Vinnie Blum, Iowa Republican Rod Blum ’s Maltese, was blue at a parade last week — really, literally blue.  

Blum shared a photograph on his Facebook
page  of his dog at the “My Waterloo Days” parade back home in Waterloo, Iowa .  

Blum and his wife, Karen, received backlash from the post, including mentions of safety hazards and just the mere bizarre nature of dyeing a dog, and the congressman’s wife defended the dog-dyeing practice via a Facebook comment.  

Her full comment reads, “FYI. WE LOVE OUR DOG. The pet friendly, pet safe dye I use on Vinnie is completely harmless, non toxic & washes out. Our dog LOVES walking in parades (sometimes I pick him up and carry him) and he always had water available. He loves the attention (as any dog would). If you were at the parade you would have seen how happy he was and how happy kids are to see him, pet him & have their picture taken with him. Hope to see you all at another parade soon! Stop by and say “woof”.”  

This isn’t the first time the Blums have dyed their dog.  

Last April, Karen Blum shared a photograph on Facebook of a yellow Vinnie, with no explanation as to why they dyed him.  

An October 2014 photograph shows Vinnie in blue being held by someone in a Blum campaign T-shirt.  

And earlier that month, Vinnie was purple to support the University of Northern Iowa.

One of the youngest, and cutest @northerniowa @PantherPepCrew fans! pic.twitter.com/7Qi8CK64s8

— Rod Blum (@RodBlum) October 17, 2015

So if you see a pink, red or green Maltese running around, please return him to Blum’s House office.