Reese Havoc. Photo credits: Amanda Gay.
By Lisa Kava
Camp Canine, the longstanding dog daycare center at 46 West 73rdStreet, hosted a “Drag Queen Story Hour” for their “campers” last week.
Local Drag Queen Reese Havoc made a guest appearance and read a book to the dogs called Pride Puppy — children’s story-hour style. Pet parents had dropped their dogs off at camp earlier in the day dressed in rainbow bandanas, bow ties, and scarves. Havoc is a NYC-based comedian and performer who hosts weekly Drag Queen events.
There was “a little bit of reading, followed by a lot of playing and posing for photos with Havoc,” Amanda Gay, Marketing Director of Camp Canine described the festive event to the Rag. The idea of a Drag Queen Story hour for dogs had come to Gay after she read about children’s story hours in various schools and libraries featuring drag queens as the reader. Gay had been searching for a way to celebrate Pride Month at Camp Canine and wanted to create an activity to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. “It is very important to Camp Canine as a small business that we support our LGBTQ+ staff, especially in the current political climate.”
The event was appreciated by both Camp Canine staff members and clients. “As a queer person, I’ve felt the lack of support from companies and businesses. On a personal level, having this show of support from my place of work makes me feel incredibly safe and uplifted,” said Lena, a Camp Canine employee. “We stand with the LGBTQ+ community and were so excited to have our fur-baby, Peabody, join Drag Queen Story hour at his happy place,” said clients Brendon and Anala.
Camp Canine also plans to host their second annual “Pride Pawrade,” on June 23rd, a day before NYC’s Pride Parade. During the parade, dog campers will march with their “counselors” (Camp Canine staff) throughout the facility with rainbow flags and banners.
This content was originally published here.
