Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette Timber its owner Am ber along to the Puppy Parade Wednesday in Hancock.

HANCOCK — Green means pet, yellow means ask and red means do not touch. These are the core tenants of how pet-consent worked at Copper Shores’s Puppy Parade which took place Wednesday evening in downtown Hancock. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness of sexual assault and highlight resources available.

Quincy Green was filled with furry friends in different colored bandanas. Most wore green ones, but other participants in the dog walk dressed their dogs in yellow and red ones.

Victim Advocate and Sexual Assault Response Team Coordinator for Copper Shores, Ayla LaRoe said these types of events are important for a small community such as the Keweenaw due to its close-knit strength.

“We have a small community which can really intertwine us and connect us,” she said. “At the same time, we are in a lower income area and our small community has to do a lot of work.”

This April was sexual assault awareness month and Wednesday was highlighted by Denim Day, an awareness campaign dedicated to a court ruling regarding an Italian woman’s sexual assault case.

According to the official Denim Day website, the victim’s tight jeans were a reason to overturn the lower courts charges.

“The [Denim Day] campaign began after a ruling by the Italian Supreme Court to overturn a rape conviction because the justices felt that since the victim was wearing tight jeans she must have helped the person who raped her remove them, thereby implying consent,” the website reads.

LaRoe said friends, family and community need to come together to foster an environment where people feel safe talking about sexual assault. Activities like the puppy parade help spread awareness about topics most people feel uncomfortable talking about.

“We start by doing things like this.” she said. “Starting the conversation, making it a little bit more lighthearted so people can just feel comfortable around the discourse of any sort of crime really — but sexual assault especially.”

Copper Shores offers different kinds of victim support services when it comes to sexual assault. Whether it comes to down therapeutic, legal and housing support, LaRoe said she is here to help.

“We bring to the table support and advocacy. That might mean just having someone to talk to and report the sexual assault to,” she said. “We also have a 24-hour sexual assault hotline.”

LaRoe said if someone is in need of support when it comes to reporting or getting resources in regards to sexual assault, there are several options at their disposal. This includes starting a conversation with someone they trust.

“We know that a huge factor in either conviction or in healing of a victim is that first person that they go to believing them,” she said. “Because one of the other key indicators of healing from something traumatic, like sexual assault, is that support-community around them.”