Hundreds of people attended the day full of entertainment, education, food and fun. The festival featured adoptable animals from across the First Coast, including dogs, cats and horses. Florida Fish & Wildlife even brought an alligator out for the kids to hold.
Radio host Karen Feagins of WJCT and Michelle Guglielmo from the Springfield Animal Care & Rescue Club MC'd the days events.
SACARC thanks SRG Homes, Pet Paradise, PetSupermarket, Meeks, Ross, Paulk & Assocatiates, Block 55 and the Disc Connected K9s for making the event such a success. All proceeds benefited the Springfield Animal Care & Rescue Club, a non-proft division of the Springfield Improvement Association and Woman's Club dedicated to rescuing homeless animals.
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jbm32206
October 02, 2007, 05:21:38 AMIt was indeed a wonderful event, a nice turn out with lots of vendors, rescuse groups, demonstrations, costume contest (dogs) and people from all over!
gatorback
October 02, 2007, 06:24:10 AMCongratulations. Thank you for helping make Jacksonville a better place for pet owners. What are your next steps in your effort to obtain dog park if you don’t mind me asking.
I would have been there with my cat Yoghi; however, I’m kinda stuck here to say the least in Austin at the moment.
thelakelander
October 02, 2007, 07:48:36 AMGreat event. Its always good when we can use our overlooked public spaces in this type of capacity. Klutho Park has really turned around in a few short years.
walter
October 02, 2007, 08:59:32 AMI believe that the park called Confederate Playground across the street from Confederate Park is going to be a designated 'Dog Park' soon.
thelakelander
October 02, 2007, 09:06:24 AMYes, I noticed the city has recently planted new trees in that park as well.
fsujax
October 02, 2007, 09:49:54 AMIt looks like everyone had a good time. I'm sorry I had to miss out, had friends in town for the FSU/AL game. My friends were impressed with our neighborhood.
jbm32206
October 02, 2007, 03:43:21 PMYou're right, the dog park will be in Confederate Park...you can check out the SACARC website and find out the latest on the park: http://www.sacarc.org/html/dog_park.html
Jason
October 03, 2007, 09:27:41 AMJacksonville.com has a story up about the event and tons of pictures, Check it out!
Tia Woods
It’s called Dog Days in the Park, but this second annual event was not just limited to canines.
Horses, cats, reptiles and rabbits were also welcomed by the Springfield Animal Care and Rescue Club, a local organization that played both host and beneficiary of the 2007 four-legged celebration at Klutho Park Saturday.
“This event is not only to raise money, but to bring awareness and educate the community of the many animals that are abandoned (that) need good homes,” Michelle Guglielmo, co-founder of SACARC said. “We have over 30 rescue groups in attendance with many different animals to fit what a person would want in a pet.”
SACARC successfully had one of their dogs adopted at the fundraiser, bringing their total to 89 pets saved since the club formed in March 2006.
Although numbers have not been released on exactly how many animals were adopted through other participating organizations Saturday, Guglielmo is confident the event was a success, both in educating pet owners and in raising funds for the club.
“I would say there were over 700 people at this event,” Guglielmo said. “We were steady all day, and we (are) more spread out than we were last year.”
Money raised at the Dog Days in the Park and other SACARC events is used to help club members that care for the rescued animals pay for food, veterinarian costs, shots and spaying or neutering. This allows the club to provide a healthy animal to a family that wants to adopt.
Entertainment at the park included live bands, a dunking booth (people, not dogs), and a performance by the famed Disc Connected K-9s, who just recently came from a national competition where the former rescue dogs showed off their Frisbee tricks. There was also a ‘kid corner’ where children enjoyed face painting and a moon bounce.
There were also appearances by Miss Florida Teen Ashley Lake and Jacksonville Jaguars mascot Jaxson de Ville. Lake helped the pets show off their latest in pet fashions, while Jaxson took pictures and greeted the pets and their owners.
Guglielmo said SACARC’s next project is to produce another edition of Rescue Roundup, a video production that appears on Jacksonville.com and features pets that are available for adoption and tips for potential pet owners. She said this edition will feature other rescue groups’ animals too.
Check out our DOG DAYS IN THE PARK PHOTO GALLERY Here : http://photos.jacksonville.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=343210.
big ben
October 03, 2007, 09:06:26 PMi thought i saw tv cameras there. did anyone see anything on the news about it?