Starting the New Year on the right paw
Record turnout for annual Dog Jog
There was a record turnout for the fourth annual Dog Jog in Barrington Passage on New Year’s Day.
Sixty people walked, ran and jogged the two-and-five-kilometre routes that took participants along the multi-use trail to the business district and back to the starting point at TREW Massage Therapy.
“This is by far the most we've ever had,” said organizer Talent Wilson.
The event was started in 2017 by Wilson, along with some family members and friends, in memory of their family pets who had passed away.
Each year the Dog Jog supports an animal charity. This year’s recipient will be Fetch a Dog Transport and Rescue.
Started just over a year ago by Lunenburg County resident Kristina Grevatt, Fetch a Dog Transport and Rescue is a small, foster-based, dog rescue, with a focus on rescuing dogs from high kill shelters and off the street in the southern U.S.
The animals are fully vetted and transported to the U.S./Canada border in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, where they are picked up, brought to Nova Scotia and fostered until they are adopted into an approved home.
Since starting Fetch a Dog, the group has saved 141 dogs, said Grevatt in an interview.
“We started out with six dogs (on the first run) and the last run we did in November, we brought up 19 dogs all at once. Three weeks before that we brought up 17.”
Grevatt said the group tries to find homes for the dogs before they arrive in Canada.
“We try to adopt them out before we bring them up. We know all about them. They are in foster care in the States. We learn about them and spread the word so hopefully we can find homes before they get here. If we don’t, we put them in foster care and find homes then.”
The dogs are fostered all over the Maritimes.
“We have a dozen or more foster homes that volunteer for us right now,” said Grevatt. “We’re always in need of fosters. The more fosters we have the more ability we have to match the dogs that need places with the right place.”
Fetch a Dog Transport and Rescue works with rescue groups in the U.S.
“Most of the transport we pay ourselves. Most of the vetting is paid for by rescues down there… we all kind of share the cost depending on what we can pitch in.”
Adoption fees, which are in the $550-range per dog, help cover the cost of their transport and vetting. Dogs are also health checked before they may the trip to their new homes.
More information about Fetch a Dog Transport and Rescue and adopting a canine companion can be found on their Facebook page, Fetch a Dog Rescue and Transport. The organization also has a website.