Exactly once a year, dogs are welcome on the Ocean City Boardwalk. Not only is that fact alone special, but the presence of the canines helped to benefit an outstanding cause, the Humane Society of Ocean City.
The former “Barks on the Boards” parade was re-launched on Saturday as “Show Us Your Paws,” a play on the famous “show us your shoes” mantra of Atlantic City’s Miss America Parade and Ocean City’s own Miss New Jersey Pageant parade.
More than 100 four-legged friends made the trip along with Martin Z. Mollusk, a Mummers string band and several pooch-filled “floats” or decorated wagons.
The mutts and purebreds of all sizes mingled freely with their two-legged fans and competed in such categories as “Super Hero dog/owner lookalike, best surfer dog, best bathing beauty and best shoobie dog.
Judging by the happy barks and smiles of the spectators, the event certainly lived up to its advance billing.
