Events will offer fun for dogs, owners
Two events for pets and their owners are scheduled for this weekend.
Brookwood Elementary School Cub Scouts and members of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office's K-9 unit were present at the first Wags 'N Flags event last year.
Special photo
Happy Tails Rescue and three other pet rescue organizations have combined efforts for the second annual Wags 'N Flags, a salute to patriots and pets. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the parking lot of SuperPetz at 216 Bobby Jones Expressway.
"It's going to be great," said Barbara Gleitsmann, the president of Happy Tails Rescue. "It truly is a salute to pets and patriots."
Saturday's event will feature the Fort Gordon Navy choral group, which will sing to honor veterans brought from the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home, Gleitsmann said.
The event is sponsored by Happy Tails Rescue, CSRA Greyhound Adoptions, Augusta Animal Rescue Friends and McDuffie County Friends of Animals. Proceeds from the event will be divided between the four animal rescue groups.
Carnival games and inflatable amusements will be available for children while Jae-Mar-S Academy of Dog Obedience and the Columbia County Sheriff's Office's K-9 unit lead canine demonstrations.
There also will be raffle prizes, and CSRA Greyhound Adoptions will be accepting adoption applications and will have some adoptable greyhounds on site for visiting; however, they will offer no on-site adoptions. All other groups will have adoptable animals on-site, Gleitsmann said.
A low-cost rabies shot clinic also will be held from 2 to 4 p.m.
Another local group will use proceeds from a second event, the Mutt Strut, to build a low-cost spay/neuter clinic and dog park.
Beasley Broadcast Group Inc. is holding the Mutt Strut from 9 to 2 p.m. Saturday in the field behind Kroger in Evans. All proceeds go to the Columbia County Humane Society, which needs $300,000 to build the clinic and park.
"Really in Columbia County, for an affluent county as it is, to not have a permanent facility for the humane society, it seemed like they needed some help,'' said Kent Murphy, the event organizer and sales manager for WRDW-AM. "So, we decided we wanted to offer to help them out and raise funds for (their) facility."
The Mutt Strut will cost $15 and allow owners to show-off both pure and mixed breeds canines. Pet owners can enter their dogs into one of the several contests, including the longest tail, costume contest and agility course.
Food, vet clinics, pet supply, animal-related vendors information and activities for pets and owners will be on site at the event. The Humane Society already has raised $100,000 but needs $300,000 to begin construction on a clinic and park on property on Columbia Road. Murphy hopes this year's Mutt Strut will be the first of many. Dogs at the event should be on leashes.
For more information on the Mutt Strut, call the Humane Society at 860-5020 or by e-mail at info@cchshumane.org. For more information on the Wags 'N Flags event, call Happy Tails Rescue at 294-4718 or visit www.happytailsrescue.net.