NHSPCA's 20th Annual 'Paws Walk' is Coming

The following is a news release:

Paws Walk, the New Hampshire SPCA’s largest grassroots fundraising event for animals of the Seacoast, will be held on Sunday, June 10th at Stratham Hill Park in Stratham, New Hampshire. A fun-filled day for the entire family, the event raises critical funds to provide care for the 3,000 animals that will need the New Hampshire SPCA this year.   There is still time to register to walk and raise funds for the animals, go to www.nhspca.org, to begin the registration process.

Paws Walk has something for everyone. New this year are KidZone & DogTown!  KidZone, is an area just for kids with fun activities including, Kid Karaoke, Face-painting and some new and exciting games!  In DogTown, we will have a demonstration by a local K9 Unit and Police Officers from the Working Dog Foundation, the New England Agility Team, perennial favorite, Doggie Day Spa and even fun games for you and your pooch to play together. 

Back by popular demand is Jail & Bail, where walkers can issue an ‘arrest warrant’ for one of their team members and require them to raise a bit more money to ‘bail’ themselves out of our Cruelty Investigations Tent’s makeshift jail.    They’ll even get their mug shot on a Wanted Poster!

On hand throughout the day will be 60-75 vendors of delicious foods and wonderful items for pets and people!  On Main Stage, following the walk, will be local blues/rock band Freddy and the Raytones who will help us party the afternoon away!  

“This year’s Paws Walk is shaping up to be our best yet!,”  according to Paws Walk organizer, Kelly Lemos, Annual Fund Coordinator for the New Hampshire SPCA.  “We have some really fun things planned and are anticipating more walkers than ever before.   We encourage each walker to raise at least $250, which is fairly easy to do and its critically important so that the NHSPCA can care for the animals that will need us this year.”

Paws Walk offers two routes for participants to choose from.  The 1 ¼ mile route goes throughout the park on mostly flat terrain while the 2 mile route takes walkers up to the top of Stratham Hill to find breathtaking views of Great Bay and the surrounding area.  Registration begins at 10:00 AM and the walk begins at 12:00 PM preceded by The Blessing of The Animals and the National Anthem.  

There is still time to register and raise pledges online, or personally raise pledges and come to the walk and register that day.  On line registrants should visit www.nhspca.org to register and start making a difference. Thanks to online fundraising, it is now easier than ever to help the animals!  Walkers are encouraged to create their own unique, personalized fundraising page and forward it to everyone they know via email or link the page to their Facebook profiles.  Prizes are awarded based on individual fundraising totals and teams are eligible to compete for a Team Grand Prize!  This year the first 750 pre-registered walker will receive a commemorative t-shirt just for registering!

Other Highlights:   MC Kelly Brown, of WERZ and WHEB, will be on hand to keep things lively, and the stars of the show will be the 12 or so adoptable dogs who will be on the ‘catwalk’ before the start of the walk.  You just might come to Paws Walk to help save lives, and go home with a new best friend! 

We especially would like to thank our Top Dog Sponsor: Veterinary Emergency, Critical Care & Referral Center of New Hampshire  Paws Walk Sponsor: Greenland Veterinary Hospital LLC Signature Sponsors: State Line Pet Supply, Harbor Consulting IP Services Inc., The Barking Dog Ltd., Tina & Richard Duffy  and Dr. Peter Gray and Ellen B Gray., PETCO Foundation, PetSmart

Main Stage Sponsors: D.F. Richard Energy and Exeter Tents & Events. Activities Sponsors: Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Ben’s Auto Body, Inc., and Lonza Biologics Inc.