Beagle greeters
It’s not just humans who will be missing out on big events this year
Two beagles at the Beagle Paws shelter in St. John’s greet a visitor Friday. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Beagle Paws has cancelled its annual pet expo, the group’s main fundraising event.
For rescue organization Beagle Paws, it was the major fundraiser of the year, one that had grown from a humble event to hosting thousands of people and their pets.
The annual NL Pet Expo, like all the other major events — the Royal St. John's Regatta, the George Street Festival, the St. John's Pride Parade and many others in metro alone — is a wash for this year.
And like most of those other events, the spinoff of cancelling a big show affects not just the organizers, but dozens of booth participants counting on exposure and, in some cases, sales revenues.
The pet expo began a dozen years ago at the RE/ MAX Centre curling club, which it outgrew and moved to the Mount Pearl Glacier, with some 5,000 humans and their animal companions going through the doors on a June weekend.
The Beagle Paws organization will have to replace the lost $25,000 in profits with smaller, more frequent fundraisers such as raffles and mini auctions, said president Sheila Lewis.
(Information on those events is on the Beagle Paws Rescue Facebook page.)
Those individual fundraisers require more volunteer hours to run than putting on the pet expo.
This year's event was supposed to take place June 13-14 and many vendors spend the year getting ready. The expo features petrelated services showing their products, as well as the participation of veterinarian clinics, other shelter organizations, animal clubs and pet-friendly businesses.
“We waited as long as we could before we made the decision to call it off. It's not even looking promising for the fall,” Lewis said.
Beagle Paws had hundreds of T-shirts ordered for the show, but managed to hold back its marketing campaign, as well as tickets and posters.
As the event expanded through the years, so did the numbers of vendors interested in participating each year.
“It's a big loss. It's a loss to the pet community as well,” Lewis said.
“Everybody looks forward to it.
“We were almost fully booked and we had to refund all the money to the exhibitors. … We are very proud of what we built over the years. Besides the lost fundraiser dollars, there is the loss of fun for the community.”
By 2021, Lewis hopes the COVID-19 pandemic will be in the past and the event can go ahead as planned.
Beagle Paws also has a thrift shop that was shuttered due to COVID-19 public health emergency restrictions.
It's hoped that those types of retail outlets might be able to open in June as the province moves down to the next level in the public health emergency.
Preparations are being done at the store to swap out the winter items, left on the racks when it closed in March, for summer things and install Plexiglas.
Beagle Paws might also find itself strapped for volunteers, as many are seniors who might not want to put themselves at risk.
SPECIAL SHOW
Serena Saunders of Your Paws Only has been with the pet expo almost throughout, selling her popular petwear such as handmade patterned collars and leashes.
It was also her favourite show of the year because people could bring their pets and it helped her business build name recognition.
“I always tried to have something special for the show or something unique,” she said, adding $5 from each collar sold went to Beagle Paws.
“This year is going to be a different year for everyone and I do worry about and think about vendors who would have been their first time doing it,” said Saunders, who continues to sell her wares on her website, yourpawsonly.com.
“It's very sad.”
Tanya Martin, president and founder of the Dachshunds of Newfoundland and Labrador Group, said many people and their pets will miss the fun of the show and the well-known weiner dog races.
Her dog Victor was crowned the fastest hot dog in 2018 and 2019, so will retain that title for an extra year, as will other daschunds who won their race divisions.
Victor, three years old, is a standard, wire-haired dachshund, but her standard, black and tan dappled dachshund, Beans, who will be 15 in June, also competed in the senior class.
Hundreds of people would take in the races and she had certificates and medals ready, although they can be reused next year.
“As a group we were really disappointed, not just for ourselves but Beagle Paws,” Martin said.
Martin is also president of the Newfoundland All-breed Kennel Club, and that club has had to cancel its events through the year.
Victor is a grand champion and many people and their dogs work and train all year to compete in the various shows.
The club had judges booked to fly in and it was to hold its first Canadian Kennel Club endorsed agility outdoor trial this summer.
“It's no one's fault. It's the state the world is in right now,” she said. “I'm hoping and praying that next year things will be resolved and go back to some sense or normal. … It's a real different world.”