Chihuahua party not big enough

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hundreds of tiny tacos, ballerinas and other costumed dogs fell short of a world record Saturday morning in Kansas City, but organizers said they were encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade.

Mark Valentine, the president of the group that organized the parade, said 500 dogs showed up in costume – about 200 fewer than what was needed to break the Guinness record. The event, organized by United Entertainment to benefit a local animal shelter, was open to any breed.

Just after 11 a.m., everyone in the crowd with a Chihuahua raised …

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Hundreds of tiny tacos, ballerinas and other costumed dogs fell short of a world record Saturday morning in Kansas City, but organizers said they were encouraged by the turnout for the inaugural Cinco de Mayo Chihuahua parade.

Mark Valentine, the president of the group that organized the parade, said 500 dogs showed up in costume – about 200 fewer than what was needed to break the Guinness record. The event, organized by United Entertainment to benefit a local animal shelter, was open to any breed.

Just after 11 a.m., everyone in the crowd with a Chihuahua raised their pets over their heads. The result was a sea of tiny heads adorned with sombreros, cowboy hats, bows and even a Green Bay Packers football helmet.

Valentine estimated that 80 percent of the costumed canines were Chihuahuas.

“We are going to keep doing this until we run out of dogs in Kansas City and have to start shipping them in,” Valentine said. “For a first try, we did OK.”