Story and Photography by Paula Antolini
See more photos here: picturesbypaula.com
Despite cloudy skies and a mid-event heavy downpour, many animal lovers and their pets attended the Animal Welfare Society (AWS) "9th Annual Dog Days of Summer" event which took place on Saturday, September 21, 2013, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at 8 Dodd Road, New Milford, CT. This fundraiser helps the AWS meet needs for basic care for their animals.
There were many fun activities for both humans and pets alike. For canines, the agility course involved jumping, climbing, balance, crawling through a tunnel, and other agility tasks. It was fun to watch the eagerness and delight of the dogs as they seemed to fly through the course with smiles on.
The unique intricate lure course was set up on an adjacent field and was the perfect game for dogs who love the chase. Children especially loved watching the dogs try to catch the fast moving lure.
The raffle booth had many exciting prizes to win, for both dogs and cats. Other activities were face painting, a photo booth, dog dancing and vendors were also selling great food. Various animal rescue groups, veterinarians, animal-related merchandise vendors or animal service companies were there too.
The Connecticut State Animal Response Team (CTSART), Region 5 (western CT), was at the event to let people know they are a source for help in emergencies. The CTSART program is a collaboration among government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, industry, and volunteers for preparing and responding to animal needs in disasters. It is a public-private partnership, organized to prepare the state of CT for any disaster that involves domestic animals. This organization insures pets are cared for in an emergency by also setting up local temporary shelters.
The New Milford Police Department K9 Patrol was on hand to give demonstrations, which brought a huge crowd. People sat with their pets on the lawn watching intently. K9 Officer Michael Lafond brought two-year-old Kira, and K9 Officer Mark Williams brought one-year-old Drake, both German Shepherds.
Officer Lafond indicated that although the dogs do police work, live with them, and have playtime, they are not a pet, so they cannot be brought to a park and interact with other dogs because they "must keep them in the mindset that when we leave the house it is time to go to work," Lafond said, "obedience is the foundation."
Officer Williams stated all commands are given in German as a safety method, so no suspect will know, or be able to give, similar commands to the dogs upon attack. German is also becoming the universal language in dog training, he said, because many dogs are trained in Germany or Europe. As Officer Williams demonstrated commands, Officer Lafond said, "Along with verbal commands the dog also reads the presence, posture, body language, and tone of voice."
The officers took turns showing how the dogs obey commands when a suspect is present. As one of the officers stood wearing protective padding on his arm, the other officer gave the command to his dog, to subdue the assailant, then release, and stay.
The officers brought two specially equipped police vehicles, which have no back seat in order to accommodate the dogs, and have a remote control door release device to open police car doors in the event they need canine assistance after an officer leaves the car to investigate a situation. The dogs wear bullet proof vests, along with officers, when needed. The vehicle trunk is fully equipped to handle any situation.
Using a police van, another demonstration was done to show how the police dogs go about searching a vehicle for illegal narcotics.
There was a question and answer period after the demo and people got a chance to see the police vehicles up close.
AWS shelter manager Renee Gardner said the AWS is a non-destroy facility presently housing 22 dogs and 78 cats. "The event is to benefit the shelter but also to get people involved with their dogs doing fun things, and showing them that they can do agility and all sorts of fun things with their pets" said Gardner.
Past events have raised funds for things like fencing, Gardner said, "but this event is support for the shelter, and medicinal help is our biggest need, veterinary costs are our biggest bill, and after that it's food for cats and dogs." Gardner said, "Candlewood Animal Hospital is our primary vet and a lot of other vets work with us [at] very reduced [rates], they're great" but the constant need of AWS is more veterinary help.
All proceeds from this event benefit the animals of the AWS shelter.
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AWS is an independent, non-profit, non-destroy organization founded in 1965. Their mission is to aid and find loving, permanent homes for abandoned, stray, and abused cats and dogs in New Milford, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Roxbury, and Washington, Connecticut.
For more information:
ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY, INC.
Address: 8 Dodd Road, New Milford, CT 06776
Phone: 860-354-1350
website: aws-shelter.org
