DOGS HAVE THEIR DAY
Paws in the Park held at ‘The Joe’
At the home of the ValleyCats, it was the dogs’ day to play.
For the first time, the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society’s Paws in the Park was held at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“Every year it gets bigger and bigger, and it got so big that this year we had to move it to the Joe and work with the Tri-City ValleyCats and Hudson Valley Community College to make it possible,” said Michael Buckley, VP for Philanthropy & External Affairs. “We knew that the ValleyCats are such huge community partners that moving here will allow us to offer more opportunities for prizes and contests and vendor space; so this is growing and we love it.”
The eighth annual event raised money to help the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society care for thousands of the Capital Region’s animals through various programs, including sheltering and adoption, veterinary care and cruelty investigations.
About 30 organizations, including vendors, made the event possible.
“It exposes us to so many people — so many people who are passionate pet supporters, who have either adopted pets from us or support our work,” Buckley said. “So as much as it is a fundraiser for us, it’s also a huge ‘friendraiser’ for us as well.”
The event featured a Blessing of the Animals, a K9 search and rescue and tracking demos, Paw Painting, baby goats, a Doggy Fun Zone and a
walk around the ballpark.
“Dog people tend to be the kind of folks that want to soak up as much outside weather as they can, so today certainly is a great day for that,” said Buckley.
Dozens and dozens of pet owners gathered to make the event a success.
“Most people that have pets are social, passionate supporters for the community, so we created this event years ago to bring them out, support our work but also support the pet friendly vendors in our community,” said Buckley. “We do a lot of community events. We partner as much as we can, given the resources we have to help advance our mission.”
This year featured a best trick and pet-owner look-alike contests.
With Halloween just around the corner, the dog with the best costume was voted on, too.
“If you ever needed a good excuse to dress up your dog, today’s event is a good reason to do it,” Buckley said.
The ValleyCats’ season may be over, but Joe Bruno Stadium was full of life Saturday afternoon.