attending with her two of her three rescue dogs.
Three-year-old mutts Princesa and Juliette were dressed up as she-devils, complete with glowing red horn headbands.
“Finally, society is starting to understand that even if you don’t like animals, you have to respect them,” said Monteiro, who volunteers with an animal rights group.
London-based ceramist Mario d’Oliveira was using the occasion to make a different kind of point.
Holding an “invisible dog” on the end of a stiff wire leash, d’Oliveira approached passing children, who either laughed or nearly cried at his antics.
“You can tell a lot about people by how they react,” he said. “An invisible dog is also quite a conversation piece, so you when you walk him, you end up making lots of new friends.”
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese