Waynesville Dog Walk Sarge’s #1 Fundraiser

The 11th Annual downtown dog walk by volunteers, foster families, and loveable, friendly, adoptable dogs will again be the biggest fundraiser of the year for Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation (SARF).

The 2016 event will be on Saturday, August 6, from 10am until 1pm. As in past years, the eagerly anticipated event will include over 200 dogs and a host of two-legged dog walkers, fundraisers, and judges. The dogs that will be available for adoption will be wearing “ADOPT ME” bandanas, and will each have a few moments in the spotlight on the event’s main stage on the courthouse steps.

The walk itself will only take about 15 minutes. Dogs and humans will start at the Haywood County Court House on Main Street, turn right on Depot Street, left on Church, then left again on North Main Street. At that point the police will stop traffic on Main Street so the dogs and walkers can safely march back to the court house, where the contest fun will begin.

Eddie Foxx and Sharon Greene of 99.9 KISS country will again be contest judges. They will be joined by a few “specially chosen Waynesville locals” whose names were not available at PetGazette press time.

The name of the emcee for the overall dog walk event was also not available.

There will be five contest categories: Most money collected, best dressed, best trick, best tail-wagger, best kisser. (Note: The Most money collected category is for humans only, while the other categories are for dogs only.) Sarge’s event organizers are hopeful that, as in past years, the contests will again be preceded by a police K-9 demonstration, but that had not been confirmed at press time.

Volunteers raise money for SARF by collecting pledges on a SARF pledge sheet. The overall goal for the dog walk is for each participant to raise $100, but anyone collecting $20 or more will receive a free official event T-shirt. The contribution to walk a dog is $15, with each walker getting a doggy bandana and a doggie goody bag with gifts from event sponsors. Official dog walk T-shirts will be available for $15 each. The shirts will have the event logo as well as the names of event sponsors, who will have contributed as much as $5,000.

For those who can’t participate in person, SARF provides the opportunity to be a virtual dog walker by sponsoring a foster dog to walk in the parade. A volunteer will walk a dog in the sponsor’s place, giving the dog that might otherwise be left behind the chance to parade, be seen, and even possibly find a permanent home.

Those who would like to walk their own dog or a friend’s dog in the event can get a registration form on-line. Or they can register at 9am on the morning of the walk. For more information about the 11th Annual Sarge’s Animal Rescue Foundation Downtown Waynesville Dog Walk, call 828 246-9050. Or go to sargeanimals.org.